Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by iniquity!
Parallel translations
- WEB Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity!
- KJV Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
- NKJV “Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who establishes a city by iniquity!
- NASB ¶“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed, And founds a town with violence!
- NLT “What sorrow awaits you who build cities with money gained through murder and corruption!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Woe is pronounced on the one who builds a city by bloodshed and founds a town on iniquity. It condemns the establishment of civilization and power through violence and injustice.
Overview
The third woe addresses cities and empires raised up through bloodshed, as Babylon's grandeur was built on conquest. Human achievement founded on iniquity stands under divine judgment, however impressive it appears. This anticipates the contrast between the doomed city of human pride and the lasting city of God, established not by violence but by righteousness and the work of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Mic 3:10who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity.
- Dan 4:27–31Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”
- Nah 3:1Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.
- Rev 17:6I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
- Josh 6:26At that time Joshua invoked this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; at the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.”
- Jer 22:13–17“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
- 1 Kgs 16:34In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.
- Gen 4:11–17Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
- John 11:47–50Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.
- Ezek 24:9Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
'The righteous shall live by his faith' (2:4) becomes a cornerstone of the gospel in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews — the faith that lays hold of Christ.
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Original language
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