New Living Translation NLT
Common English Bible CEB
1 What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem, and you who feel secure in Samaria! You are famous and popular in Israel, and people go to you for help.
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Doom to those resting comfortably in Zion and those trusting in Mount Samaria, the chiefs of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes!
2 But go over to Calneh and see what happened there. Then go to the great city of Hamath and down to the Philistine city of Gath. You are no better than they were, and look at how they were destroyed.
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Cross over to Calneh and see; from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is your territory greater than their territory?
3 You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer.
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Doom to those who ignore the evil day and make violent rule draw near:
4 How terrible for you who sprawl on ivory beds and lounge on your couches, eating the meat of tender lambs from the flock and of choice calves fattened in the stall.
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who lie on beds of ivory, stretch out on their couches, eat lambs from the flock, and bull calves from the stall;
5 You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp and fancy yourselves to be great musicians like David.
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who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and, like David, compose tunes on musical instruments;
6 You drink wine by the bowlful and perfume yourselves with fragrant lotions. You care nothing about the ruin of your nation.
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who drink bowls of wine, put the best of oils on themselves, but who aren't grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7 Therefore, you will be the first to be led away as captives. Suddenly, all your parties will end.
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Therefore, they will now be the first to be taken away, and the feast of those who lounged at the table will pass away.
8 The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his own name, and this is what he, the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, says: “I despise the arrogance of Israel, and I hate their fortresses. I will give this city and everything in it to their enemies.”
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The LORD God has solemnly sworn, says the LORD, the God of heavenly forces: I reject the pride of Jacob. I hate his fortresses. I will hand over the city and all that is in it.
9 (If there are ten men left in one house, they will all die.
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If ten people remain in one house, then they will die.
10 And when a relative who is responsible to dispose of the dead goes into the house to carry out the bodies, he will ask the last survivor, “Is anyone else with you?” When the person begins to swear, “No, by . . . ,” he will interrupt and say, “Stop! Don’t even mention the name of the LORD .”)
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If a relative, someone who burns the dead, picks up the body to bring it out of the house, and says to someone inside the house, "Is anyone else with you?" the answer will be, "No." Then the relative will say, "Hush! We mustn't mention the name of the LORD."
11 When the LORD gives the command, homes both great and small will be smashed to pieces.
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Look, the LORD is giving an order; he will shatter the great house into bits and the little house into pieces.
12 Can horses gallop over boulders? Can oxen be used to plow them? But that’s how foolish you are when you turn justice into poison and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness.
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Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—
13 And you brag about your conquest of Lo-debar. You boast, “Didn’t we take Karnaim by our own strength?”
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you who rejoice in Lo-debar, who say, "Haven't we by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?"
14 “O people of Israel, I am about to bring an enemy nation against you,” says the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies. “They will oppress you throughout your land— from Lebo-hamath in the north to the Arabah Valley in the south.”
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Indeed, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel, says the LORD God of heavenly forces, and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the desert ravine.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible