Stand up, you complacent women;(A)
listen to me.
Pay attention to what I say,
you overconfident daughters.
10 In a little more than a year
you overconfident ones will shudder,
for the grapes will fail
and the harvest will not come.
11 Shudder, you complacent ones;
tremble, you overconfident ones!
Strip yourselves bare(B)
and put sackcloth around your waists.
12 Beat your breasts in mourning(C)
for the delightful fields and the fruitful vines,(D)
13 for the ground of my people
growing thorns and briers,(E)
indeed, for every joyous house in the jubilant city.

14 For the palace will be deserted,
the busy city abandoned.
The hill and the watchtower will become
barren places forever,
the joy of wild donkeys,
and a pasture for flocks,
15 until the Spirit[a] from on high is poured out on us.(F)
Then the desert will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest.(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 32:15 Or a wind

The Women of Jerusalem

You women(A) who are so complacent,
    rise up and listen(B) to me;
you daughters who feel secure,(C)
    hear what I have to say!
10 In little more than a year(D)
    you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,(E)
    and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11 Tremble,(F) you complacent women;
    shudder, you daughters who feel secure!(G)
Strip off your fine clothes(H)
    and wrap yourselves in rags.(I)
12 Beat your breasts(J) for the pleasant fields,
    for the fruitful vines(K)
13 and for the land of my people,
    a land overgrown with thorns and briers(L)
yes, mourn(M) for all houses of merriment
    and for this city of revelry.(N)
14 The fortress(O) will be abandoned,
    the noisy city deserted;(P)
citadel and watchtower(Q) will become a wasteland forever,
    the delight of donkeys,(R) a pasture for flocks,(S)
15 till the Spirit(T) is poured on us from on high,
    and the desert becomes a fertile field,(U)
    and the fertile field seems like a forest.(V)

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Don’t let your beauty consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes,(A) but rather what is inside the heart[a](B)—the imperishable quality of a gentle(C) and quiet(D) spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:4 Or rather, the hidden person of the heart

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.(A) Rather, it should be that of your inner self,(B) the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.(C)

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