New International Version NIV
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley— to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!
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Ho! crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim, and the dead flower of his glory which is on the head of those who are overcome by strong drink!
2 See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground.
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See, the Lord has a strong and cruel one; like a rain of ice, a storm of destruction, like the overflowing of a strong river, he will violently overcome them.
3 That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, will be trampled underfoot.
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The crown of pride of those who are given up to wine in Ephraim will be crushed under foot;
4 That fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley, will be like figs ripe before harvest— as soon as people see them and take them in hand, they swallow them.
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And the dead flower of his glory, which is on the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first early fruit before the summer; which a man takes and puts in his mouth the minute he sees it.
5 In that day the LORD Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people.
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In that day will the Lord of armies be a crown of glory, and a fair ornament, to the rest of his people;
6 He will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
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And a spirit of wisdom to the judge, and strength to those who keep back the attackers at the door of the town.
7 And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.
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And further, these are uncertain through wine, and have gone out of the right way through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are uncertain through strong drink, they are overcome by wine, they have gone out of the way through strong drink; their vision is false, they go wrong in their decisions.
8 All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.
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For all the tables are covered with coughed-up food, so that there is not a clean place.
9 “Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast?
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To whom will he give knowledge? and to whom will he make clear the word? Will it be to those who have newly given up milk, and who have only now been taken from the breast?
10 For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that ; a little here, a little there.”
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For it is one rule after another; one line after another; here a little, there a little.
11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people,
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No, but with broken talk, and with a strange tongue, he will give his word to this people:
12 to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”; and, “This is the place of repose”— but they would not listen.
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To whom he said, This is the rest, give rest to him who is tired; and by this you may get new strength; but they would not give ear.
13 So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there— so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be injured and snared and captured.
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For this cause the word of the Lord will be to them rule after rule, line after line, here a little, there a little; so that they may go on their way, and falling back may be broken, and taken in the net.
14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
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Give ear then to the word of the Lord, you men of pride, the rulers of this people in Jerusalem:
15 You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”
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Because you have said, We have made death our friend, and with the underworld we have made an agreement; when the overflowing waters come through they will not come near us; for we are looking to false words for help, taking cover in what is untrue:
16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
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For this cause says the Lord God, See, I am placing in Zion as a base, a stone, a tested stone, an angle-stone which is certain and of great value: and he who has faith will not give way.
17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.
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And I will make right decision the measuring-line, and righteousness the weight: and the ice-storm will take away the safe place of false words, and the secret place will be covered by the flowing waters.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.
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And the help you were looking for from death will come to nothing, and your agreement with the underworld will be broken; when the overflowing waters come through, then you will be overcome by them.
19 As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day and by night, it will sweep through.” The understanding of this message will bring sheer terror.
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Whenever they come through they will overtake you; for they will come through morning after morning, by day and by night: and the news will be nothing but fear.
20 The bed is too short to stretch out on, the blanket too narrow to wrap around you.
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For the bed is not long enough for a man to be stretched out on: and the cover is not wide enough for him to be covered with.
21 The LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon— to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task.
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For the Lord will come up as on Mount Perazim, he will be moved to wrath as in the valley of Gibeon; so that he may do his work--strange is his work; and give effect to his act--unnatural is his act.
22 Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; the Lord, the LORD Almighty, has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land.
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And now, take care that you do not make sport of him, or your bands will be made strong; for I have had word from the Lord, the Lord of armies, of an end, of a complete end, which is to come on all the land.
23 Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.
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Let your ears be open to my voice; give attention to what I say.
24 When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil?
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Is the ploughman for ever ploughing? does he not get the earth ready and broken up for the seed?
25 When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place,barley in its plot,and spelt in its field?
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When the face of the earth has been levelled, does he not put in the different sorts of seed, and the grain in lines, and the barley in its place, and the spelt at the edge?
26 His God instructs him and teaches him the right way.
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For his God is his teacher, giving him the knowledge of these things.
27 Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick.
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For the fitches are not crushed with a sharp instrument, and a cart-wheel is not rolled over the cummin; but the grain of the fitches is hammered out with a stick, and of the cummin with a rod.
28 Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one does not use horses to grind grain.
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Is the grain for bread crushed? He does not go on crushing it for ever, but he lets his cart-wheels and his horses go over it without crushing it.
29 All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.
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This comes from the Lord of armies, purposing wonders, and wise in all his acts.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.