The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 Listen to the Message that God is sending your way, House of Israel.
1
Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2 Listen most carefully: "Don't take the godless nations as your models. Don't be impressed by their glamour and glitz, no matter how much they're impressed.
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Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 The religion of these peoples is nothing but smoke. An idol is nothing but a tree chopped down, then shaped by a woodsman's ax.
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For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They trim it with tinsel and balls, use hammer and nails to keep it upright.
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They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5 It's like a scarecrow in a cabbage patch - can't talk! Dead wood that has to be carried - can't walk! Don't be impressed by such stuff. It's useless for either good or evil."
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They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
6 All this is nothing compared to you, O God. You're wondrously great, famously great.
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Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
7 Who can fail to be impressed by you, King of the nations? It's your very nature to be worshiped! Look far and wide among the elite of the nations. The best they can come up with is nothing compared to you.
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Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
8 Stupidly, they line them up - a lineup of sticks, good for nothing but making smoke.
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But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
9 Gilded with silver foil from Tarshish, covered with gold from Uphaz, Hung with violet and purple fabrics - no matter how fancy the sticks, they're still sticks.
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Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
10 But God is the real thing - the living God, the eternal King. When he's angry, Earth shakes. Yes, and the godless nations quake.
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But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
11 "Tell them this: 'The stick gods who made nothing, neither sky nor earth, Will come to nothing on the earth and under the sky.'"
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Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
12 But it is God whose power made the earth, whose wisdom gave shape to the world, who crafted the cosmos.
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He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
13 He thunders, and rain pours down. He sends the clouds soaring. He embellishes the storm with lightnings, launches wind from his warehouse.
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When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
14 Stick-god worshipers looking mighty foolish, god-makers embarrassed by their handmade gods! Their gods are frauds - dead sticks,
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Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
15 deadwood gods, tasteless jokes. When the fires of judgment come, they'll be ashes.
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They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
16 But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing. He put the whole universe together And pays special attention to Israel. His name? God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
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The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
17 Grab your bags, all you who are under attack.
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Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
18 God has given notice: "Attention! I'm evicting Everyone who lives here, And right now - yes, right now! I'm going to press them to the limit, squeeze the life right out of them."
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For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
19 But it's a black day for me! Hopelessly wounded, I said, "Why, oh why did I think I could bear it?"
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Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
20 My house is ruined - the roof caved in. Our children are gone - we'll never see them again. No one left to help in rebuilding, no one to make a new start!
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My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
21 It's because our leaders are stupid. They never asked God for counsel, And so nothing worked right. The people are scattered all over.
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For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
22 But listen! Something's coming! A big commotion from the northern borders! Judah's towns about to be smashed, left to all the stray dogs and cats!
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Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
23 I know, God, that mere mortals can't run their own lives, That men and women don't have what it takes to take charge of life.
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O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
24 So correct us, God, as you see best. Don't lose your temper. That would be the end of us.
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O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
25 Vent your anger on the godless nations, who refuse to acknowledge you, And on the people who won't pray to you - The very ones who've made hash out of Jacob, yes, made hash And devoured him whole, people and pastures alike.
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Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
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.
The King James Version is in the public domain.