Septuagint Bible w/ Apocrypha LXX
New International Version NIV
1 Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? then would I weep for this my people day and night, for the slain of the daughter of my people.
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Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.
2 Who would give me a most distant lodge in the wilderness, that I might leave my people, and depart from them? for they all commit adultery, an assembly of treacherous men.
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Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.
3 And they have bent their tongue like a bow: falsehood and not faithfulness has prevailed upon the earth; for they have gone on from evil to evil, and have not known me, saith the Lord.
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“They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,” declares the LORD.
4 Beware ye each of his neighbour, and trust ye not in your brethren: for every one will surely supplant, and every friend will walk craftily.
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“Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them is a deceiver,and every friend a slanderer.
5 Every one will mock his friend; they will not speak truth: their tongue has learned to speak falsehoods; they have committed iniquity, they ceased not, so as to return.
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Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning.
6 usury upon usury, and deceit upon deceit: they would not know me, saith the Lord.
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You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the LORD.
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will try them with fire, and prove them; for I will do because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.
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Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: “See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?
8 Their tongue is a wounding arrow; the words of their mouth are deceitful: speaks peaceably to his neighbour, but in himself retains enmity.
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Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully. With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them.
9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a people as this?
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Should I not punish them for this?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?”
10 Take up a lamentation for the mountains, and a mournful dirge for the paths of the wilderness, for they are desolate for want of men; they heard not the sound of life from the birds of the sky, nor the cattle: they were amazed, they are gone.
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I will weep and wail for the mountains and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands. They are desolate and untraveled, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. The birds have all fled and the animals are gone.
11 And I will remove the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and make it a dwelling-place of dragons; and I will utterly waste the cities of Juda, so that they shall not be inhabited.
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“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there.”
12 Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? and he that has the word of the mouth of the Lord to him, let him tell you wherefore the land has been destroyed, has been ravaged by fire like a desert, so that no one passes through it.
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Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the LORD and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?
13 And the Lord said to me, Because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not hearkened to my voice;
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The LORD said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.
14 but went after the lusts of their evil heart, and after the idols which their fathers taught them :
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Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.”
15 therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them with trouble and will cause them to drink water of gall:
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Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.
16 and I will scatter them among the nations, to them whom neither they nor their fathers knew; and I will send a sword upon them, until I have consumed them with it.
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I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.”
17 Thus saith the Lord, Call ye the mourning women, and let them come; and send to the wise women, and let them utter their voice;
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This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them.
18 and let them take up a lamentation for you, and let your eyes pour down tears, and your eyelids drop water.
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Let them come quickly and wail over us till our eyes overflow with tears and water streams from our eyelids.
19 For a voice of lamentation has been heard in Sion, How are we become wretched! we are greatly ashamed, for we have forsaken the land, and have abandoned our tabernacles!
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The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How ruined we are! How great is our shame! We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins.’ ”
20 Hear now, ye women, the word of God, and let your ears receive the words of his mouth, and teach your daughters lamentation, and woman her neighbour a dirge.
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Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD; open your ears to the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail; teach one another a lament.
21 For death has come up through your windows, it has entered into our land, to destroy the infants without, and the young men from the streets.
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Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares.
22 And the carcases of the men shall be for an example on the face of the field of your land, like grass after the mower, and there shall be none to gather .
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Say, “This is what the LORD declares: “ ‘Dead bodies will lie like dung on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather them.’ ”
23 Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength, and let not the rich man boast in his wealth;
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This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let him that boasts boast in this, the understanding and knowing that I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgment, and righteousness, upon the earth; for in these things is my pleasure, saith the Lord.
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but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.
25 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will visit upon all the circumcised their uncircumcision;
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“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—
26 on Egypt, and on Idumea, and on Edom, and on the children of Ammon, and on the children of Moab, and on every one that shaves his face round about, them that dwell in the wilderness; for all the Gentiles are uncircumcised in flesh, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised their hearts.
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Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.
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.