Woe To The Oppressors Of God's People

1 A curse on the designers of evil, working on their beds! in the morning light they do it, because it is in their power.

1 Woe to those who (A)scheme iniquity,Who work out evil on their beds!(a)(B)When morning comes, they do it,For it is in the (C)power of their hands.

1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.

1 Woe to those who dream up wickednessand prepare evil plans(A) on their beds!At morning light(B) they accomplish itbecause the power is in their hands.(C)

1 "Woe to those who are crafting iniquity, planning evil well into the night! When morning's light comes, they carry out their plans because they have the power to do so.

2 They have a desire for fields and take them by force; and for houses and take them away: they are cruel to a man and his family, even to a man and his heritage.

2 They (D)covet fields and then (E)seize them,And houses, and take them away.They (b)(F)rob a man and his house,A man and his inheritance.

2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

2 They covet fields(D) and seize them;(E)they also take houses.They deprive a man of his home,(F)a person of his inheritance.(G)

2 They covet fields and seize them; they covet houses, and grab them, too. They harass the valiant man, along with his household, an individual and his estate.

3 For this cause the Lord has said, See, against this family I am purposing an evil from which you will not be able to take your necks away, and you will be weighted down by it; for it is an evil time.

3 Therefore thus says the Lord,“Behold, I am (G)planning against this (H)family a calamityFrom which you (I)cannot remove your necks;And you will not walk (J)haughtily,For it will be an (K)evil time.

3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.

3 Therefore, the Lord says:I am now planning(H) a disasteragainst this nation;(I)you cannot free your necks from it.(J)Then you will not walk so proudly(K)because it will be an evil time.(L)

3 "Therefore this is what the LORD says, "I'm crafting evil against this family, from which you can't escape. You won't strut around arrogantly, because the times are evil.'

4 In that day this saying will be said about you, and this song of grief will be made: The heritage of my people is measured out, and there is no one to give it back; those who have made us prisoners have taken our fields from us, and complete destruction has come to us.

4 “On that day they will (L)take up against you a (c)tauntAnd (d)(M)utter a bitter lamentation and say,‘We are completely (N)destroyed!He exchanges the portion of my people;How He removes it from me!To the apostate He (O)apportions our fields.’

4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.

4 In that day one will take up(M) a taunt against you,and lament mournfully,(N) saying,“We are totally ruined!(O)He measures out the allotted land of my people.How He removes it from me!He allots our fields(P) to traitors.”

4 "When this happens, someone will compose a proverb about you, lamenting sorrowfully, "We are completely ruined! He has given my people's heritage to others. How he has removed it from me, dividing up our fields!'

5 For this cause you will have no one to make the decision by the measuring line in the meeting of the Lord.

5 “Therefore you will have no one (e)(P)stretching a measuring lineFor you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.

5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD.

5 Therefore, there will be no onein the assembly of the Lordto divide the land by casting lots.(a)(Q)

5 "This is why there will not be left even a single person to settle boundary disputes in the LORD's community.

God's Word Rejected

6 Let not words like these be dropped, they say: Shame and the curse will not come to the family of Jacob!

6 (Q)Do not (f)speak out,’ so they (g)speak out.But if (h)they do (R)not (i)speak out concerning these things,(S)Reproaches will not be turned back.

6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.

6 “Quit your preaching,”(R) they(b) preach.“They should not preach these things;(S)shame will not overtake us.”(c)(T)

6 To those who speak out, they will declare, "Don't prophesy to anyone!' so their shame won't go away.

7 Is the Lord quickly made angry? are these his doings? do not his words do good to his people Israel?

7 “Is it being said, O house of Jacob:‘Is the Spirit of the Lord (T)impatient?Are these His doings?’Do not My words (U)do goodTo the one (V)walking uprightly?

7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?

7 House of Jacob, should it be asked,“Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?(U)Are these the things He does?”Don’t My words bring good(V)to the one who walks uprightly?(W)

7 "It is said, house of Jacob, "The Spirit of the LORD is limited, if he acts this way, is he not?' "But my words benefit those who live righteously, do they not?

8 As for you, you have become haters of those who were at peace with you: you take the clothing of those who go by without fear, and make them prisoners of war.

8 (j)Recently My people have arisen as an (W)enemy—You (X)strip the (k)robe off the garmentFrom (Y)unsuspecting passers-by,From those returned from war.

8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.

8 But recently My people have risen uplike an enemy:(X)You strip off the splendid robe(Y)from those who are passing through confidently,(Z)like those returning from war.

8 Lately my people have acted like an enemy you strip travelers who thought they were as secure as those who return from war.

9 The women of my people you have been driving away from their dearly loved children; from their young ones you are taking my glory for ever.

9 “The women of My people you (Z)evict,Each one from her pleasant house.From her children you take My (AA)splendor forever.

9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.

9 You force(AA) the women of My peopleout of their comfortable homes,and you take My blessing(d)(AB)from their children forever.

9 You have evicted the wives of my people from their dream homes; you have removed my majesty from their children permanently.

10 Up! and go; for this is not your rest: because it has been made unclean, the destruction ordered will come on you.

10 “Arise and go,For this is no place (AB)of restBecause of the (AC)uncleanness that brings on destruction,A painful destruction.

10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

10 Get up and leave,for this is not your place of rest,(AC)because defilement(AD) brings destruction—a grievous destruction!(AE)

10 "Get up and go, because there's no rest for you here! Since everything is polluted, it can only cause destruction, even heavy destruction.

11 If a man came with a false spirit of deceit, saying, I will be a prophet to you of wine and strong drink: he would be the sort of prophet for this people.

11 “If a man walking after wind and (AD)falsehoodHad told lies and said,‘I will (l)speak out to you concerning (AE)wine and liquor,’He would be (m)spokesman to (AF)this people.

11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

11 If a man of wind(e) comesand invents lies:(AF)“I will preach to you about wine and beer,”(AG)he would be just the preacher for this people!(AH)

11 Suppose a man who keeps company with a deceiving spirit prophesies like this: "Drink wine and strong drink!' Won't the people accept him as a prophet?"

The Remnant Regathered

12 I will certainly make all of you, O Jacob, come together; I will get together the rest of Israel; I will put them together like the sheep in their circle: like a flock in their green field; they will be full of the noise of men.

12 “I will surely (AG)assemble all of you, Jacob,I will surely gather the (AH)remnant of Israel.I will put them together like sheep in the fold;Like a flock in the midst of its pastureThey will be noisy with men.

12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

12 I will indeed gather(AI) all of you, Jacob;I will collect the remnant of Israel.(AJ)I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,like a flock in the middle of its fold.It will be noisy with people.(AK)

12 "Jacob, how I will surely gather all of you! How I will gather the survivors of Israel! I will gather them together like sheep in a pen, like the flock in the midst of the sheepfold. There will be a great commotion because of all the people.

13 The opener of the way will go up before them: forcing their way out they will go on to the doorway and out through it: their king will go on before them, and the Lord at their head.

13 “The breaker goes up before them;They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it.So their king goes on before them,And the Lord at their head.”

13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.

13 One who breaks open the waywill advance before them;they will break out, pass through the gate,and leave by it.Their King will pass through before them,the Lord as their leader.

13 God will stand up and break through in their presence. Then they will pass through the gate, going out by it. Their king will pass in front of them with the LORD at their head."

Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.

International Standard Version Copyright © 1996-2008 by the ISV Foundation.

King James Version Public Domain

New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org