New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 See, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.
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See, a king will be ruling in righteousness, and chiefs will give right decisions.
2 Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
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And a man will be as a safe place from the wind, and a cover from the storm; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a waste land.
3 Then the eyes of those who have sight will not be closed, and the ears of those who have hearing will listen.
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And the eyes of those who see will not be shut, and those who have hearing will give ear to the word.
4 The minds of the rash will have good judgment, and the tongues of stammerers will speak readily and distinctly.
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The man of sudden impulses will become wise in heart, and he whose tongue is slow will get the power of talking clearly.
5 A fool will no longer be called noble, nor a villain said to be honorable.
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The foolish man will no longer be named noble, and they will not say of the false man that he is a man of honour.
6 For fools speak folly, and their minds plot iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error concerning the Lord, to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
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For the foolish man will say foolish things, having evil thoughts in his heart, working what is unclean, and talking falsely about the Lord, to keep food from him who is in need of it, and water from him whose soul is desiring it.
7 The villainies of villains are evil; they devise wicked devices to ruin the poor with lying words, even when the plea of the needy is right.
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The designs of the false are evil, purposing the destruction of the poor man by false words, even when he is in the right.
8 But those who are noble plan noble things, and by noble things they stand.
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But the noble-hearted man has noble purposes, and by these he will be guided.
9 Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, listen to my speech.
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Give ear to my voice, you women who are living in comfort; give attention to my words, you daughters who have no fear of danger.
10 In little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent ones; for the vintage will fail, the fruit harvest will not come.
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In not much more than a year, you, who are not looking for evil, will be troubled: for the produce of the vine-gardens will be cut off, and there will be no getting in of the grapes.
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease, shudder, you complacent ones; strip, and make yourselves bare, and put sackcloth on your loins.
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Be shaking with fear, you women who are living in comfort; be troubled, you who have no fear of danger: take off your robes and put on clothing of grief.
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,
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Have sorrow for the fields, the pleasing fields, the fertile vine;
13 for the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briers; yes, for all the joyous houses in the jubilant city.
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And for the land of my people, where thorns will come up; even for all the houses of joy in the glad town.
14 For the palace will be forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, the joy of wild asses, a pasture for flocks;
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For the fair houses will have no man living in them; the town which was full of noise will become a waste; the hill and the watchtower will be unpeopled for ever, a joy for the asses of the woods, a place of food for the flocks;
15 until a spirit from on high is poured out on us, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
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Till the spirit comes on us from on high, and the waste land becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is changed into a wood.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
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Then in the waste land there will be an upright rule, and righteousness will have its place in the fertile field.
17 The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.
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And the work of righteousness will be peace; and the effect of an upright rule will be to take away fear for ever.
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
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And my people will be living in peace, in houses where there is no fear, and in quiet resting-places.
19 The forest will disappear completely, and the city will be utterly laid low.
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But the tall trees will come down with a great fall, and the town will be low in a low place.
20 Happy will you be who sow beside every stream, who let the ox and the donkey range freely.
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Happy are you who are planting seed by all the waters, and sending out the ox and the ass.
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.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.