| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Ah, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley of those 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 one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, he casts 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 proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden underfoot; | 3The splendid crown of Ephraim's drunkards will be trampled underfoot. |
| 4and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley, will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer: when someone sees it, he swallows it as soon as it is 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 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. |
| 6and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and 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. |
| 7These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving 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 filthy vomit, with no space left. | 8Indeed, all the tables are covered with vomit; no place is untouched. |
| 9“To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast? | 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 it is precept 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 by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the LORD will speak to this people, | 11For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue he will speak to these people. |
| 12to whom he has said, “This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose”; 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. |
| 13And the word of the LORD will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. | 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 scoffers, who rule this people 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 have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter”; | 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 am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ | 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. |
| 17And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.” | 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. |
| 18Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten 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 passes through it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message. | 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 oneself on, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in. | 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 on Mount Perazim; as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused; to do his deed—strange is his deed! and to work his work—alien is his work! | 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 scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord GOD of hosts against the whole land. | 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; give attention, and hear my speech. | 23Pay attention and listen to my message! Be attentive and listen to what I have to say! |
| 24Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground? | 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 scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border? | 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 is rightly instructed; his God teaches him. | 26His God instructs him; he teaches him the principles of agriculture. |
| 27Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin, but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cumin 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. |
| 28Does one crush grain for bread? No, he does not thresh it forever; when he drives his cart wheel over it with his horses, he does not crush it. | 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; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom. | 29This also comes from the LORD who commands armies, who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom. |
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