| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! | 1If my head were a spring of water, my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night over the slain of my dear people. |
| 2Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. | 2If only I had a traveler's lodging place in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a solemn assembly of treacherous people. |
| 3And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD. | 3They bent their tongues like their bows; lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land, for they proceed from one evil to another, and they do not take Me into account. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 4Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. | 4Everyone has to be on guard against his friend. Don't trust any brother, for every brother will certainly deceive, and every friend spread slander. |
| 5And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. | 5Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to speak lies; they wear themselves out doing wrong. |
| 6Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD. | 6You live in a world of deception. In their deception they refuse to know Me. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 7Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people? | 7Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I am about to refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of My dear people? |
| 8Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait. | 8Their tongues are deadly arrows-- they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peaceably with his friend, but inwardly he sets up an ambush. |
| 9Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? | 9Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD's declaration. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this? |
| 10For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone. | 10I will raise weeping and a lament over the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness grazing land, for they have been so scorched that no one passes through. The sound of cattle is no longer heard. From the birds of the sky to the animals, everything has fled--they have gone away. |
| 11And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. | 11I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a jackals' den. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, an uninhabited place. |
| 12Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through? | 12Who is the man wise enough to understand this? Who has the LORD spoken to, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness, so no one can pass through? |
| 13And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; | 13The LORD said, "It is because they abandoned My instruction that I set in front of them and did not obey My voice or walk according to it. |
| 14But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: | 14Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts and followed after the Baals as their fathers taught them." |
| 15Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. | 15Therefore, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to feed this people wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink. |
| 16I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. | 16I will scatter them among the nations that they and their fathers have not known. I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off." |
| 17Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come: | 17This is what the LORD of Hosts says: Consider, and summon the women who mourn; send for the skillful women. |
| 18And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. | 18Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us so that our eyes may overflow with tears, our eyelids soaked with weeping. |
| 19For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out. | 19For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion: How devastated we are. We are greatly ashamed, for we have abandoned the land; our dwellings have been torn down. |
| 20Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. | 20Now hear the word of the LORD, you women. Pay attention to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters a lament and one another a dirge, |
| 21For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. | 21for Death has climbed through our windows; it has entered our fortresses, cutting off children from the streets, young men from the squares. |
| 22Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them. | 22Speak as follows: This is what the LORD says: Human corpses will fall like manure on the surface of the field, like newly cut grain after the reaper with no one to gather it. |
| 23Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: | 23This is what the LORD says: The wise man must not boast in his wisdom; the strong man must not boast in his strength; the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth. |
| 24But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. | 24But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me-- that I am Yahweh, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 25Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; | 25"The days are coming"--the LORD's declaration--"when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised: |
| 26Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. | 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair on their temples. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." |
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