The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 At that time, says the Lord, they will take the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his rulers, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem out of their resting-places:
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"At that time the bones of the kings and of the officials of Judah, as well as the bones of the priests, of the prophets, and of the other people who lived in Jerusalem, will be taken out of their graves.
2 And they will put them out before the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, whose lovers and servants they have been, after whom they have gone, to whom they have made prayers, and to whom they have given worship: they will not be put together or placed in the earth; they will be waste on the face of the earth.
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Instead of being gathered and buried, their bones will be like manure lying on the ground. They will be spread out before the sun, the moon, and the stars, which these people have loved and served, and which they have consulted and worshiped.
3 And death will be desired more than life by the rest of this evil family who are still living in all the places where I have sent them away, says the Lord of armies.
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And the people of this evil nation who survive, who live in the places where I have scattered them, will prefer to die rather than to go on living. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken."
4 Further, you are to say to them, This is what the Lord has said: Will those who are falling not be lifted up again? will he who has gone away not come back?
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The Lord told me to say to his people, "When someone falls down, doesn't he get back up? If someone misses the road, doesn't he turn back?
5 Why do these people of Jerusalem go back, for ever turning away? they will not give up their deceit, they will not come back.
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Why then, my people, do you turn away from me without ever turning back? You cling to your idols and refuse to return to me.
6 I took note and gave ear, but no one said what is right: no man had regret for his evil-doing, saying, What have I done? everyone goes off on his way like a horse rushing to the fight.
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I listened carefully, but you did not speak the truth. Not one of you has been sorry for your wickedness; not one of you has asked, "What have I done wrong?' Each of you keep on going your own way, like a horse rushing into battle.
7 Truly, the stork in the heavens is conscious of her fixed times; the dove and the swallow and the crane keep to the times of their coming; but my people have no knowledge of the law of the Lord.
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Even storks know when it is time to return; doves, swallows, and thrushes know when it is time to migrate. But, my people, you do not know the laws by which I rule you.
8 How is it that you say, We are wise and the law of the Lord is with us? But see, the false pen of the scribes has made it false.
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How can you say that you are wise and that you know my laws? Look, the laws have been changed by dishonest scribes.
9 The wise men are shamed, they are overcome with fear and taken: see, they have given up the word of the Lord; and what use is their wisdom to them?
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Your wise men are put to shame; they are confused and trapped. They have rejected my words; what wisdom do they have now?
10 So I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who will take them for themselves: for everyone, from the least to the greatest, is given up to getting money; from the priest even to the prophet, everyone is false.
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So I will give their fields to new owners and their wives to other men. Everyone, great and small, tries to make money dishonestly. Even prophets and priests cheat the people.
11 And they have made little of the wounds of the daughter of Zion, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
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They act as if my people's wounds were only scratches. "All is well,' they say, when all is not well.
12 Let them be put to shame because they have done disgusting things. They had no shame, they were not able to become red with shame: so they will come down with those who are falling: in the time of their punishment they will be made low, says the Lord.
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My people, were you ashamed because you did these disgusting things? No, you were not ashamed at all; you don't even know how to blush! And so you will fall as others have fallen; when I punish you, that will be the end of you. I, the Lord, have spoken.
13 I will put an end to them completely, says the Lord: there are no grapes on the vine and no figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf is dry.
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"I wanted to gather my people, as a farmer gathers a harvest; but they are like a vine with no grapes, like a fig tree with no figs; even the leaves have withered. Therefore, I have allowed outsiders to take over the land."
14 Why are we seated doing nothing? come together, and let us go to the walled towns, and let destruction overtake us there, for the Lord our God has sent destruction on us, and given us bitter water for our drink, because we have done evil against the Lord.
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"Why are we sitting still?" God's people ask. "Come on, we will run to the fortified cities and die there. The Lord our God has condemned us to die; he has given us poison to drink, because we have sinned against him.
15 We were looking for peace, but no good came; and for a time of well-being, but there is only a great fear.
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We hoped for peace and a time of healing, but it was no use; terror came instead.
16 The loud breathing of the horses comes to our ears from Dan: at the sound of the outcry of his war-horses, all the land is shaking with fear; for they have come, and have made a meal of the land and everything in it; the town and the people living in it.
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Our enemies are already in the city of Dan; we hear the snorting of their horses. The whole land trembles when their horses neigh. Our enemies have come to destroy our land and everything in it, our city and all its people."
17 See, I will send snakes and poison-snakes among you, against which the wonder-worker has no power; and they will give you wounds which may not be made well, says the Lord.
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"Watch out!" the Lord says, "I am sending snakes among you, poisonous snakes that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you."
18 Sorrow has come on me! my heart in me is feeble.
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My sorrow cannot be healed; I am sick at heart.
19 The voice of the cry of the daughter of my people comes from a far land: Is the Lord not in Zion? is not her King in her? Why have they made me angry with their images and their strange gods which are no gods?
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Listen! Throughout the land I hear my people crying out, "Is the Lord no longer in Zion? Is Zion's king no longer there?" The Lord, their king, replies, "Why have you made me angry by worshiping your idols and by bowing down to your useless foreign gods?"
20 The grain-cutting is past, the summer is ended, and no salvation has come to us.
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The people cry out, "The summer is gone, the harvest is over, but we have not been saved."
21 For the destruction of the daughter of my people I am broken: I am dressed in the clothing of grief; fear has taken me in its grip.
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My heart has been crushed because my people are crushed; I mourn; I am completely dismayed.
22 Is there no life-giving oil in Gilead? is there no expert in medical arts? why then have my people not been made well?
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Is there no medicine in Gilead? Are there no doctors there? Why, then, have my people not been healed?
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.