Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible

“They bend their tongue like their bow;
Lies and not truth prevail in the land;
For they proceed from evil to evil,
And they do not know Me,” declares the Lord.

King James Version

And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

Holman Bible

They bent their tongues like their bows;
lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land,
for they proceed from one evil to another,
and they do not take Me into account.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

International Standard Version

They use their tongues like a bow. Lies rather than truth fly throughout the land. They progress from one evil to another, and they don't know me," declares the LORD.

A Conservative Version

And they bend their tongue--their bow--for falsehood, and they have grown strong in the land, but not for truth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, says LORD.

American Standard Version

And they bend their tongue, as it were their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah.

Amplified


“They bend their tongue like their bow;
[Their] lies and not truth prevail and grow strong in the land;
For they proceed from evil to evil,
And they do not know and understand and acknowledge Me,” says the Lord.

Bible in Basic English

Their tongues are bent like a bow to send out false words: they have become strong in the land, but not for good faith: they go on from evil to evil, and they have no knowledge of me, says the Lord.

Darby Translation

And they bend their tongue, their bow of falsehood, and not for fidelity are they valiant in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah.

Julia Smith Translation

And they will bend their tongue, their bow, a lie: and they were not strong for faithfulness upon the land; for from evil to evil they went forth, and they knew me not, says Jehovah.

King James 2000

And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, says the LORD.

Lexham Expanded Bible

And they bend their tongue [like] their bow, [for] falsehood and not truth is superior in the land, for they go forth from evil to evil, and they do not know me," {declares} Yahweh.

Modern King James verseion

And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies. But they are not mighty for the truth on the earth; for they go from evil to evil, and they do not know Me, says Jehovah.

Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale

They bend their tongues like bows, to shoot out lies: As for the truth, they may nothing away with all in the world. For they go from one wickedness to another, and hold nothing of me, sayeth the LORD.

NET Bible

The Lord says, "These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows. Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. They have become powerful in the land, but they have not done so by honest means. Indeed, they do one evil thing after another and do not pay attention to me.

New Heart English Bible

"They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me," says the LORD.

The Emphasized Bible

Who have prepared e their tongue as their bow of falsehood, And, not by faithfulness, have they become mighty in the land, - For from wickedness unto wickedness, have they gone forth, But me, have they not known, Declareth Yahweh.

Webster

And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

World English Bible

They bend their tongue, [as it were] their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don't know me, says Yahweh.

Youngs Literal Translation

And they bend their tongue, their bow is a lie, And not for stedfastness have they been mighty in the land, For from evil unto evil they have gone forth, And Me they have not known, An affirmation of Jehovah!

Interlinear

English(KJV)
Strong's
Root Form
Definition
Usage
And they bend
דּרך 
Darak 
Usage: 63

לשׁנה לשׁן לשׁון 
Lashown 
Usage: 116

קשׁת 
Qesheth 
Usage: 75

שׁקר 
Sheqer 
Usage: 113

but they are not valiant
גּבר 
Gabar 
Usage: 25

for the truth
אמנה אמוּנה 
'emuwnah 
Usage: 49

upon the earth
ארץ 
'erets 
Usage: 2504

יצא 
Yatsa' 
....out, ....forth, bring, come, proceed, go, depart,
Usage: 1068

not me, saith
נאם 
N@'um 
Usage: 376

References

Easton

Bow

Context Readings

Judah's Failures

2 Oh that I had in the desert
A wayfarers’ lodging place;
That I might leave my people
And go from them!
For all of them are adulterers,
An assembly of treacherous men.
3 “They bend their tongue like their bow;
Lies and not truth prevail in the land;
For they proceed from evil to evil,
And they do not know Me,” declares the Lord.
4 “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor,
And do not trust any brother;
Because every brother deals craftily,
And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.



Cross References

Judges 2:10

All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.

Jeremiah 4:22

For My people are foolish,
They know Me not;
They are stupid children
And have no understanding.
They are shrewd to do evil,
But to do good they do not know.”

1 Samuel 2:12

Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord

Jeremiah 9:8

“Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor,
But inwardly he sets an ambush for him.

Psalm 52:2-4

Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit.

Psalm 64:3-4

Who have sharpened their tongue like a sword.
They aimed bitter speech as their arrow,

Psalm 120:2-4

Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips,
From a deceitful tongue.

Isaiah 59:3-5

For your hands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken falsehood,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.

Isaiah 59:13-15

Transgressing and denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.

Jeremiah 7:26

Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers.

Jeremiah 9:5

“Everyone deceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth,
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They weary themselves committing iniquity.

Jeremiah 22:16

“He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy;
Then it was well.
Is not that what it means to know Me?”
Declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:34

They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Hosea 4:1-3

Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel,
For the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land,
Because there is no faithfulness or kindness
Or knowledge of God in the land.

Micah 7:3-5

Concerning evil, both hands do it well.
The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe,
And a great man speaks the desire of his soul;
So they weave it together.

Matthew 10:31-33

So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Mark 8:38

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

John 8:54-55

Jesus answered, If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’;

John 17:3

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Romans 1:28

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

Romans 3:13

Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
The poison of asps is under their lips”;

2 Corinthians 4:4-6

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Philippians 1:28

in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.

2 Timothy 3:13

But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Jude 1:3

Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

Revelation 12:11

And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

King James Version Public Domain

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.

International Standard Version Copyright © 1996-2008 by the ISV Foundation.

New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org

American Standard Version Public Domain

NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. NetBible

Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain