| GOD'S WORD Translation (GW) |
New International Version (NIV) |
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1 "I am the man who has experienced suffering under the rod of God's fury.
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1 I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
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2 God has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light.
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2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light;
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3 He beat me again and again all day long.
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3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.
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4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away. He has broken my bones.
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4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones.
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5 He has attacked me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
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5 He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
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6 He has made me live in darkness, like those who died a long time ago.
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6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.
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7 He has blocked me so that I can't get out. He has put heavy chains on me.
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7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains.
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8 Even when I cry and call for help, he shuts out my prayer.
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8 Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.
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9 He has blocked my way with cut stones and made my paths crooked.
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9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.
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10 He is like a bear waiting to ambush me, like a lion in hiding.
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10 Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding,
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11 He has forced me off the road I was taking, torn me to pieces, and left me with nothing.
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11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help.
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12 He has drawn his bow and made me the target for his arrows.
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12 He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.
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13 He has shot the arrows from his quiver into my heart.
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13 He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver.
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14 I have become a laughingstock to all my people. All day long [they make fun of me] with their songs.
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14 I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long.
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15 He has filled me with bitterness. He has made me drink wormwood.
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15 He has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me with gall.
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16 He has ground my teeth with gravel. He has trampled me into the dust.
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16 He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust.
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17 "My soul has been kept from enjoying peace. I have forgotten what happiness is.
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17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.
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18 I said, 'I've lost my strength [to live] and my hope in the LORD.'
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18 So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD."
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19 Remember my suffering and my [aimless] wandering, the wormwood and poison.
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19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
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20 My soul continues to remember [these things] and is so discouraged.
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20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
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21 "The reason I can [still] find hope is that I keep this one thing in mind:
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21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
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22 the LORD's mercy. We were not completely wiped out. His compassion is never limited.
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22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
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23 It is new every morning. His faithfulness is great.
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23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
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24 My soul can say, 'The LORD is my lot [in life]. That is why I find hope in him.'
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24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
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25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to anyone who seeks help from him.
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25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
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26 "It is good to continue to hope and wait silently for the LORD to save us.
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26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
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27 It is good for people to endure burdens when they're young.
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27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.
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28 They should sit alone and remain silent because the LORD has laid these burdens on them.
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28 Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him.
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29 They should put their mouths in the dust. Maybe a reason to hope exists.
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29 Let him bury his face in the dust-- there may yet be hope.
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30 They should turn their cheeks to the one who strikes them and take their fill of insults.
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30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.
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31 "The Lord will not reject [such] people forever.
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31 For men are not cast off by the Lord forever.
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32 Even if he makes us suffer, he will have compassion in keeping with the richness of his mercy.
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32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.
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33 He does not willingly bring suffering or grief to anyone,
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33 For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.
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34 crush any prisoner on earth underfoot,
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34 To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land,
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35 deny people their rights in the presence of the Most High God,
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35 to deny a man his rights before the Most High,
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36 or deprive people of justice in court. The Lord isn't happy to see [these things].
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36 to deprive a man of justice-- would not the Lord see such things?
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37 Who was it who spoke and it came into being? It was the Lord who gave the order.
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37 Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?
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38 Both good and bad come from the mouth of the Most High God.
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38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?
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39 "Why should any living mortal (any person) complain about being punished for sin?
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39 Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins?
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40 Let us look closely at our ways and examine them and then return to the LORD.
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40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.
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41 Let us raise our hearts and hands to God in heaven.
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41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say:
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42 "We have been disobedient and rebellious. You haven't forgiven us.
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42 "We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven.
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43 You covered yourself with anger and pursued us. You killed without pity.
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43 "You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity.
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44 You covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer could get through it.
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44 You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.
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45 You made us the scum and trash of the nations.
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45 You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.
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46 All our enemies gawk at us.
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46 "All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us.
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47 Panic and pitfalls have found us, so have devastation and destruction.
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47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and destruction."
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48 "Streams of tears run down from my eyes over the ruin of my dear people.
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48 Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed.
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49 My eyes will keep flowing without stopping for a moment
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49 My eyes will flow unceasingly, without relief,
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50 until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.
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50 until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees.
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51 What I see with my eyes disturbs me deeply because of all the young women in my city.
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51 What I see brings grief to my soul because of all the women of my city.
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52 "Those who were my enemies for no reason hunted me like a bird.
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52 Those who were my enemies without cause hunted me like a bird.
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53 They threw me alive into a pit and threw rocks at me.
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53 They tried to end my life in a pit and threw stones at me;
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54 Water flowed over my head. I thought I was finished.
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54 the waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to be cut off.
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55 "I call your name from the deepest pit, O LORD.
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55 I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit.
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56 Listen to my cry [for help]. Don't close your ears when I cry out for relief.
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56 You heard my plea: "Do not close your ears to my cry for relief."
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57 Be close at hand when I call to you. You told me not to be afraid.
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57 You came near when I called you, and you said, "Do not fear."
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58 Plead my case for me, O LORD. Reclaim my life.
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58 O Lord, you took up my case; you redeemed my life.
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59 Look at the wrong that has been done to me, O LORD. Give me a fair verdict.
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59 You have seen, O LORD, the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause!
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60 Look at all their malice, all their plots against me.
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60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance, all their plots against me.
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61 Listen to their insults, all their plots against me.
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61 O LORD, you have heard their insults, all their plots against me--
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62 The words and thoughts of those who attack me are directed against me all day long.
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62 what my enemies whisper and mutter against me all day long.
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63 Look at them! Whether they are sitting or standing, they make fun of me in their songs.
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63 Look at them! Sitting or standing, they mock me in their songs.
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64 Pay them back, O LORD, for what they deserve, for what their own hands have done.
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64 Pay them back what they deserve, O LORD, for what their hands have done.
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65 Make them stubborn. Let your curse be on them.
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65 Put a veil over their hearts, and may your curse be on them!
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66 Pursue them in anger, and wipe them out from under the LORD's heaven."
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66 Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.
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| GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (God's Word Translation -Online Bible) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
