| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1What sorrow awaits the proud city of Samaria— the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel. It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. It is the pride of a people brought down by 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. |
| 2For the Lord will send a mighty army against it. Like a mighty hailstorm and a torrential rain, they will burst upon it like a surging flood and smash it to the ground. | 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 city of Samaria— the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel — will be trampled beneath its enemies’ feet. | 3The splendid crown of Ephraim's drunkards will be trampled underfoot. |
| 4It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. Whoever sees it will snatch it up, as an early fig is quickly picked and eaten. | 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. |
| 5Then at last the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will himself be Israel’s glorious crown. He will be the pride and joy of 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. |
| 6He will give a longing for justice to their judges. He will give great courage to their warriors who stand at the gates. | 6He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions, and strength to those who defend the city from attackers. |
| 7Now, however, Israel is led by drunks who reel with wine and stagger with alcohol. The priests and prophets stagger with alcohol and lose themselves in wine. They reel when they see visions and stagger as they render decisions. | 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. |
| 8Their tables are covered with vomit; filth is everywhere. | 8Indeed, all the tables are covered with vomit; no place is untouched. |
| 9“Who does the LORD think we are?” they ask. “Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children, just recently weaned? | 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! |
| 10He tells us everything over and over— one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there!” | 10Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish, senseless babbling, a syllable here, a syllable there. |
| 11So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language! | 11For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue he will speak to these people. |
| 12God has told his people, “Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.” But they would not listen. | 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. |
| 13So the LORD will spell out his message for them again, one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there, so that they will stumble and fall. They will be injured, trapped, and captured. | 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, listen to this message from the LORD, you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem. | 14Therefore, listen to the LORD's word, you who mock, you rulers of these people who reside in Jerusalem! |
| 15You boast, “We have struck a bargain to cheat death and have made a deal to dodge the grave. The coming destruction can never touch us, for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.” | 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, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken. | 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. |
| 17I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness. Since your refuge is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception, a flood will sweep it away. | 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. |
| 18I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death, and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave. When the terrible enemy sweeps through, you will be trampled into the ground. | 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. |
| 19Again and again that flood will come, morning after morning, day and night, until you are carried away.” This message will bring terror to your people. | 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. |
| 20The bed you have made is too short to lie on. The blankets are too narrow to cover you. | 20For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. |
| 21The LORD will come as he did against the Philistines at Mount Perazim and against the Amorites at Gibeon. He will come to do a strange thing; he will come to do an unusual deed: | 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. |
| 22For the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, has plainly said that he is determined to crush the whole land. So scoff no more, or your punishment will be even greater. | 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. |
| 23Listen to me; listen, and pay close attention. | 23Pay attention and listen to my message! Be attentive and listen to what I have to say! |
| 24Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting? | 24Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground? |
| 25Does he not finally plant his seeds— black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat— each in its proper way, and each in its proper place? | 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? |
| 26The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. | 26His God instructs him; he teaches him the principles of agriculture. |
| 27A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin; rather, it is beaten with a light stick. A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin; instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail. | 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. |
| 28Grain for bread is easily crushed, so he doesn’t keep on pounding it. He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn’t pulverize 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. |
| 29The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom. | 29This also comes from the LORD who commands armies, who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom. |
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