New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1“Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the LORD. “Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city.

1"Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, And look now and take note. And seek in her open squares, If you can find a man, If there is one who does justice, who seeks truth, Then I will pardon her.

2But even when they are under oath, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are still telling lies!”

2"And although they say, 'As the LORD lives,' Surely they swear falsely."

3LORD, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.

3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have smitten them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent.

4Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor? They are ignorant. They don’t know the ways of the LORD. They don’t understand God’s laws.

4Then I said, "They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God.

5So I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they know the ways of the LORD and understand God’s laws.” But the leaders, too, as one man, had thrown off God’s yoke and broken his chains.

5"I will go to the great And will speak to them, For they know the way of the LORD And the ordinance of their God." But they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke And burst the bonds.

6So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.

6Therefore a lion from the forest will slay them, A wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, Because their transgressions are many, Their apostasies are numerous.

7“How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were full. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the brothels.

7"Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And trooped to the harlot's house.

8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.

8"They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing after his neighbor's wife.

9Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

9"Shall I not punish these people," declares the LORD, "And on a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?

10“Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines, leaving a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vines, for these people do not belong to the LORD.

10"Go up through her vine rows and destroy, But do not execute a complete destruction; Strip away her branches, For they are not the LORD'S.

11The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me,” says the LORD.

11"For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me," declares the LORD.

12“They have lied about the LORD and said, ‘He won’t bother us! No disasters will come upon us. There will be no war or famine.

12They have lied about the LORD And said, "Not He; Misfortune will not come on us, And we will not see sword or famine.

13God’s prophets are all windbags who don’t really speak for him. Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’”

13"The prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them!"

14Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies says: “Because the people are talking like this, my messages will flame out of your mouth and burn the people like kindling wood.

14Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, "Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire And this people wood, and it will consume them.

15O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you,” says the LORD. “It is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand.

15"Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel," declares the LORD. "It is an enduring nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.

16Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty.

16"Their quiver is like an open grave, All of them are mighty men.

17They will devour the food of your harvest; they will devour your sons and daughters. They will devour your flocks and herds; they will devour your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified towns, which you think are so safe.

17"They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.

18“Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the LORD.

18"Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not make you a complete destruction.

19“And when your people ask, ‘Why did the LORD our God do all this to us?’ you must reply, ‘You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’ A Warning for God’s People

19"It shall come about when they say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' then you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'

20“Make this announcement to Israel, and say this to Judah:

20"Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying,

21Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear.

21'Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, Who have eyes but do not see; Who have ears but do not hear.

22Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.

22'Do you not fear Me?' declares the LORD. 'Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.

23But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me.

23'But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and departed.

24They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’

24'They do not say in their heart, "Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest."

25Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.

25'Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you.

26“Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They continually set traps to catch people.

26'For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men.

27Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And now they are great and rich.

27'Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich.

28They are fat and sleek, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor.

28'They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

29Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

29Shall I not punish these people?' declares the LORD, 'On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?'

30A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land—

30"An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land:

31the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?

31The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?

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.

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