1 I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.1 2:1 Or and what to answer when I am rebuked |
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3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it2 2:3 Or Though he linger, wait for him; / he will certainly come and will not delay. |
4 "See, he is puffed up;
his desires are not upright-
but the righteous will live by his faith3 2:4 Or faithfulness - |
5 indeed, wine betrays him;
he is arrogant and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave4 2:5 Hebrew Sheol
and like death is never satisfied,
he gathers to himself all the nations
and takes captive all the peoples. |
6 "Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, |
7 Will not your debtors5 2:7 Or creditors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
Then you will become their victim. |
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.
For you have shed man's blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. |
9 "Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain
to set his nest on high,
to escape the clutches of ruin! |
10 You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,
shaming your own house and forfeiting your life. |
11 The stones of the wall will cry out,
and the beams of the woodwork will echo it. |
12 "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
and establishes a town by crime! |
13 Has not the LORD Almighty determined
that the people's labor is only fuel for the fire,
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? |
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD ,
as the waters cover the sea. |
15 "Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies. |
16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory.
Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed6 2:16 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint) and stagger !
The cup from the LORD's right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory. |
17 The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and your destruction of animals will terrify you.
For you have shed man's blood;
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. |
18 "Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For he who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak. |
19 Woe to him who says to wood, 'Come to life!'
Or to lifeless stone, 'Wake up!'
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it. |
20 But the LORD is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him." |
