| New Living Translation | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint. The LORD’s Second Reply | 1I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the lookout tower. I will watch to see what he will say to me and what I should reply about my complaint. |
| 2Then the LORD said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. | 2The LORD answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it. |
| 3This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. | 3For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late. |
| 4“Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. | 4Look, his ego is inflated; he is without integrity. But the righteous one will live by his faith. |
| 5Wealth is treacherous, and the arrogant are never at rest. They open their mouths as wide as the grave, and like death, they are never satisfied. In their greed they have gathered up many nations and swallowed many peoples. | 5Moreover, wine betrays; an arrogant man is never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself; he collects all the peoples for himself. |
| 6“But soon their captives will taunt them. They will mock them, saying, ‘What sorrow awaits you thieves! Now you will get what you deserve! You’ve become rich by extortion, but how much longer can this go on?’ | 6Won't all of these take up a taunt against him, with mockery and riddles about him? They will say: Woe to him who amasses what is not his--how much longer?--and loads himself with goods taken in pledge. |
| 7Suddenly, your debtors will take action. They will turn on you and take all you have, while you stand trembling and helpless. | 7Won't your creditors suddenly arise, and those who disturb you wake up? Then you will become spoil for them. |
| 8Because you have plundered many nations, now all the survivors will plunder you. You committed murder throughout the countryside and filled the towns with violence. | 8Since you have plundered many nations, all the peoples who remain will plunder you--because of human bloodshed and violence against lands, cities, and all who live in them. |
| 9“What sorrow awaits you who build big houses with money gained dishonestly! You believe your wealth will buy security, putting your family’s nest beyond the reach of danger. | 9Woe to him who dishonestly makes wealth for his house to place his nest on high, to escape the grasp of disaster! |
| 10But by the murders you committed, you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives. | 10You have planned shame for your house by wiping out many peoples and sinning against your own self. |
| 11The very stones in the walls cry out against you, and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint. | 11For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will answer them from the woodwork. |
| 12“What sorrow awaits you who build cities with money gained through murder and corruption! | 12Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with injustice! |
| 13Has not the LORD of Heaven’s Armies promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes? They work so hard, but all in vain! | 13Is it not from the LORD of Armies that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire and countries exhaust themselves for nothing? |
| 14For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the LORD. | 14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD's glory, as the water covers the sea. |
| 15“What sorrow awaits you who make your neighbors drunk! You force your cup on them so you can gloat over their shameful nakedness. | 15Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink, pouring out your wrath and even making them drunk, in order to look at their nakedness! |
| 16But soon it will be your turn to be disgraced. Come, drink and be exposed! Drink from the cup of the LORD’s judgment, and all your glory will be turned to shame. | 16You will be filled with disgrace instead of glory. You also--drink, and expose your uncircumcision! The cup in the LORD's right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will cover your glory. |
| 17You cut down the forests of Lebanon. Now you will be cut down. You destroyed the wild animals, so now their terror will be yours. You committed murder throughout the countryside and filled the towns with violence. | 17For your violence against Lebanon will overwhelm you; the destruction of animals will terrify you because of your human bloodshed and violence against lands, cities, and all who live in them. |
| 18“What good is an idol carved by man, or a cast image that deceives you? How foolish to trust in your own creation— a god that can’t even talk! | 18What use is a carved idol after its craftsman carves it? It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies. For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it and makes idols that cannot speak. |
| 19What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols, ‘Wake up and save us!’ To speechless stone images you say, ‘Rise up and teach us!’ Can an idol tell you what to do? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside. | 19Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up! or to mute stone: Come alive! Can it teach? Look! It may be plated with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all. |
| 20But the LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.” | 20But the LORD is in his holy temple; let the whole earth be silent in his presence. |
| 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. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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