New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Ah, you destroyer, who yourself have not been destroyed; you treacherous one, with whom no one has dealt treacherously! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have stopped dealing treacherously, you will be dealt with treacherously.
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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 O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.
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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 sound of tumult, peoples fled; before your majesty, nations scattered.
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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 Spoil was gathered as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts leap, they leaped upon 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, he dwells on high; he filled Zion with 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 stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion's 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 Listen! the valiant cry 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, travelers have quit the road. The treaty is broken, its oaths are despised, its obligation is disregarded.
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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 mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert; and Bashan and Carmel shake off 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 I will arise," says the Lord, "now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted.
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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 bring forth stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume 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 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire."
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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 Hear, you who are far away, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
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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 afraid; trembling has seized the godless: "Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting flames?"
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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 uprightly, who despise the gain of oppression, who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it, who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed and shut their eyes from looking on 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 will live on the heights; their refuge will be the fortresses of rocks; their food will be supplied, their water assured.
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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; they will behold a land that stretches far away.
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Your eyes will see the king in his glory: they will be looking on a far-stretching land.
18 Your mind will muse on the terror: "Where is the one who counted? Where is the one who weighed the tribute? Where is the one who counted 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 No longer will you see the insolent people, the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend, stammering in a language that you cannot understand.
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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 appointed festivals! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, an immovable tent, whose stakes will never be pulled up, and none of whose ropes will be 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 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor stately ship can pass.
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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 ruler, the Lord is our king; he 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; it cannot hold the mast firm in its place, or keep the sail spread out. Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided; even the lame will fall to plundering.
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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 And no inhabitant will say, "I am sick"; the people who live there will be forgiven their iniquity.
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And the men of Zion will not say, I am ill: for its people will have forgiveness for their sin.
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.