| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is anyone who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her. | 1“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city. |
| 2Though they say, ‘As the LORD lives,’ Surely they swear falsely.” | 2Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.” |
| 3O LORD, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return. | 3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. |
| 4Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD, The judgment of their God. | 4Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God. |
| 5I will go to the great men and speak to them, For they have known the way of the LORD, The judgment of their God.” But these have altogether broken the yoke And burst the bonds. | 5I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.” But they too, with one accord, had broken the yoke and torn off the chains. |
| 6Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them; A leopard will watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, Because their transgressions are many; Their backslidings have increased. | 6Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces. For their rebellious acts are many, and their unfaithful deeds are numerous. |
| 7“How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me And sworn by those that are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, Then they committed adultery And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses. | 7“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken Me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery and assembled at the houses of prostitutes. |
| 8They were like well-fed lusty stallions; Every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife. | 8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife. |
| 9Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the LORD. “And shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? | 9Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? |
| 10“Go up on her walls and destroy, But do not make a complete end. Take away her branches, For they are not the LORD’s. | 10Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD. |
| 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” says the LORD. | 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,” declares the LORD. |
| 12They have lied about the LORD, And said, “It is not He. Neither will evil come upon us, Nor shall we see sword or famine. | 12They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine. |
| 13And the prophets become wind, For the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.” | 13The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.” |
| 14Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: “Because you speak this word, Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, And this people wood, And it shall devour them. | 14Therefore this is what the LORD God of Hosts says: “Because you have spoken this word, I will make My words a fire in your mouth and this people the wood it consumes. |
| 15Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” says the LORD. “It is a mighty nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say. | 15Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand. |
| 16Their quiver is like an open tomb; They are all mighty men. | 16Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men. |
| 17And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread, Which your sons and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; They shall destroy your fortified cities, In which you trust, with the sword. | 17They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.” |
| 18“Nevertheless in those days,” says the LORD, “I will not make a complete end of you. | 18“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you. |
| 19And it will be when you say, ‘Why does the LORD our God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.’ | 19And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’ ” |
| 20“Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying, | 20Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: |
| 21‘Hear this now, O foolish people, Without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, And who have ears and hear not: | 21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. |
| 22Do you not fear Me?’ says the LORD. ‘Will you not tremble at My presence, Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, Yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it. | 22Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it. |
| 23But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; They have revolted and departed. | 23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away. |
| 24They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season. He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.” | 24They have not said in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rains, both autumn and spring, in season, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’ |
| 25Your iniquities have turned these things away, And your sins have withheld good from you. | 25Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty. |
| 26‘For among My people are found wicked men; They lie in wait as one who sets snares; They set a trap; They catch men. | 26For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men. |
| 27As a cage is full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become great and grown rich. | 27Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich. |
| 28They have grown fat, they are sleek; Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the fatherless; Yet they prosper, And the right of the needy they do not defend. | 28They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy. |
| 29Shall I not punish them for these things?’ says the LORD. ‘Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’ | 29Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? |
| 30“An astonishing and horrible thing Has been committed in the land: | 30A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land. |
| 31The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end? | 31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end? |
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