¶“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed, And founds a town with violence!
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!
- BSB Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by iniquity!
- NKJV “Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who establishes a city by iniquity!
- 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 3:10They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
- Dan 4:27–31Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthening of your tranquility.
- Nah 3:1Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. The prey doesn’t depart.
- Rev 17:6I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement.
- Josh 6:26Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before Yahweh, who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.”
- Jer 22:13–17“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and doesn’t give him his hire;
- 1 Kgs 16:34In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. He laid its foundation with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
- Gen 4:11–17Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
- John 11:47–50The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs.
- Ezek 24:9Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.
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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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