The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 At that time, this song will be sung in the country of Judah: We have a strong city, Salvation City, built and fortified with salvation.
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In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
2 Throw wide the gates so good and true people can enter.
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Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
3 People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, Steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don't quit.
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Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
4 Depend on God and keep at it because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.
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Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
5 Those who lived high and mighty he knocked off their high horse. He used the city built on the hill as fill for the marshes.
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For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.
6 All the exploited and outcast peoples build their lives on the reclaimed land.
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The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
7 The path of right-living people is level. The Leveler evens the road for the right-living.
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The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
8 We're in no hurry, God. We're content to linger in the path sign-posted with your decisions. Who you are and what you've done are all we'll ever want.
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Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
9 Through the night my soul longs for you. Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you. When your decisions are on public display, everyone learns how to live right.
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With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
10 If the wicked are shown grace, they don't seem to get it. In the land of right living, they persist in wrong living, blind to the splendor of God.
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Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
11 You hold your hand up high, God, but they don't see it. Open their eyes to what you do, to see your zealous love for your people. Shame them. Light a fire under them. Get the attention of these enemies of yours.
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LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.
12 God, order a peaceful and whole life for us because everything we've done, you've done for us.
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LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
13 O God, our God, we've had other masters rule us, but you're the only Master we've ever known.
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O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.
14 The dead don't talk, ghosts don't walk, Because you've said, "Enough - that's all for you," and wiped them off the books.
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They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
15 But the living you make larger than life. The more life you give, the more glory you display, and stretch the borders to accommodate more living!
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Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.
16 O God, they begged you for help when they were in trouble, when your discipline was so heavy they could barely whisper a prayer.
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LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
17 Like a woman having a baby, writhing in distress, screaming her pain as the baby is being born, That's how we were because of you, O God.
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Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
18 We were pregnant full-term. We writhed in labor but bore no baby. We gave birth to wind. Nothing came of our labor. We produced nothing living. We couldn't save the world.
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We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
19 But friends, your dead will live, your corpses will get to their feet. All you dead and buried, wake up! Sing! Your dew is morning dew catching the first rays of sun, The earth bursting with life, giving birth to the dead.
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Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
20 Come, my people, go home and shut yourselves in. Go into seclusion for a while until the punishing wrath is past,
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Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
21 Because God is sure to come from his place to punish the wrong of the people on earth. Earth itself will point out the bloodstains; it will show where the murdered have been hidden away.
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For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
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 King James Version is in the public domain.