New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 For now the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and staff— all support of bread, and all support of water—
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The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, is emptying Jerusalem and Judah Of all the basic necessities, plain bread and water to begin with.
2 warrior and soldier, judge and prophet, diviner and elder,
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He's withdrawing police and protection, judges and courts, pastors and teachers,
3 captain of fifty and dignitary, counselor and skillful magician and expert enchanter.
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captains and generals, doctors and nurses, and, yes, even the repairmen and jacks-of-all-trades.
4 And I will make boys their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
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He says, "I'll put little kids in charge of the city. Schoolboys and schoolgirls will order everyone around.
5 The people will be oppressed, everyone by another and everyone by a neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the base to the honorable.
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People will be at each other's throats, stabbing one another in the back: Neighbor against neighbor, young against old, the no-account against the well-respected.
6 Someone will even seize a relative, a member of the clan, saying, "You have a cloak; you shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule."
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One brother will grab another and say, 'You look like you've got a head on your shoulders. Do something! Get us out of this mess.'
7 But the other will cry out on that day, saying, "I will not be a healer; in my house there is neither bread nor cloak; you shall not make me leader of the people."
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And he'll say, 'Me? Not me! I don't have a clue. Don't put me in charge of anything.'
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence.
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"Jerusalem's on its last legs. Judah is soon down for the count. Everything people say and do is at cross-purposes with God, a slap in my face.
9 The look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom, they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.
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Brazen in their depravity, they flout their sins like degenerate Sodom. Doom to their eternal souls! They've made their bed; now they'll sleep in it.
10 Tell the innocent how fortunate they are, for they shall eat the fruit of their labors.
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"Reassure the righteous that their good living will pay off.
11 Woe to the guilty! How unfortunate they are, for what their hands have done shall be done to them.
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But doom to the wicked! Disaster! Everything they did will be done to them.
12 My people—children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you, and confuse the course of your paths.
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"Skinny kids terrorize my people. Silly girls bully them around. My dear people! Your leaders are taking you down a blind alley. They're sending you off on a wild goose chase." A City Brought to Her Knees by Her Sorrows
13 The Lord rises to argue his case; he stands to judge the peoples.
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God enters the courtroom. He takes his place at the bench to judge his people.
14 The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of his people: It is you who have devoured the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
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God calls for order in the court, hauls the leaders of his people into the dock: "You've played havoc with this country. Your houses are stuffed with what you've stolen from the poor.
15 What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts.
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What is this anyway? Stomping on my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dirt?" That's what the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says.
16 The Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet;
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God says, "Zion women are stuck-up, prancing around in their high heels, Making eyes at all the men in the street, swinging their hips, Tossing their hair, gaudy and garish in cheap jewelry."
17 the Lord will afflict with scabs the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.
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The Master will fix it so those Zion women will all turn bald - Scabby, bald-headed women. The Master will do it.
18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents;
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The time is coming when the Master will strip them of their fancy baubles -
19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarfs;
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the dangling earrings, anklets and bracelets,
20 the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets;
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combs and mirrors and silk scarves, diamond brooches and pearl necklaces,
21 the signet rings and nose rings;
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the rings on their fingers and the rings on their toes,
22 the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags;
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the latest fashions in hats, exotic perfumes and aphrodisiacs, gowns and capes,
23 the garments of gauze, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
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all the world's finest in fabrics and design.
24 Instead of perfume there will be a stench; and instead of a sash, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a binding of sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
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Instead of wearing seductive scents, these women are going to smell like rotting cabbages; Instead of modeling flowing gowns, they'll be sporting rags; Instead of their stylish hairdos, scruffy heads; Instead of beauty marks, scabs and scars.
25 Your men shall fall by the sword and your warriors in battle.
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Your finest fighting men will be killed, your soldiers left dead on the battlefield.
26 And her gates shall lament and mourn; ravaged, she shall sit upon the ground.
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The entrance gate to Zion will be clotted with people mourning their dead - A city stooped under the weight of her loss, brought to her knees by her sorrows.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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.