English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
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God, don't shut me out; don't give me the silent treatment, O God.
2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads.
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Your enemies are out there whooping it up, the God-haters are living it up;
3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones.
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They're plotting to do your people in, conspiring to rob you of your precious ones.
4 They say, "Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!"
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"Let's wipe this nation from the face of the earth," they say; "scratch Israel's name off the books."
5 For they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant--
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And now they're putting their heads together, making plans to get rid of you.
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
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Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
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Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia and the Tyrians,
8 Asshur also has joined them; they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah
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And now Assyria has joined up, Giving muscle to the gang of Lot.
9 Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
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Do to them what you did to Midian, to Sisera and Jabin at Kishon Brook;
10 who were destroyed at En-dor, who became dung for the ground.
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They came to a bad end at Endor, nothing but dung for the garden.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
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Cut down their leaders as you did Oreb and Zeeb, their princes to nothings like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, "Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of God."
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With their empty brags, "We're grabbing it all, grabbing God's gardens for ourselves."
13 O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.
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My God! I've had it with them! Blow them away! Tumbleweeds in the desert waste,
14 As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
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charred sticks in the burned-over ground.
15 so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!
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Knock the breath right out of them, so they're gasping
16 Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD.
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for breath, gasping, "God."
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace,
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Bring them to the end of their rope, and leave them there dangling, helpless.
18 that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.
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Then they'll learn your name: "God," the one and only High God on earth.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
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.