| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. | 1Look, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him. |
| 2And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. | 2Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a parched land. |
| 3And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. | 3Then everyone who has eyes will be able to see the truth, and everyone who has ears will be able to hear it. |
| 4The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. | 4Even the hotheads will be full of sense and understanding. Those who stammer will speak out plainly. |
| 5The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. | 5In that day ungodly fools will not be heroes. Scoundrels will not be respected. |
| 6For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. | 6For fools speak foolishness and make evil plans. They practice ungodliness and spread false teachings about the LORD. They deprive the hungry of food and give no water to the thirsty. |
| 7The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. | 7The smooth tricks of scoundrels are evil. They plot crooked schemes. They lie to convict the poor, even when the cause of the poor is just. |
| 8But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand. | 8But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity. |
| 9Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. | 9Listen, you women who lie around in ease. Listen to me, you who are so smug. |
| 10Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come. | 10In a short time—just a little more than a year— you careless ones will suddenly begin to care. For your fruit crops will fail, and the harvest will never take place. |
| 11Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. | 11Tremble, you women of ease; throw off your complacency. Strip off your pretty clothes, and put on burlap to show your grief. |
| 12They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. | 12Beat your breasts in sorrow for your bountiful farms and your fruitful grapevines. |
| 13Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: | 13For your land will be overgrown with thorns and briers. Your joyful homes and happy towns will be gone. |
| 14Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; | 14The palace and the city will be deserted, and busy towns will be empty. Wild donkeys will frolic and flocks will graze in the empty forts and watchtowers |
| 15Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. | 15until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. |
| 16Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. | 16Justice will rule in the wilderness and righteousness in the fertile field. |
| 17And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. | 17And this righteousness will bring peace. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever. |
| 18And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; | 18My people will live in safety, quietly at home. They will be at rest. |
| 19When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. | 19Even if the forest should be destroyed and the city torn down, |
| 20Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass. | 20the LORD will greatly bless his people. Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up. Their cattle and donkeys will graze freely. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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