| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem, and you who feel secure in Samaria! You are famous and popular in Israel, and people go to you for help. | 1Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes. |
| 2But go over to Calneh and see what happened there. Then go to the great city of Hamath and down to the Philistine city of Gath. You are no better than they were, and look at how they were destroyed. | 2Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours? |
| 3You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer. | 3You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence. |
| 4How terrible for you who sprawl on ivory beds and lounge on your couches, eating the meat of tender lambs from the flock and of choice calves fattened in the stall. | 4You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. |
| 5You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp and fancy yourselves to be great musicians like David. | 5You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. |
| 6You drink wine by the bowlful and perfume yourselves with fragrant lotions. You care nothing about the ruin of your nation. | 6You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph. |
| 7Therefore, you will be the first to be led away as captives. Suddenly, all your parties will end. | 7Therefore, you will now go into exile as the first of the captives, and your feasting and lounging will come to an end. |
| 8The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his own name, and this is what he, the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, says: “I despise the arrogance of Israel, and I hate their fortresses. I will give this city and everything in it to their enemies.” | 8The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.” |
| 9(If there are ten men left in one house, they will all die. | 9And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die. |
| 10And when a relative who is responsible to dispose of the dead goes into the house to carry out the bodies, he will ask the last survivor, “Is anyone else with you?” When the person begins to swear, “No, by . . . ,” he will interrupt and say, “Stop! Don’t even mention the name of the LORD.”) | 10And when the relative who is to burn the bodies picks them up to remove them from the house, he will call to one inside, “Is anyone else with you?” “None,” that person will answer. “Silence,” the relative will retort, “for the name of the LORD must not be invoked.” |
| 11When the LORD gives the command, homes both great and small will be smashed to pieces. | 11For the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.” |
| 12Can horses gallop over boulders? Can oxen be used to plow them? But that’s how foolish you are when you turn justice into poison and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness. | 12“Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood— |
| 13And you brag about your conquest of Lo-debar. You boast, “Didn’t we take Karnaim by our own strength?” | 13you who rejoice in Lo-debar and say, ‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’ |
| 14“O people of Israel, I am about to bring an enemy nation against you,” says the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies. “They will oppress you throughout your land— from Lebo-hamath in the north to the Arabah Valley in the south.” | 14For behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of Hosts, “and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.” |
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