| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 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. | 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. |
| 2Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are swearing falsely.” | 2But even when they are under oath, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are still telling lies!” |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife. | 8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife. |
| 9Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? | 9Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation? |
| 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. | 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. |
| 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,” declares the LORD. | 11The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me,” says the LORD. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 13The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.” | 13God’s prophets are all windbags who don’t really speak for him. Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’” |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 16Their quivers are like open graves; they are all mighty men. | 16Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty. |
| 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.” | 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. |
| 18“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you. | 18“Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the LORD. |
| 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.’ ” | 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 |
| 20Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: | 20“Make this announcement to Israel, and say this to Judah: |
| 21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. | 21Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away. | 23But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me. |
| 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.’ | 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.’ |
| 25Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty. | 25Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things. |
| 26For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men. | 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. |
| 27Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich. | 27Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And now they are great and rich. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 29Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? | 29Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation? |
| 30A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land. | 30A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land— |
| 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? | 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? |
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