Wycliffe WYC
New International Reader's Version NIRV
1 Woe to you, that be full of riches in Zion, and trust in the hill of Samaria, ye principal men, the heads of peoples, that go proudly to the house of Israel. (Woe to you, who be very rich in Zion, and trust in the hill of Samaria, ye principal men, yea, the leaders of the people, whom the house of Israel proudly followeth.)
1
How terrible it will be for you men who are so contented on Mount Zion! How terrible for you who feel secure on the hill of Samaria! You are famous men from the greatest nation. The people of Israel come to you for help and advice.
2 Go ye into Calneh, and see ye, and go ye from thence into Hemath the great; and go ye down into Gath of Palestines, and to all the best realms of them, if their term be broader than your term. (Go ye into Calneh, and see ye, and go ye from there into the great city of Hamath; and go ye down into Gath of the Philistines, for be those kingdoms any better than yours? or be their territories any broader, or larger, than your territories?)
2
Go to the city of Calneh. Look at it. Go from there to the great city of Hamath. Then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are those places better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours?
3 And ye be parted into the evil day, and nigh to the seat of wickedness; (And ye declare that the evil day is far off, and yet ye do the very wicked things that shall bring it nigh;)
3
You are trying to avoid the time when trouble will come. But you are only bringing closer the Assyrian rule of terror.
4 and ye sleep in beds of ivory, and do lechery in your beds; and ye eat a lamb of the flock, and calves of the middle of the drove (and ye eat a lamb from the flock, and calves out of the midst of the herd);
4
You lie down on beds that are decorated with ivory. You rest on your couches. You eat the best lambs and the fattest calves.
5 and ye sing at the voice of (the) psaltery. As David they guessed them, for to have (made) instruments of song, (and ye sing with the voice of the lute, for ye think yourselves like David, and so make instruments of song;)
5
You pluck away on your harps as David did. You play new songs on musical instruments.
6 and drink wine in vials; and with best ointment they were anointed; and in nothing they had compassion on the sorrow, either defouling, of Joseph. (and drink wine from basins, and anoint yourselves with the best ointment; but ye have no compassion on the sorrow, or on the defiling, of Joseph.)
6
You drink wine by the bowlful. You use the finest lotions. But Joseph's people will soon be destroyed. And you aren't even sad about it.
7 Wherefore now they shall pass in the head of men passing over, and the doing, or treason, of men doing lechery, shall be done away. (And so now ye shall be the first to go into captivity, and then the treason of people doing lechery, shall be done away, or shall be ended.)
7
So you will be among the first to be taken away as prisoners. You won't be able to enjoy good food. You won't lie around on couches anymore.
8 The Lord God swore in his soul, saith the Lord God of hosts, I loathe the pride of Jacob, and I hate the houses of him, and I shall betake the city with his dwellers; (The Lord God swore in his soul, saith the Lord God of hosts, yea, I loathe Jacob's pride, or his arrogance, and I hate his houses, and I shall deliver the city and its inhabitants unto the enemy;)
8
The LORD and King has taken an oath in his own name. He is the LORD God who rules over all. He announces, "I hate the pride of Jacob's people. I can't stand their forts. I will hand the city of Samaria and everything in it over to their enemies."
9 that if ten men be left in one house, and they shall die. (and if only ten men be left in one house, they shall still all die.)
9
Ten men might be left in one house. If they are, they will die there.
10 And his neighbour shall take him, and shall burn him, that he bear out (the) bones of the house. And he shall say to him, that is in the privy place of the house, Whether there is yet (any) with thee? And he shall answer, An end is. And he shall say to him, Be thou still, and think thou not on the name of the Lord. (And his friend, or his relative, shall take him up, to bury him, and he shall carry his bones out of the house. And he shall say to him who is in the private place of the house, Is there anyone left in there with thee? And he shall answer, No. And he shall say to him, Be thou silent, and do not thou even say the Lord's name.)
10
Relatives might come to burn the dead bodies. If they do, they'll have to carry them out of the house first. They might ask someone still hiding there, "Is anyone here with you?" If the answer is no, the relatives will say, "Be quiet! We must not pray in the LORD's name."
11 For lo! the Lord shall command, and shall smite the greater house with fallings, and the less(er) house with carvings, either (with) breakings.
11
The LORD has already given an order. He will smash large houses to pieces. He will crush small houses to bits.
12 Whether horses may run in stones, either it may be eared with wild oxen? For ye turned doom into bitterness, and the fruit of rightwiseness into wormwood. (Can horses run on stones, or can the sea be plowed with oxen? For ye turned justice into bitterness, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.)
12
Horses don't run on rocky ground. People don't plow there with oxen. But you have turned fair treatment into poison. You have turned the fruit of right living into bitterness.
13 And ye be glad in nought, and ye say, Whether not in our strength we took to us horns? (And ye be happy over nothing, and ye say, Did we not get our power by our own strength?)
13
You are happy because you captured the town of Lo Debar. You say, "We were strong enough to take Karnaim too."
14 Lo! I shall raise on you, the house of Israel, saith the Lord God of hosts, a folk; and it shall all-break you from the entry of Hemath unto the stream of desert. (Lo! O house of Israel, I shall raise up a nation against you, saith the Lord God of hosts; and it shall altogether break you from the entrance to Hamath unto the Stream of the Arabah, or the Brook of the Desert.)
14
But the LORD God rules over all. He announces, "People of Israel, I will stir up a nation against you. They will crush you from Lebo Hamath all the way down to the Arabah Valley."
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.