| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1"Flee to safety, you people of Benjamin, leave Jerusalem. Sound the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal over Beth-haccerem! For calamity and terrible destruction are turning toward you from the north. | 1"Run for safety, people of Benjamin! Get out of Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa! Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem! For disaster lurks out of the north; it will bring great destruction. |
| 2I'll destroy the lovely and delicate Daughter of Zion. | 2I will destroy Daughter Zion, who is as delicate and defenseless as a young maiden. |
| 3Shepherds and their flocks will come against her. They'll pitch their tents all around her, and every one will tend his flock in his own place. | 3Kings will come against it with their armies. They will encamp in siege all around it. Each of them will devastate the portion assigned to him. |
| 4Prepare for war against her. Get ready, let's attack at noon! How terrible for us that the day is coming to an end, and that the evening shadows are lengthening. | 4They will say, 'Prepare to do battle against it! Come on! Let's attack it at noon!' But later they will say, 'Oh, oh! Too bad! The day is almost over and the shadows of evening are getting long. |
| 5Get ready, let's attack at night, and destroy her fortresses." | 5So come on, let's go ahead and attack it by night and destroy all its fortified buildings.' |
| 6For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Cut down trees and set up siege works against Jerusalem. It is the city to be judged, and there is oppression throughout the entire city. | 6All of this is because the LORD who rules over all has said: 'Cut down the trees around Jerusalem and build up a siege ramp against its walls. This is the city which is to be punished. Nothing but oppression happens in it. |
| 7As a well keeps its waters fresh, so the city keeps her wickedness fresh. Violence and destruction are heard in her, sickness and wounds are always before me. | 7As a well continually pours out fresh water so it continually pours out wicked deeds. Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it. All I see are sick and wounded people.' |
| 8Be warned, Jerusalem, or I'll be alienated from you. I'll make you desolate, a land not inhabited." | 8So take warning, Jerusalem, or I will abandon you in disgust and make you desolate, a place where no one can live." |
| 9This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as they would the vine. Pass your hand over them like grape gatherers over the branches. | 9This is what the LORD who rules over all said to me: "Those who remain in Israel will be like the grapes thoroughly gleaned from a vine. So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester passing your hand over the branches one last time." |
| 10To whom will I speak and give a warning so they'll listen? Look, their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. Look, this message from the LORD is contemptible to them; they don't delight in it. | 10I answered, "Who would listen if I spoke to them and warned them? Their ears are so closed that they cannot hear! Indeed, what the LORD says is offensive to them. They do not like it at all. |
| 11I'm full of the wrath of the LORD, and I'm tired of holding it back. Pour it out on the children in the street and on the groups of young men gathered together. Indeed, both husband and wife will be caught in it, the old and the very old. | 11I am as full of anger as you are, LORD, I am tired of trying to hold it in." The LORD answered, "Vent it, then, on the children who play in the street and on the young men who are gathered together. Husbands and wives are to be included, as well as the old and those who are advanced in years. |
| 12Their houses will be turned over to others— their fields and wives together— when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land," declares the LORD. | 12Their houses will be turned over to others as will their fields and their wives. For I will unleash my power against those who live in this land," says the LORD. |
| 13"Indeed, from the least important to the most important, they're all greedy for dishonest gain. From prophet to priest, they all act deceitfully. | 13"That is because, from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all of them practice deceit. |
| 14They treated my people's wound superficially, telling them, 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace. | 14They offer only superficial help for the harm my people have suffered. They say, 'Everything will be all right!' But everything is not all right! |
| 15Were they ashamed because they did what was repugnant to God? They were not ashamed at all— they don't even know how to blush! Therefore they'll fall with those who fall. When I punish them, they'll be brought down," says the LORD. | 15Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things? No, they are not at all ashamed. They do not even know how to blush! So they will die, just like others have died. They will be brought to ruin when I punish them," says the LORD. |
| 16This is what the LORD says: "Stand beside the roads and watch. Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is. Walk in it and find rest for yourselves. But they said, 'We won't walk in it!' | 16The LORD said to his people: "You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. Ask where the old, reliable paths are. Ask where the path is that leads to blessing and follow it. If you do, you will find rest for your souls." But they said, "We will not follow it!" |
| 17I appointed watchmen over you. Listen for the sound of the trumpet. But they said, 'We won't listen!' | 17The LORD said, "I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, saying: 'Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!'" But they said, "We will not pay attention!" |
| 18Therefore, hear, nations, and know, congregation, what will happen to them. | 18So the LORD said, "Hear, you nations! Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people. |
| 19Listen, earth! I'm about to bring calamity on this people, on the fruit of their plans, because they didn't listen to my words and they rejected my instruction. | 19Hear this, you peoples of the earth: 'Take note! I am about to bring disaster on these people. It will come as punishment for their scheming. For they have paid no attention to what I have said, and they have rejected my law. |
| 20What good is frankincense that comes from Sheba to me, or sweet cane from a distant country? Your burnt offerings aren't acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me." | 20I take no delight when they offer up to me frankincense that comes from Sheba or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land. I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me. I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.' |
| 21Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "I'm about to put stumbling blocks in front of this people, and fathers and sons will stumble over them together. The neighbor and his friends will perish." | 21So, this is what the LORD says: 'I will assuredly make these people stumble to their doom. Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction. Friends and neighbors will die.' |
| 22This is what the LORD says: "Look, people are coming from a northern country. A great nation is stirring from the ends of the earth. | 22"This is what the LORD says: 'Beware! An army is coming from a land in the north. A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth. |
| 23They grab bow and spear; they're cruel and show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea as they ride on horses, deployed like men ready for battle against you, daughter of Zion." | 23Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride forth on their horses. Lined up in formation like men going into battle to attack you, Daughter Zion.'" |
| 24We have heard the news about it, and our hands are limp. Distress has seized us like a woman in labor. | 24The people cry out, "We have heard reports about them! We have become helpless with fear! Anguish grips us, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby! |
| 25Don't go out into the field, and don't travel on the road, because the enemy has a sword, and terror is on every side. | 25Do not go out into the countryside. Do not travel on the roads. For the enemy is there with sword in hand. They are spreading terror everywhere." |
| 26Daughter of my people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as one mourns at the death of an only son. For the destroyer will come on us suddenly. | 26So I said, "Oh, my dear people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now that destructive army will come against us." |
| 27"I've made you an assayer of my people, as well as a fortress. You know how to test their way." | 27The LORD said to me, "I have made you like a metal assayer to test my people like ore. You are to observe them and evaluate how they behave." |
| 28All of them are very rebellious, going around as slanderers. They're bronze and iron, and all of them are corrupt. | 28I reported, "All of them are the most stubborn of rebels! They are as hard as bronze or iron. They go about telling lies. They all deal corruptly. |
| 29The bellows blow fiercely to consume the lead with the fire. The assayer keeps on refining, but the impurities aren't separated out. | 29The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely. But there is too much dross to be removed. The process of refining them has proved useless. The wicked have not been purged. |
| 30They're called reject silver, because the LORD has rejected them. | 30They are regarded as 'rejected silver' because the LORD rejects them." |
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