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New International Version (NIV) |
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1 "But if Judgment Day isn't hidden from the Almighty, why are we kept in the dark?
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1 "Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?
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2 There are people out there getting by with murder - stealing and lying and cheating.
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2 Men move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen.
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3 They rip off the poor and exploit the unfortunate,
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3 They drive away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge.
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4 Push the helpless into the ditch, bully the weak so that they fear for their lives.
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4 They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
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5 The poor, like stray dogs and cats, scavenge for food in back alleys.
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5 Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go about their labor of foraging food; the wasteland provides food for their children.
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6 They sort through the garbage of the rich, eke out survival on handouts.
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6 They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
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7 Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street; they've no place to lay their heads.
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7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
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8 Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen, they huddle in makeshift shelters.
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8 They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.
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9 Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them; the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.
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9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
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10 They go about patched and threadbare; even the hard workers go hungry.
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10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
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11 No matter how back-breaking their labor, they can never make ends meet.
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11 They crush olives among the terraces; they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
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12 People are dying right and left, groaning in torment. The wretched cry out for help and God does nothing, acts like nothing's wrong!
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12 The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help. But God charges no one with wrongdoing.
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13 "Then there are those who avoid light at all costs, who scorn the light-filled path.
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13 "There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths.
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14 When the sun goes down, the murderer gets up - kills the poor and robs the defenseless.
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14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up and kills the poor and needy; in the night he steals forth like a thief.
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15 Sexual predators can't wait for nightfall, thinking, 'No one can see us now.'
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15 The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, 'No eye will see me,' and he keeps his face concealed.
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16 Burglars do their work at night, but keep well out of sight through the day. They want nothing to do with light.
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16 In the dark, men break into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light.
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17 Deep darkness is morning for that bunch; they make the terrors of darkness their companions in crime.
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17 For all of them, deep darkness is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness.
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18 "They are scraps of wood floating on the water - useless, cursed junk, good for nothing.
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18 "Yet they are foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one goes to the vineyards.
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19 As surely as snow melts under the hot, summer sun, sinners disappear in the grave.
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19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.
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20 The womb has forgotten them, worms have relished them - nothing that is evil lasts.
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20 The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them; evil men are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree.
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21 Unscrupulous, they prey on those less fortunate.
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21 They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow show no kindness.
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22 However much they strut and flex their muscles, there's nothing to them. They're hollow.
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22 But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
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23 They may have an illusion of security, but God has his eye on them.
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23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways.
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24 They may get their brief successes, but then it's over, nothing to show for it. Like yesterday's newspaper, they're used to wrap up the garbage.
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24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.
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25 You're free to try to prove me a liar, but you won't be able to do it."
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25 "If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?"
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| 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. (The Message Bible Online) |
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) |
