The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 A Message concerning the desert at the sea: As tempests drive through the Negev Desert, coming out of the desert, that terror-filled place,
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The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land.
2 A hard vision is given me: The betrayer betrayed, the plunderer plundered. Attack, Elam! Lay siege, Media! Persians, attack! Attack, Babylon! I'll put an end to all the moaning and groaning.
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A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end.
3 Because of this news I'm doubled up in pain, writhing in pain like a woman having a baby, Baffled by what I hear, undone by what I see.
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Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
4 Absolutely stunned, horror-stricken, I had hoped for a relaxed evening, but it has turned into a nightmare.
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My heart staggers; horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.
5 The banquet is spread, the guests reclining in luxurious ease, Eating and drinking, having a good time, and then, "To arms, princes! The fight is on!"
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They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Arise, O princes; oil the shield!
6 The Master told me, "Go, post a lookout. Have him report whatever he spots.
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For thus the Lord said to me: "Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees.
7 When he sees horses and wagons in battle formation, lines of donkeys and columns of camels, Tell him to keep his ear to the ground, note every whisper, every rumor."
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When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently."
8 Just then, the lookout shouted, "I'm at my post, Master, Sticking to my post day after day and all through the night!
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Then he who saw cried out: "Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights.
9 I watched them come, the horses and wagons in battle formation. I heard them call out the war news in headlines: 'Babylon fallen! Fallen! And all its precious god-idols smashed to pieces on the ground.'"
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And behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!" And he answered, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground."
10 Dear Israel, you've been through a lot, you've been put through the mill. The good news I get from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, I now pass on to you.
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O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you.
11 A Message concerning Edom: A voice calls to me from the Seir mountains in Edom, "Night watchman! How long till daybreak? How long will this night last?"
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The oracle concerning Dumah. One is calling to me from Seir, "Watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night?"
12 The night watchman calls back, "Morning's coming, But for now it's still night. If you ask me again, I'll give the same answer."
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The watchman says: "Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; come back again."
13 A Message concerning Arabia: You'll have to camp out in the desert badlands, you caravans of Dedanites.
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The oracle concerning Arabia. In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.
14 Haul water to the thirsty, greet fugitives with bread. Show your desert hospitality, you who live in Tema.
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To the thirsty bring water; meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
15 The desert's swarming with refugees escaping the horrors of war.
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For they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the press of battle.
16 The Master told me, "Hang on. Within one year - I'll sign a contract on it! - the arrogant brutality of Kedar, those hooligans of the desert, will be over,
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For thus the Lord said to me, "Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
17 nothing much left of the Kedar toughs." The God of Israel says so.
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And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken."
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 English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.