The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 In that day will this song be made in the land of Judah: We have a strong town; he will make salvation our walls and towers.
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A day is coming when the people will sing this song in the land of Judah: Our city is strong! God himself defends its walls!
2 Let the doors be open, so that the upright nation which keeps faith may come in.
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Open the city gates and let the faithful nation enter, the nation whose people do what is right.
3 The man whose heart is unmoved you will keep in peace, because his hope is in you.
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You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.
4 Let your hope be in the Lord for ever: for the Lord Jah is an unchanging Rock.
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Trust in the Lord forever; he will always protect us.
5 For he has made low those who are lifted up, all the people of the town of pride: he makes it low, crushing it down to the earth; he makes it low in the dust.
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He has humbled those who were proud; he destroyed the strong city they lived in, and sent its walls crashing into the dust.
6 It will be crushed under the feet of the poor and the steps of those who are in need.
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Those who were oppressed walk over it now and trample it under their feet.
7 The way of the good man is straight; the road of the upright is made smooth by you.
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Lord, you make the path smooth for good people; the road they travel is level.
8 We have been waiting for you, O Lord; the desire of our soul is for the memory of your name.
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We follow your will and put our hope in you; you are all that we desire.
9 In the night the desire of my soul has been for you; early will my spirit be searching for you; for when your punishments come on the earth, the people of the world will get the knowledge of righteousness.
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At night I long for you with all my heart; when you judge the earth and its people, they will all learn what justice is.
10 Even if you are kind to the evil-doer, he will not go after righteousness; even in the land of the upright he will still go on in his wrongdoing, and will not see the glory of the Lord.
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Even though you are kind to the wicked, they never learn to do what is right. Even here in a land of righteous people they still do wrong; they refuse to recognize your greatness.
11 Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see: let them see ... yes, your haters will be burned up in the fire.
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Your enemies do not know that you will punish them. Lord, put them to shame and let them suffer; let them suffer the punishment you have prepared. Show them how much you love your people.
12 Lord, you will give us peace: for all our works are the outcome of your purpose.
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You will give us prosperity, Lord; everything that we achieve is the result of what you do.
13 O Lord, our God, other lords than you have had rule over us; but in you only is our salvation, and no other name will we take on our lips.
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Lord our God, we have been ruled by others, but you alone are our Lord.
14 The dead will not come back to life: their spirits will not come back to earth; for this cause you have sent destruction on them, so that the memory of them is dead.
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Now they are dead and will not live again; their ghosts will not rise, for you have punished them and destroyed them. No one remembers them any more.
15 You have made the nation great, O Lord, you have made it great; glory is yours: you have made wide the limits of the land.
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Lord, you have made our nation grow, enlarging its territory on every side; and this has brought you honor.
16 Lord, in trouble our eyes have been turned to you, we sent up a prayer when your punishment was on us.
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You punished your people, Lord, and in anguish they prayed to you.
17 As a woman with child, whose time is near, is troubled, crying out in her pain; so have we been before you, O Lord.
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You, Lord, have made us cry out, as a woman in labor cries out in pain.
18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have given birth to wind; no salvation has come to the earth through us, and no children have come into the world.
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We were in pain and agony, but we gave birth to nothing. We have won no victory for our land; we have accomplished nothing.
19 Your dead will come back; their dead bodies will come to life again. Those in the dust, awaking from their sleep, will send out a song; for your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the shades.
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Those of our people who have died will live again! Their bodies will come back to life. All those sleeping in their graves will wake up and sing for joy. As the sparkling dew refreshes the earth, so the Lord will revive those who have long been dead.
20 Come, my people, into your secret places, and let your doors be shut: keep yourself safe for a short time, till his wrath is over.
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Go into your houses, my people, and shut the door behind you. Hide yourselves for a little while until God's anger is over.
21 For the Lord is coming out of his place to send punishment on the people of the earth for their evil-doing: the earth will let the blood drained out on her be seen, and will keep her dead covered no longer.
21
The Lord is coming from his heavenly dwelling place to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The murders that were secretly committed on the earth will be revealed, and the ground will no longer hide those who have been killed.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.