King James Version KJV
Good News Translation GNT
1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
1
The Lord has an accusation to bring against the people who live in this land. Listen, Israel, to what he says: "There is no faithfulness or love in the land, and the people do not acknowledge me as God.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
2
They make promises and break them; they lie, murder, steal, and commit adultery. Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
3
And so the land will dry up, and everything that lives on it will die. All the animals and birds, and even the fish, will die."
4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
4
The Lord says, "Let no one accuse the people or reprimand them - my complaint is against you priests.
5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
5
Night and day you blunder on, and the prophets do no better than you. I am going to destroy Israel, your mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
6
My people are doomed because they do not acknowledge me. You priests have refused to acknowledge me and have rejected my teaching, and so I reject you and will not acknowledge your sons as my priests.
7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.
7
"The more of you priests there are, the more you sin against me, and so I will turn your honor into disgrace.
8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
8
You grow rich from the sins of my people, and so you want them to sin more and more.
9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
9
You will suffer the same punishment as the people! I will punish you and make you pay for the evil you do.
10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.
10
You will eat your share of the sacrifices, but still be hungry. You will worship the fertility gods, but still have no children, because you have turned away from me to follow other gods."
11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
11
The Lord says, "Wine, both old and new, is robbing my people of their senses!
12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
12
They ask for revelations from a piece of wood! A stick tells them what they want to know! They have left me. Like a woman who becomes a prostitute, they have given themselves to other gods.
13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
13
At sacred places on the mountaintops they offer sacrifices, and on the hills they burn incense under tall, spreading trees, because the shade is so pleasant! "As a result, your daughters serve as prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.
14
Yet I will not punish them for this, because you yourselves go off with temple prostitutes, and together with them you offer pagan sacrifices. As the proverb says, "A people without sense will be ruined.'
15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth.
15
"Even though you people of Israel are unfaithful to me, may Judah not be guilty of the same thing. Don't worship at Gilgal or Bethaven, or make promises there in the name of the living Lord.
16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
16
The people of Israel are as stubborn as mules. How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
17
The people of Israel are under the spell of idols. Let them go their own way.
18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
18
After drinking much wine, they delight in their prostitution, preferring disgrace to honor.
19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
19
They will be carried away as by the wind, and they will be ashamed of their pagan sacrifices. ,
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.