The Message Bible MSG
New International Version NIV
1 What a beautiful home, God of the Angel Armies! I've always longed to live in a place like this,
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How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!
2 Always dreamed of a room in your house, where I could sing for joy to God-alive!
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My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Birds find nooks and crannies in your house, sparrows and swallows make nests there. They lay their eggs and raise their young, singing their songs in the place where we worship. God of the Angel Armies! King! God!
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Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
4 How blessed they are to live and sing there!
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Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
5 And how blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel;
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Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks, discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
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As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
7 God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn - Zion! God in full view!
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They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
8 God of the Angel Armies, listen: O God of Jacob, open your ears - I'm praying!
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Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty; listen to me, God of Jacob.
9 Look at our shields, glistening in the sun, our faces, shining with your gracious anointing.
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Look on our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.
10 One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches. I'd rather scrub floors in the house of my God than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
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Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 All sunshine and sovereign is God, generous in gifts and glory. He doesn't scrimp with his traveling companions.
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For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
12 It's smooth sailing all the way with God of the Angel Armies.
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LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.