| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. | 1I will stand at my watch post; I will remain stationed on the city wall. I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me and can know how I should answer when he counters my argument. |
| 2And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. | 2The LORD responded: "Write down this message! Record it legibly on tablets, so the one who announces it may read it easily. |
| 3For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. | 3For the message is a witness to what is decreed; it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. Even if the message is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; for it will certainly come to pass--it will not arrive late. |
| 4“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. | 4Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness. |
| 5“Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.” | 5Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! His appetite is as big as Sheol's; like death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations; he seizes all peoples. |
| 6Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say, “Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!” | 6"But all these nations will someday taunt him and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: 'The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead (How long will this go on?)--he who gets rich by extortion!' |
| 7Will not your debtors suddenly arise, and those awake who will make you tremble? Then you will be spoil for them. | 7Your creditors will suddenly attack; those who terrify you will spring into action, and they will rob you. |
| 8Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you, for the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them. | 8Because you robbed many countries, all who are left among the nations will rob you. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them. |
| 9“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm! | 9The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. He does this so he can build his nest way up high and escape the clutches of disaster. |
| 10You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples; you have forfeited your life. | 10Your schemes will bring shame to your house. Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct. |
| 11For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond. | 11For the stones in the walls will cry out, and the wooden rafters will answer back. |
| 12“Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity! | 12The one who builds a city by bloodshed is as good as dead--he who starts a town by unjust deeds. |
| 13Behold, is it not from the LORD of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing? | 13Be sure of this! The LORD who commands armies has decreed: The nations' efforts will go up in smoke; their exhausting work will be for nothing. |
| 14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. | 14For recognition of the LORD's sovereign majesty will fill the earth just as the waters fill up the sea. |
| 15“Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink— you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness! | 15"You who force your neighbor to drink wine are as good as dead--you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger, so you can look at their genitals. |
| 16You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision! The cup in the LORD’s right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory! | 16But you will become drunk with shame, not majesty. Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! The cup of wine in the LORD's right hand is coming to you, and disgrace will replace your majestic glory! |
| 17The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them, for the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them. | 17For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon; terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them. |
| 18“What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! | 18What good is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? Why would its creator place his trust in it and make such mute, worthless things? |
| 19Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. | 19The one who says to wood, 'Wake up!' is as good as dead--he who says to speechless stone, 'Awake!' Can it give reliable guidance? It is overlaid with gold and silver; it has no life's breath inside it. |
| 20But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” | 20But the LORD is in his majestic palace. The whole earth is speechless in his presence!" |
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