The Message Bible MSG
New International Version NIV
14 "I've been quiet long enough. I've held back, biting my tongue. But now I'm letting loose, letting go, like a woman who's having a baby -
14
“For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant.
15 Stripping the hills bare, withering the wildflowers, Drying up the rivers, turning lakes into mudflats.
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I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools.
16 But I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way, who can't see where they're going. I'll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I'll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don't fall into the ditch. These are the things I'll be doing for them - sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute."
16
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
17 But those who invested in the no-gods are bankrupt - dead broke. You've Seen a Lot, but Looked at Nothing
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But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame.
18 Pay attention! Are you deaf? Open your eyes! Are you blind?
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“Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!
19 You're my servant, and you're not looking! You're my messenger, and you're not listening! The very people I depended upon, servants of God, blind as a bat - willfully blind!
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Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one in covenant with me, blind like the servant of the LORD?
20 You've seen a lot, but looked at nothing. You've heard everything, but listened to nothing.
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You have seen many things, but you pay no attention; your ears are open, but you do not listen.”
21 God intended, out of the goodness of his heart, to be lavish in his revelation.
21
It pleased the LORDfor the sake of his righteousness to make his law great and glorious.
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.