| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 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! | 1If my head were a spring of water, my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night over the slain of my dear people. |
| 2Oh, that I had in the wilderness A lodging place for travelers; That I might leave my people, And go from them! For they are all adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. | 2If only I had a traveler's lodging place in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a solemn assembly of treacherous people. |
| 3“And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” says the LORD. | 3They bent their tongues like their bows; lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land, for they proceed from one evil to another, and they do not take Me into account. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 4“Everyone take heed to his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; For every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with slanderers. | 4Everyone has to be on guard against his friend. Don't trust any brother, for every brother will certainly deceive, and every friend spread slander. |
| 5Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves to commit iniquity. | 5Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to speak lies; they wear themselves out doing wrong. |
| 6Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the LORD. | 6You live in a world of deception. In their deception they refuse to know Me. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 7Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them and try them; For how shall I deal with the daughter of My people? | 7Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I am about to refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of My dear people? |
| 8Their tongue is an arrow shot out; It speaks deceit; One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, But in his heart he lies in wait. | 8Their tongues are deadly arrows-- they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peaceably with his friend, but inwardly he sets up an ambush. |
| 9Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the LORD. “Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?” | 9Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD's declaration. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? |
| 10I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, And for the dwelling places of the wilderness a lamentation, Because they are burned up, So that no one can pass through; Nor can men hear the voice of the cattle. Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled; They are gone. | 10I will raise weeping and a lament over the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness grazing land, for they have been so scorched that no one passes through. The sound of cattle is no longer heard. From the birds of the sky to the animals, everything has fled--they have gone away. |
| 11“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.” | 11I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a jackals' den. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, an uninhabited place. |
| 12Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that no one can pass through? | 12Who is the man wise enough to understand this? Who has the LORD spoken to, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness, so no one can pass through? |
| 13And the 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 abandoned My instruction that I set in front of them and did not obey My voice or walk according to it. |
| 14but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them,” | 14Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts and followed after the Baals as their fathers 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 water of gall to drink. | 15Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to feed this people wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink. |
| 16I will scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.” | 16I will scatter them among the nations that they and their fathers have not known. I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off." |
| 17Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come. | 17This is what the LORD of Hosts says: Consider, and summon the women who mourn; send for the skillful women. |
| 18Let them make haste And take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may run with tears, And our eyelids gush with water. | 18Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us so that our eyes may overflow with tears, our eyelids soaked with weeping. |
| 19For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How we are plundered! We are greatly ashamed, Because we have forsaken the land, Because we have been cast out of our dwellings.’ ” | 19For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion: How devastated we are. We are greatly ashamed, for we have abandoned the land; our dwellings have been torn down. |
| 20Yet hear the word of the LORD, O women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a lamentation. | 20Now hear the word of the LORD, you women. Pay attention to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters a lament and one another a dirge, |
| 21For death has come through our windows, Has entered our palaces, To kill off the children— no longer to be outside! And the young men— no longer on the streets! | 21for Death has climbed through our windows; it has entered our fortresses, cutting off children from the streets, young men from the squares. |
| 22Speak, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall as refuse on the open field, Like cuttings after the harvester, And no one shall gather them.’ ” | 22Speak as follows: This is what the LORD says: Human corpses will fall like manure on the surface of the field, like newly cut grain after the reaper with no one to gather it. |
| 23Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; | 23This is what the LORD says: The wise man must not boast in his wisdom; the strong man must not boast in his strength; the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth. |
| 24But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD. | 24But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me-- that I am Yahweh, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 25“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised— | 25"The days are coming"--the LORD's declaration--"when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised: |
| 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.” | 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair on their temples. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." |
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