Holman Christian Standard Bible CSB
English Standard Version ESV
1 If my head were water, my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night over the slain of my dear people.
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Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 If only I had a traveler's lodging place in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a solemn assembly of treacherous people.
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Oh that I had in the desert a travelers’ lodging place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men.
3 They bent their tongues [like] their bows; lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land, for they proceed from one evil to another, and they do not take Me into account. [This is] the Lord's declaration.
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They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord.
4 Everyone has to be on guard against his friend. Don't trust any brother, for every brother will certainly deceive, and every friend spread slander.
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Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
5 Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to speak lies; they wear themselves out doing wrong.
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Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.
6 You live in [a world] of deception. In [their] deception they refuse to know Me. [This is] the Lord's declaration.
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Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.
7 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: I am about to refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of My dear people?
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Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people?
8 Their tongues are deadly arrows- they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peaceably with his friend, but inwardly he sets up an ambush.
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Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.
9 Should I not punish them for these things? [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. Should I not take My revenge against a nation such as this?
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Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?
10 I will raise weeping and a lament over the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness grazing land, for they have been so scorched that no one passes through. The sound of cattle is no longer heard. From the birds of the sky to the animals, [everything] has fled-they have gone away.
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“I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled and are gone.
11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a jackals' den. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, an uninhabited place.
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I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals, and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant. ”
12 Who is the man wise enough to understand this? Who has the Lord spoken to, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness, so no one can pass through?
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Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?
13 The Lord said, "It is because they abandoned My law I set in front of them and did not obey My voice or walk according to it.
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And the Lord says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it,
14 Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts and the Baals, as their fathers taught them."
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but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.
15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to feed this people wormwood and give them poisonous waters to drink.
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Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink.
16 I will scatter them among nations that they and their fathers have not known. I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off."
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I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them. ”
17 This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Consider, and summon the women who mourn; send for the skillful women.
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Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skillful women to come;
18 Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us so that our eyes may overflow with tears, our eyelids soaked with weeping.
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let them make haste and raise a wailing over us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids flow with water.
19 For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion: How devastated we are. We are greatly ashamed, for we have abandoned the land; our dwellings have been torn down.
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For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How we are ruined! We are utterly shamed, because we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings. ’”
20 Now hear the word of the Lord, you women. Pay attention to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters a lament and one another a dirge,
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Hear, O women, the word of the Lord, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; teach to your daughters a lament, and each to her neighbor a dirge.
21 for Death has climbed through our windows; it has entered our fortresses, cutting off children from the streets, young men from the squares.
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For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.
22 Speak as follows: This is what the Lord says: Human corpses will fall like manure on the surface of the field, like newly cut grain after the reaper with no one to gather [it].
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Speak: “Thus declares the Lord, ‘The dead bodies of men shall fall like dung upon the open field, like sheaves after the reaper, and none shall gather them. ’”
23 This is what the Lord says: The wise must not boast in his wisdom; the mighty must not boast in his might; the rich must not boast in his riches.
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Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,
24 But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me- that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. [This is] the Lord's declaration.
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but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord. ”
25 "The days are coming"-the Lord's declaration-"when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised:
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“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—
26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, all those who clip the hair on their temples and reside in the wilderness. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."
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Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart. ”
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025