A Lament over Zion 1 RV Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! BSB BSB: Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
2 RV Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. BSB BSB: If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.
3 RV And they bend their tongue as it were their bow for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD. BSB BSB: “They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
4 RV Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will go about with slanders. BSB BSB: “Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.
5 RV And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. BSB BSB: Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
6 RV Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD. BSB BSB: You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.
7 RV Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else should I do, because of the daughter of my people? BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people?
8 RV Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait for him. BSB BSB: Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
9 RV Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? BSB BSB: Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
10 RV For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passeth through; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled, they are gone. BSB BSB: I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.
11 RV And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant. BSB BSB: “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
12 RV Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it? wherefore is the land and perished burned up like a wilderness, so that none passeth through? BSB BSB: Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
13 RV And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; BSB BSB: And the LORD answered, “It is because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them; they have not walked in it or obeyed My voice.
14 RV but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them: BSB BSB: Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
15 RV therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
16 RV I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them. BSB BSB: I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”
17 RV Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the cunning women, that they may come: BSB BSB: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.
18 RV and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. BSB BSB: Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water.
19 RV For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings. BSB BSB: For the sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How devastated we are! How great is our shame! For we have abandoned the land because our dwellings have been torn down.’”
20 RV Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. BSB BSB: Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD. Open your ears to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters to wail, and one another to lament.
21 RV For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. BSB BSB: For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
22 RV Speak, Thus saith the LORD, The carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them . BSB BSB: Declare that this is what the LORD says: “The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field, like newly cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather it.”
23 RV Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
24 RV but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth, and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. BSB BSB: But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.
25 RV Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised in their uncircumcision; BSB BSB: “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—
26 RV Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair polled, that dwell in the wilderness: for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart. BSB BSB: Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
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