| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower Which is at the head of the verdant valleys, To those who are overcome with wine! | 1The splendid crown of Ephraim's drunkards is doomed, the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, situated at the head of a rich valley, the crown of those overcome with wine. |
| 2Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand. | 2Look, the sovereign master sends a strong, powerful one. With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm, with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm, he will knock that crown to the ground with his hand. |
| 3The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, Will be trampled underfoot; | 3The splendid crown of Ephraim's drunkards will be trampled underfoot. |
| 4And the glorious beauty is a fading flower Which is at the head of the verdant valley, Like the first fruit before the summer, Which an observer sees; He eats it up while it is still in his hand. | 4The withering flower, its beautiful splendor, situated at the head of a rich valley, will be like an early fig before harvest--as soon as someone notices it, he grabs it and swallows it. |
| 5In that day the LORD of hosts will be For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty To the remnant of His people, | 5At that time the LORD who commands armies will become a beautiful crown and a splendid diadem for the remnant of his people. |
| 6For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. | 6He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions, and strength to those who defend the city from attackers. |
| 7But they also have erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, They are swallowed up by wine, They are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment. | 7Even these men stagger because of wine, they stumble around because of beer--priests and prophets stagger because of beer, they are confused because of wine, they stumble around because of beer; they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, they totter while making legal decisions. |
| 8For all tables are full of vomit and filth; No place is clean. | 8Indeed, all the tables are covered with vomit; no place is untouched. |
| 9“Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? | 9Who is the LORD trying to teach? To whom is he explaining a message? Those just weaned from milk! Those just taken from their mother's breast! |
| 10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” | 10Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish, senseless babbling, a syllable here, a syllable there. |
| 11For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, | 11For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue he will speak to these people. |
| 12To whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear. | 12In the past he said to them, "This is where security can be found. Provide security for the one who is exhausted! This is where rest can be found." But they refused to listen. |
| 13But the word of the LORD was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little,” That they might go and fall backward, and be broken And snared and caught. | 13So the LORD's word to them will sound like meaningless gibberish, senseless babbling, a syllable here, a syllable there. As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, and be injured, ensnared, and captured. |
| 14Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, | 14Therefore, listen to the LORD's word, you who mock, you rulers of these people who reside in Jerusalem! |
| 15Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us, For we have made lies our refuge, And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.” | 15For you say, "We have made a treaty with death, with Sheol we have made an agreement. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by it will not reach us. For we have made a lie our refuge, we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word." |
| 16Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily. | 16Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the LORD, says: "Look, I am laying a stone in Zion, an approved stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. The one who maintains his faith will not panic. |
| 17Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place. | 17I will make justice the measuring line, fairness the plumb line; hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place. |
| 18Your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it. | 18Your treaty with death will be dissolved; your agreement with Sheol will not last. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, you will be overrun by it. |
| 19As often as it goes out it will take you; For morning by morning it will pass over, And by day and by night; It will be a terror just to understand the report.” | 19Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you; indeed, every morning it will sweep by, it will come through during the day and the night." When this announcement is understood, it will cause nothing but terror. |
| 20For the bed is too short to stretch out on, And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it. | 20For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. |
| 21For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon— That He may do His work, His awesome work, And bring to pass His act, His unusual act. | 21For the LORD will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon, to accomplish his work, his peculiar work, to perform his task, his strange task. |
| 22Now therefore, do not be mockers, Lest your bonds be made strong; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts, A destruction determined even upon the whole earth. | 22So now, do not mock, or your chains will become heavier! For I have heard a message about decreed destruction, from the sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, against the entire land. |
| 23Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my speech. | 23Pay attention and listen to my message! Be attentive and listen to what I have to say! |
| 24Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods? | 24Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground? |
| 25When he has leveled its surface, Does he not sow the black cummin And scatter the cummin, Plant the wheat in rows, The barley in the appointed place, And the spelt in its place? | 25Once he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant, sow the seed of the cumin plant, and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places? |
| 26For He instructs him in right judgment, His God teaches him. | 26His God instructs him; he teaches him the principles of agriculture. |
| 27For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge, Nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin; But the black cummin is beaten out with a stick, And the cummin with a rod. | 27Certainly caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed. Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick, and cumin seed with a flail. |
| 28Bread flour must be ground; Therefore he does not thresh it forever, Break it with his cartwheel, Or crush it with his horsemen. | 28Grain is crushed, though one certainly does not thresh it forever. The wheel of one's wagon rolls over it, but his horses do not crush it. |
| 29This also comes from the LORD of hosts, Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. | 29This also comes from the LORD who commands armies, who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom. |
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