You will be cursed in the cities. You will be cursed out in the country.

你在城里必受咒诅，在田间也必受咒诅。

你在城里必受诅咒，在田间也必受诅咒。

你在城里必受诅咒，在田间也必受诅咒。

“无论你们住在城里还是乡村，都必受咒诅。

你在城里必受咒诅，在田间也必受咒诅。

你在城裏必受咒詛，在田間也必受咒詛。

你在城裏必受詛咒，在田間也必受詛咒。

你在城裏必受詛咒，在田間也必受詛咒。

「無論你們住在城裡還是鄉村，都必受咒詛。

你在城裡必受咒詛，在田間也必受咒詛。

在城裏你必受咒詛，在田間你必受咒詛。

在邑受詛、在田受詛、

在邑獲禍、在田獲禍。

在邑受禍、受禍或作負詛下同在田受禍、

You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.

Your towns and your fields will be cursed.

You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

“ Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the country.

“ Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.

Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

Cursed[ shalt] thou[ be] in the city, and cursed[ shalt] thou[ be] in the field.

You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field.

You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field.

“ Judah is filled with sadness. Its cities are wasting away. The people weep for the land. Crying is heard in Jerusalem.The nobles send their servants to get water. They go to the wells. But they do not find any water. They return with empty jars. They are terrified. They do not have any hope. They cover their heads.The ground is dry and cracked. There isn’t any rain in the land. The farmers are terrified. They cover their heads.Even the female deer in the fields desert their newborn fawns. There isn’t any grass to eat.

I’ve cried so much I can’t see very well. I’m suffering deep down inside. My heart is broken because my people are destroyed. Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city.They say to their mothers,“ Where can we find something to eat and drink?” They faint like wounded soldiers in the streets of the city. Their lives are slipping away in their mothers’ arms.City of Jerusalem, what can I say about you? What can I compare you to? People of Zion, what are you like? I want to comfort you. Your wound is as deep as the ocean. Who can heal you?The visions of your prophets were lies. They weren’t worth anything. They didn’t show you the sins you had committed. So that’s why you were captured. The messages they gave you were lies. They led you astray.All those who pass by clap their hands and make fun of you. They laugh at you and shake their heads at the city of Jerusalem. They say,“ Could that be the city that was called perfect and beautiful? Is that the city that brought joy to everyone on earth?”All your enemies open their mouths wide against you. They laugh at you and grind their teeth. They say,“ We have swallowed up Jerusalem’s people. This is the day we’ve waited for. And we’ve lived to see it.”The Lord has done what he planned to do. He has made what he said come true. He gave the command long ago. He has destroyed you without pity. He has let your enemies laugh at you. He has made them stronger than you are.People in the city of Zion, cry out from your heart to the Lord. Let your tears flow like a river day and night. Don’t stop at all. Don’t give your eyes any rest.Get up. Cry out as the night begins. Tell the Lord all your troubles. Lift up your hands to him. Pray that the lives of your children will be spared. At every street corner they faint because they are so hungry.Jerusalem says,“ Lord, look at me. Think about my condition. Have you ever treated anyone else like this? Should women have to eat their babies? Should they eat the children they’ve taken care of? Should priests and prophets be killed in your own temple?“ Young people and old people alike lie dead in the dust of my streets. My young men and women have been killed by swords. You killed them when you were angry. You put them to death without pity.“ You sent for terrors to come against me on every side. It was as if you were inviting people to enjoy a feast day. Because you were angry, no one escaped. No one was left alive. I took good care of my children and brought them up. But my enemies have destroyed them.”

So the Lord will send a curse on the earth. Its people will pay for what they’ve done. They will be burned up. Very few of them will be left.The vines and fresh wine will dry up completely. Those who used to have a good time will groan.The happy sounds of tambourines will be gone. The noise of those who enjoy wild parties will stop. The joyful music of harps will become silent.People will no longer sing as they drink wine. Beer will taste bitter to those who drink it.Destroyed cities will lie empty. People will lock themselves inside their houses.In the streets people will cry out for wine. All joy will turn into sadness. All joyful sounds will be driven out of the earth.All the buildings will be knocked down. Every city gate will be smashed to pieces.

The Lord couldn’t put up any longer with the evil things you were doing. He hated the things you did. So your land became a curse. It became a dry and empty desert. No one lived there. And that’s the way it still is today.

My people, mourn like a virgin who is dressed in the clothes of sadness. She is sad because she has lost the young man she was going to marry.No one brings grain offerings and drink offerings to the Lord’ s house anymore. So the priests who serve the Lord are filled with sorrow.Our fields are wiped out. The ground is dried up. The grain is destroyed. The fresh wine is gone. And there isn’t any more olive oil.Farmers, be sad. Cry, you who grow vines. Mourn because the wheat and barley are gone. The crops in the fields are destroyed.The vines and fig trees are dried up. The pomegranate, palm and apple trees don’t have any fruit on them. In fact, all the trees in the fields are dried up. And my people’s joy has faded away.Priests, put on the clothing of sadness and mourn. Cry, you who serve at the altar. Come, you who serve my God in the temple. Spend the night dressed in the clothes of sadness. Weep because no one brings grain offerings and drink offerings to the house of your God anymore.Announce a holy fast. Tell the people not to eat anything. Gather them together for a special service. Send for the elders and all who live in the land. Have them come to the house of the Lord your God. And pray to him.The day of the Lord is near. How sad it will be on that day! The Mighty One is coming to destroy you.Our food has been taken away right in front of our eyes. There isn’t any joy or gladness in the house of our God.The seeds have dried up in the ground. The grain is also gone. The storerooms have been destroyed. The barns are broken down.Listen to the cattle groan! The herds wander around. They don’t have any grass to eat. The flocks of sheep are also suffering.

The Lord puts a curse on the houses of sinners. But he blesses the homes of those who do what is right.

“ You expected a lot. But you can see what a small amount it turned out to be. I blew away what you brought home. I’ll tell you why,” announces the Lord who rules over all.“ Because my temple is still destroyed. In spite of that, each one of you is busy with your own house.So because of what you have done, the heavens have held back the dew. And the earth has not produced its crops.I ordered the rain not to fall on the fields and mountains. Then the ground did not produce any grain. There were not enough grapes to make fresh wine. The trees did not bear enough olives to make oil. People and cattle suffered. All your hard work failed.”

Listen to it. Honor me with all your heart,” says the Lord who rules over all.“ If you do not, I will send a curse on you. I will turn your blessings into curses. In fact, I have already done that because you have not honored me with all your heart.

People went to get 20 measures of grain. But they could find only 10. They went to where the wine was stored to get 50 measures. But only 20 were there.You worked very hard to produce all those things. But I struck them with rot, mold and hail. And you still did not return to me,’ announces the Lord.

Suppose I go into the country. Then I see people who have been killed by swords. Or suppose I go into the city. Then I see people who have died of hunger. Prophet and priest alike have gone to a land they hadn’t known about before.’ ”

Elijah will bring peace between parents and their children. He will also bring peace between children and their parents. If that does not happen, I will come. And I will completely destroy the land.”

So you are under my curse. In fact, your whole nation is under my curse. That is because you are robbing me.Bring the entire tenth to the storerooms in my temple. Then there will be plenty of food. Test me this way,” says the Lord.“ Then you will see that I will throw open the windows of heaven. I will pour out so many blessings that you will not have enough room to store them.I will keep bugs from eating up your crops. And your grapes will not drop from the vines before they are ripe,” says the Lord.“ Then all the nations will call you blessed. Your land will be delightful,” says the Lord who rules over all.

The giant locusts have eaten what the common locusts have left. The young locusts have eaten what the giant locusts have left. And other locusts have eaten what the young locusts have left.

Like fire they eat up everything in their path. Behind them it looks as if flames have burned the land. In front of them the land is like the Garden of Eden. Behind them it is a dry and empty desert. Nothing escapes them.

He won’t give to a single one of them any part of the dead bodies of his children that he’s eating. It will be all he has left to eat. That’s how much your enemies will make you suffer when they surround all your cities and attack them.

The Lord says,“ I will knock down all of Jerusalem’s buildings. I will make it a home for wild dogs. The towns of Judah will be completely destroyed. No one will be able to live in them.”

The smell of the offerings pleased the Lord. He said to himself,“ I will never put a curse on the ground again because of human beings. I will not do it even though their hearts are always directed toward evil. Their thoughts are evil from the time they are young. I will never destroy all living things again, as I have just done.“ As long as the earth lasts, there will always be a time to plant and a time to gather the crops. As long as the earth lasts, there will always be cold and heat. There will always be summer and winter, day and night.”

So I will make this house like Shiloh. All the nations on earth will use the name of this city in a curse.” ’ ”

Look at how the gold has lost its brightness! See how dull the fine gold has become! The sacred jewels are scattered at every street corner.The priceless children of Zion were worth their weight in gold. But now they are thought of as clay pots made by the hands of a potter.Even wild dogs nurse their young pups. But my people are as mean as ostriches in the desert.When the babies get thirsty, their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths. When the children beg for bread, no one gives them any.Those who once ate fine food are dying in the streets. Those who wore royal clothes are now lying on piles of trash.My people have been punished more than Sodom was. It was destroyed in a moment. No one offered it a helping hand.Jerusalem’s princes were brighter than snow. They were whiter than milk. Their bodies were redder than rubies. They looked like lapis lazuli.But now they are blacker than coal. No one even recognizes them in the streets. Their skin is wrinkled on their bones. It has become as dry as a stick.Those killed by swords are better off than those who die of hunger. Those who are hungry waste away to nothing. They don’t have any food from the fields.With their own hands, loving mothers have had to cook even their own children. They ate their children when my people were destroyed.The Lord has become very angry. He has poured out his burning anger. He started a fire in Zion. It burned its foundations.The kings of the earth couldn’t believe what was happening. Neither could any of the peoples of the world. Enemies actually attacked and entered the gates of Jerusalem.It happened because Jerusalem’s prophets had sinned. Her priests had done evil things. All of them spilled the blood of those who did what was right.

So Elijah did what the Lord had told him to do. He went to the Kerith Valley. It was east of the Jordan River. He stayed there.

So I put the high officials of your temple to shame. I let Jacob’s family be totally destroyed. And I let people make fun of Israel.

So I am putting a curse on you. I am driving you away from this ground. It has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.When you farm the land, it will not produce its crops for you anymore. You will be a restless person who wanders around on the earth.”

The Lord God said to Adam,“ You listened to your wife’s suggestion. You ate fruit from the tree I warned you about. I said,‘ You must not eat its fruit.’“ So I am putting a curse on the ground because of what you did. All the days of your life you will have to work hard. It will be painful for you to get food from the ground.You will eat plants from the field, even though the ground produces thorns and prickly weeds.

“ I made sure your stomachs were empty in every city. You did not have enough bread in any of your towns. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,” announces the Lord.“ I also held back rain from you. The time to harvest crops was still three months away. I sent rain on one town. But I held it back from another. One field had rain. But another had no rain and dried up.People wandered from town to town to look for water. But they did not get enough to drink. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,” announces the Lord.“ Many times I kept your gardens and vineyards from growing. I sent hot winds to dry them up completely. Locusts ate up your fig and olive trees. In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,” announces the Lord.

The city of Jerusalem is so empty! She used to be full of people. But now she’s like a woman whose husband has died. She used to be great among the nations. She was like a queen among the kingdoms. But now she is a slave.

Our skin is as hot as an oven. We are so hungry we’re burning up with fever.

and named him Noah. Lamech said,“ He will comfort us when we are working. He’ll comfort us when our hands work so hard they hurt. We have to work hard because the Lord put a curse on the ground.”

You will be blessed in the cities. You will be blessed out in the country.Your children will be blessed. Your crops will be blessed. The young animals among your livestock will be blessed. That includes your calves and lambs.Your baskets and bread pans will be blessed.You will be blessed no matter where you go.Enemies will rise up against you. But the Lord will help you win the battle over them. They will come at you from one direction. But they’ll run away from you in every direction.The Lord your God will bless your barns with plenty of grain and other food. He will bless everything you do. He’ll bless you in the land he’s giving you.The Lord your God will make you his holy people. He will set you apart for himself. He promised to do this. He promised to do it if you would keep his commands and live exactly as he wants you to live.All the nations on earth will see that you belong to the Lord. And they will be afraid of you.The Lord will give you more than you need. You will have many children. Your livestock will have many little ones. Your crops will do very well. All of that will happen in the land he promised to give you. He promised this to your people of long ago.The Lord will open up the heavens. That’s where he stores his riches. He will send rain on your land at just the right time. He’ll bless everything you do. You will lend money to many nations. But you won’t have to borrow from any of them.The Lord your God will make you leaders, not followers. Pay attention to his commands that I’m giving you today. Be careful to obey them. Then you will always be on top. You will never be on the bottom.Don’t turn away from any of the commands I’m giving you today. Don’t turn to the right or the left. Don’t follow other gods. Don’t worship them.

Elijah was from Tishbe in the land of Gilead. He said to Ahab,“ I serve the Lord. He is the God of Israel. You can be sure that he lives. And you can be just as sure that there won’t be any dew or rain on the whole land. There won’t be any during the next few years. It won’t come until I say so.”

“ I don’t have any bread,” she replied.“ And that’s just as sure as the Lord your God is alive. All I have is a small amount of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I’m gathering a few sticks to take home. I’ll make one last meal for myself and my son. We’ll eat it. After that, we’ll die.”