| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1I am depressed! Indeed, it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered, and the grapes have been harvested. There is no grape cluster to eat, no fresh figs that I crave so much. | 1How miserable I am! I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest who can find nothing to eat. Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger. |
| 2Faithful men have disappeared from the land; there are no godly men left. They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; they hunt their own brother with a net. | 2The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth. They are all murderers, setting traps even for their own brothers. |
| 3They are determined to be experts at doing evil; government officials and judges take bribes, prominent men make demands, and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. | 3Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil! Officials and judges alike demand bribes. The people with influence get what they want, and together they scheme to twist justice. |
| 4The best of them is like a thorn; the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen--your appointed time of punishment--is on the way, and then you will experience confusion. | 4Even the best of them is like a brier; the most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns. But your judgment day is coming swiftly now. Your time of punishment is here, a time of confusion. |
| 5Do not rely on a friend; do not trust a companion! Don't even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms! | 5Don’t trust anyone— not your best friend or even your wife! |
| 6For a son thinks his father is a fool, a daughter challenges her mother, and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are his own servants. | 6For the son despises his father. The daughter defies her mother. The daughter-in-law defies her mother-in-law. Your enemies are right in your own household! |
| 7But I will keep watching for the LORD; I will wait for the God who delivers me. My God will hear my lament. | 7As for me, I look to the LORD for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. |
| 8My enemies, do not gloat over me! Though I have fallen, I will get up. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. | 8Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. |
| 9I must endure the LORD's anger, for I have sinned against him. But then he will defend my cause, and accomplish justice on my behalf. He will lead me out into the light; I will experience firsthand his deliverance. | 9I will be patient as the LORD punishes me, for I have sinned against him. But after that, he will take up my case and give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies. The LORD will bring me into the light, and I will see his righteousness. |
| 10When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame. They say to me, "Where is the LORD your God?" I will gloat over them. Then they will be trampled down like mud in the streets. | 10Then my enemies will see that the LORD is on my side. They will be ashamed that they taunted me, saying, “So where is the LORD— that God of yours?” With my own eyes I will see their downfall; they will be trampled like mud in the streets. |
| 11It will be a day for rebuilding your walls; in that day your boundary will be extended. | 11In that day, Israel, your cities will be rebuilt, and your borders will be extended. |
| 12In that day people will come to you from Assyria as far as Egypt, from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River, from the seacoasts and the mountains. | 12People from many lands will come and honor you— from Assyria all the way to the towns of Egypt, from Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River, and from distant seas and mountains. |
| 13The earth will become desolate because of what its inhabitants have done. | 13But the land will become empty and desolate because of the wickedness of those who live there. The LORD’s Compassion on Israel |
| 14Shepherd your people with your shepherd's rod, the flock that belongs to you, the one that lives alone in a thicket, in the midst of a pastureland. Allow them to graze in Bashan and Gilead, as they did in the old days. | 14O LORD, protect your people with your shepherd’s staff; lead your flock, your special possession. Though they live alone in a thicket on the heights of Mount Carmel, let them graze in the fertile pastures of Bashan and Gilead as they did long ago. |
| 15"As in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt, I will show you miraculous deeds." | 15“Yes,” says the LORD, “I will do mighty miracles for you, like those I did when I rescued you from slavery in Egypt.” |
| 16Nations will see this and be disappointed by all their strength, they will put their hands over their mouths, and act as if they were deaf. | 16All the nations of the world will stand amazed at what the LORD will do for you. They will be embarrassed at their feeble power. They will cover their mouths in silent awe, deaf to everything around them. |
| 17They will lick the dust like a snake, like serpents crawling on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds to the LORD our God; they will be terrified of you. | 17Like snakes crawling from their holes, they will come out to meet the LORD our God. They will fear him greatly, trembling in terror at his presence. |
| 18There is no other God like you! You forgive sin and pardon the rebellion of those who remain among your people. You do not remain angry forever, but delight in showing loyal love. | 18Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love. |
| 19You will once again have mercy on us; you will conquer our evil deeds; you will hurl our sins into the depths of the sea. | 19Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! |
| 20You will be loyal to Jacob and extend your loyal love to Abraham, which you promised on oath to our ancestors in ancient times. | 20You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago. |
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