| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. | 1Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. |
| 2He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. | 2For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die. Idolatrous Worship Condemned |
| 3But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. | 3“But you—come here, you witches’ children, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes! |
| 4Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, | 4Whom do you mock, making faces and sticking out your tongues? You children of sinners and liars! |
| 5Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? | 5You worship your idols with great passion beneath the oaks and under every green tree. You sacrifice your children down in the valleys, among the jagged rocks in the cliffs. |
| 6Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these? | 6Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys. You worship them with liquid offerings and grain offerings. They, not I, are your inheritance. Do you think all this makes me happy? |
| 7Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. | 7You have committed adultery on every high mountain. There you have worshiped idols and have been unfaithful to me. |
| 8Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it. | 8You have put pagan symbols on your doorposts and behind your doors. You have left me and climbed into bed with these detestable gods. You have committed yourselves to them. You love to look at their naked bodies. |
| 9And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell. | 9You have gone to Molech with olive oil and many perfumes, sending your agents far and wide, even to the world of the dead. |
| 10Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved. | 10You grew weary in your search, but you never gave up. Desire gave you renewed strength, and you did not grow weary. |
| 11And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not? | 11“Are you afraid of these idols? Do they terrify you? Is that why you have lied to me and forgotten me and my words? Is it because of my long silence that you no longer fear me? |
| 12I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee. | 12Now I will expose your so-called good deeds. None of them will help you. |
| 13When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain; | 13Let’s see if your idols can save you when you cry to them for help. Why, a puff of wind can knock them down! If you just breathe on them, they fall over! But whoever trusts in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.” God Forgives the Repentant |
| 14And shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people. | 14God says, “Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity.” |
| 15For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. | 15The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts. |
| 16For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. | 16For I will not fight against you forever; I will not always be angry. If I were, all people would pass away— all the souls I have made. |
| 17For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. | 17I was angry, so I punished these greedy people. I withdrew from them, but they kept going on their own stubborn way. |
| 18I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. | 18I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them. I will comfort those who mourn, |
| 19I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him. | 19bringing words of praise to their lips. May they have abundant peace, both near and far,” says the LORD, who heals them. |
| 20But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. | 20“But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt. |
| 21There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. | 21There is no peace for the wicked,” says my God. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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