The Message Bible MSG
New International Version NIV
1 But look! A king will rule in the right way, and his leaders will carry out justice.
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See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.
2 Each one will stand as a shelter from high winds, provide safe cover in stormy weather. Each will be cool running water in parched land, a huge granite outcrop giving shade in the desert.
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Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3 Anyone who looks will see, anyone who listens will hear.
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Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The impulsive will make sound decisions, the tongue-tied will speak with eloquence.
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The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
5 No more will fools become celebrities, nor crooks be rewarded with fame.
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No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For fools are fools and that's that, thinking up new ways to do mischief. They leave a wake of wrecked lives and lies about God, Turning their backs on the homeless hungry, ignoring those dying of thirst in the streets.
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For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the LORD; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water.
7 And the crooks? Underhanded sneaks they are, inventive in sin and scandal, Exploiting the poor with scams and lies, unmoved by the victimized poor.
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Scoundrels use wicked methods, they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
8 But those who are noble make noble plans, and stand for what is noble.
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But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand.
9 Take your stand, indolent women! Listen to me! Indulgent, indolent women, listen closely to what I have to say.
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You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say!
10 In just a little over a year from now, you'll be shaken out of your lazy lives. The grape harvest will fail, and there'll be no fruit on the trees.
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In little more than a year you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come.
11 Oh tremble, you indolent women. Get serious, you pampered dolls! Strip down and discard your silk fineries. Put on funeral clothes.
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Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you daughters who feel secure! Strip off your fine clothes and wrap yourselves in rags.
12 Shed honest tears for the lost harvest, the failed vintage.
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Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines
13 Weep for my people's gardens and farms that grow nothing but thistles and thornbushes. Cry tears, real tears, for the happy homes no longer happy, the merry city no longer merry.
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and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and briers— yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry.
14 The royal palace is deserted, the bustling city quiet as a morgue, The emptied parks and playgrounds taken over by wild animals, delighted with their new home.
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The fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15 Yes, weep and grieve until the Spirit is poured down on us from above And the badlands desert grows crops and the fertile fields become forests.
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till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.
16 Justice will move into the badlands desert. Right will build a home in the fertile field.
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The LORD’s justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field.
17 And where there's Right, there'll be Peace and the progeny of Right: quiet lives and endless trust.
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The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.
18 My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood - in safe houses, in quiet gardens.
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My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.
19 The forest of your pride will be clear-cut, the city showing off your power leveled.
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Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely,
20 But you will enjoy a blessed life, planting well-watered fields and gardens, with your farm animals grazing freely.
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how blessed you will be, sowing your seed by every stream, and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.
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.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.