New International Version NIV
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Woe to you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed! Woe to you, betrayer, you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying, you will be betrayed.
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Ho! you who make waste those who did not make you waste; acting falsely to those who were not false to you. When you have come to an end of wasting, you will be made waste, and after your false acts, they will do the same to you.
2 LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.
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O Lord, have mercy on us; for we have been waiting for your help: be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of trouble.
3 At the uproar of your army, the peoples flee; when you rise up, the nations scatter.
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At the loud noise the peoples have gone in flight; at your coming up the nations have gone in all directions.
4 Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts; like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.
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And the goods taken in war will be got together like the massing of young locusts; men will be rushing on them like the rushing of locusts.
5 The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and righteousness.
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The Lord is lifted up; his place is on high: he has made Zion full of righteousness and true religion.
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.
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And she will have no more fear of change, being full of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is her wealth.
7 Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
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See, the men of war are sorrowing outside the town: those who came looking for peace are weeping bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses are despised, no one is respected.
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The highways are waste, no man is journeying there: the agreement is broken, he has made sport of the towns, he has no thought for man.
9 The land dries up and wastes away, Lebanon is ashamed and withers; Sharon is like the Arabah, and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.
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The earth is sorrowing and wasting away; Lebanon is put to shame and has become waste; Sharon is like the Arabah; and in Bashan and Carmel the leaves are falling.
10 “Now will I arise,” says the LORD. “Now will I be exalted; now will I be lifted up.
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Now will I come forward, says the Lord; now will I be lifted up; now will my power be seen.
11 You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you.
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Your designs will be without profit, and their effect will be nothing: you will be burned up by the fire of my breath.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze.”
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And the peoples will be like the burning of chalk: as thorns cut down, which are burned in the fire.
13 You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!
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Give ear, you who are far off, to what I have done: see my power, you who are near.
14 The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: “Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
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The sinners in Zion are full of fear; the haters of God are shaking with wonder. Who among us may keep his place before the burning fire? who among us may see the eternal burnings?
15 Those who walk righteously and speak what is right, who reject gain from extortion and keep their hands from accepting bribes, who stop their ears against plots of murder and shut their eyes against contemplating evil—
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He whose ways are true, and whose words are upright; he who gives no thought to the profits of false acts, whose hands have not taken rewards, who will have no part in putting men to death, and whose eyes are shut against evil;
16 they are the ones who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. Their bread will be supplied, and water will not fail them.
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He will have a place on high: he will be safely shut in by the high rocks: his bread will be given to him; his waters will be certain.
17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.
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Your eyes will see the king in his glory: they will be looking on a far-stretching land.
18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: “Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?”
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Your heart will give thought to the cause of your fear: where is the scribe, where is he who made a record of the payments, where is he by whom the towers were numbered?
19 You will see those arrogant people no more, people whose speech is obscure, whose language is strange and incomprehensible.
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Never again will you see the cruel people, a people whose tongue has no sense for you; whose language is strange to you.
20 Look on Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.
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Let your eyes be resting on Zion, the town of our holy feasts: you will see Jerusalem, a quiet resting-place, a tent which will not be moved, whose tent-pins will never be pulled up, and whose cords will never be broken.
21 There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them.
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But there the Lord will be with us in his glory, ... wide rivers and streams; where no boat will go with blades, and no fair ship will be sailing.
22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.
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For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our king; he will be our saviour.
23 Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder.
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Your cords have become loose; they were not able to make strong the support of their sails, the sail was not stretched out: then the blind will take much property, the feeble-footed will make division of the goods of war.
24 No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.
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And the men of Zion will not say, I am ill: for its people will have forgiveness for their sin.
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.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.