| New American Standard Bible 1995 | New International Version |
| 1Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! | 1Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people. |
| 2Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers' lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. | 2Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people. |
| 3"They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me," declares the LORD. | 3"They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me," declares the LORD. |
| 4"Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. | 4"Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. |
| 5"Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity. | 5Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. |
| 6"Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," declares the LORD. | 6You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me," declares the LORD. |
| 7Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I will refine them and assay them; For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people? | 7Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: "See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people? |
| 8"Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him. | 8Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully. With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them. |
| 9"Shall I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? | 9Should I not punish them for this?" declares the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?" |
| 10"For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge, Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone. | 10I will weep and wail for the mountains and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands. They are desolate and untraveled, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. The birds have all fled and the animals are gone. |
| 11"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant." | 11"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there." |
| 12Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? | 12Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the LORD and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? |
| 13The LORD said, "Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, | 13The LORD said, "It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. |
| 14but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them," | 14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them." |
| 15therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. | 15Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. |
| 16"I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them." | 16I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them." |
| 17Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wailing women, that they may come! | 17This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them. |
| 18"Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water. | 18Let them come quickly and wail over us till our eyes overflow with tears and water streams from our eyelids. |
| 19"For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion, 'How are we ruined! We are put to great shame, For we have left the land, Because they have cast down our dwellings.'" | 19The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 'How ruined we are! How great is our shame! We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins.'" |
| 20Now hear the word of the LORD, O you women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a dirge. | 20Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD; open your ears to the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail; teach one another a lament. |
| 21For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the children from the streets, The young men from the town squares. | 21Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares. |
| 22Speak, "Thus says the LORD, 'The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.'" | 22Say, "This is what the LORD declares: "'Dead bodies will lie like dung on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather them.'" |
| 23Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; | 23This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, |
| 24but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. | 24but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. |
| 25"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised-- | 25"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh-- |
| 26Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart." | 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." |
| New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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