| New American Standard Bible 1995 | NET Bible |
| 1Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! | 1I wish that my head were a well full of water and my eyes were a fountain full of tears! If they were, I could cry day and night for those of my dear people who have been killed. |
| 2Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers' lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. | 2I wish I had a lodging place in the desert where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. Then I would desert my people and walk away from them because they are all unfaithful to God, a congregation of people that has been disloyal to him. |
| 3"They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me," declares the LORD. | 3The LORD says, "These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows. Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. They have become powerful in the land, but they have not done so by honest means. Indeed, they do one evil thing after another and do not pay attention to me. |
| 4"Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. | 4Everyone must be on his guard around his friends. He must not even trust any of his relatives. For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. And all of his friends will tell lies about him. |
| 5"Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity. | 5One friend deceives another and no one tells the truth. These people have trained themselves to tell lies. They do wrong and are unable to repent. |
| 6"Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," declares the LORD. | 6They do one act of violence after another, and one deceitful thing after another. They refuse to pay attention to me," says the LORD. |
| 7Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I will refine them and assay them; For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people? | 7Therefore the LORD who rules over all says, "I will now purify them in the fires of affliction and test them. The wickedness of my dear people has left me no choice. What else can I do? |
| 8"Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him. | 8Their tongues are like deadly arrows. They are always telling lies. Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths. But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them. |
| 9"Shall I not punish them for these things?" declares the LORD. "On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? | 9I will certainly punish them for doing such things!" says the LORD. "I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!" |
| 10"For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge, Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone. | 10I said, "I will weep and mourn for the grasslands on the mountains, I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wilderness because they are so scorched no one travels through them. The sound of livestock is no longer heard there. Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fields have fled and are gone." |
| 11"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant." | 11The LORD said, "I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. I will destroy the towns of Judah so that no one will be able to live in them." |
| 12Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? | 12I said, "Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened? Who has a word from the LORD that can explain it? Why does the land lie in ruins? Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?" |
| 13The LORD said, "Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, | 13The LORD answered, "This has happened because these people have rejected my laws which I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws. |
| 14but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them," | 14Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to the gods called Baal, as their fathers taught them to do. |
| 15therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. | 15So then, listen to what I, the LORD God of Israel who rules over all, say. 'I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. |
| 16"I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them." | 16I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords until I have destroyed them.'" |
| 17Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wailing women, that they may come! | 17The LORD who rules over all told me to say to this people, "Take note of what I say. Call for the women who mourn for the dead! Summon those who are the most skilled at it!" |
| 18"Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water. | 18I said, "Indeed, let them come quickly and sing a song of mourning for us. Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyes and our eyelids overflow with water. |
| 19"For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion, 'How are we ruined! We are put to great shame, For we have left the land, Because they have cast down our dwellings.'" | 19For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion. They will wail, 'We are utterly ruined! We are completely disgraced! For our houses have been torn down and we must leave our land.'" |
| 20Now hear the word of the LORD, O you women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a dirge. | 20I said, "So now, you wailing women, hear what the LORD says. Open your ears to the words from his mouth. Teach your daughters this mournful song, and each of you teach your neighbor this lament. |
| 21For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the children from the streets, The young men from the town squares. | 21Death has climbed in through our windows. It has entered into our fortified houses. It has taken away our children who play in the streets. It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.' |
| 22Speak, "Thus says the LORD, 'The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.'" | 22Tell your daughters and neighbors, 'The LORD says, "The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywhere like manure scattered on a field. They will lie scattered on the ground like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered."'" |
| 23Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; | 23The LORD says, "Wise people should not boast that they are wise. Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. Rich people should not boast that they are rich. |
| 24but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. | 24If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the LORD, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things," says the LORD. |
| 25"Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised-- | 25The LORD says, "Watch out! The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. |
| 26Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart." | 26That is, I will punish the Egyptians, the Judeans, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples. I will do so because none of the people of those nations are really circumcised in the LORD's sight. Moreover, none of the people of Israel are circumcised when it comes to their hearts." |
| New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. //netbible.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |
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