Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 Why doesn't the Almighty establish times for punishment? Why can't those who know him see his days?
1
"But if Judgment Day isn't hidden from the Almighty, why are we kept in the dark?
2 People move boundary stones, herd flocks they've stolen,
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There are people out there getting by with murder - stealing and lying and cheating.
3 drive off an orphan's donkey, take a widow's ox as collateral,
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They rip off the poor and exploit the unfortunate,
4 thrust the poor out of the way, make the land's needy hide together.
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Push the helpless into the ditch, bully the weak so that they fear for their lives.
5 They are like the wild donkeys in the desert; they go forth at dawn searching for prey; the wasteland is food for their young.
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The poor, like stray dogs and cats, scavenge for food in back alleys.
6 They gather their food in the field, glean in unproductive vineyards,
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They sort through the garbage of the rich, eke out survival on handouts.
7 spend the night naked, unclothed, in the cold without a cover,
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Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street; they've no place to lay their heads.
8 wet from mountain rains, with no refuge, huddled against a rock.
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Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen, they huddle in makeshift shelters.
9 The orphan is stolen from the breast; the infant of the poor is taken as collateral.
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Nursing mothers have their babies snatched from them; the infants of the poor are kidnapped and sold.
10 The poor go around naked, without clothes, carry bundles of grain while hungry,
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They go about patched and threadbare; even the hard workers go hungry.
11 crush olives between millstones, tread winepresses, but remain thirsty.
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No matter how back-breaking their labor, they can never make ends meet.
12 From the city, the dying cry out; the throat of the mortally wounded screams, but God assigns no blame.
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People are dying right and left, groaning in torment. The wretched cry out for help and God does nothing, acts like nothing's wrong!
13 They rebel against light, don't acknowledge its direction, don't dwell in its paths.
13
"Then there are those who avoid light at all costs, who scorn the light-filled path.
14 The murderer rises at twilight, kills the poor and needy; at night, they are like a thief.
14
When the sun goes down, the murderer gets up - kills the poor and robs the defenseless.
15 The adulterer's eye watches for twilight, thinking, No eye can see me, and puts a mask over his face.
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Sexual predators can't wait for nightfall, thinking, 'No one can see us now.'
16 In the dark they break into houses; they shut themselves in by day; they don't know the light.
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Burglars do their work at night, but keep well out of sight through the day. They want nothing to do with light.
17 Deep darkness is morning to them because they recognize the horror of darkness.
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Deep darkness is morning for that bunch; they make the terrors of darkness their companions in crime.
18 They are scum on the water's surface; their portion of the land is cursed; no one walks down a path in the vineyards.
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"They are scraps of wood floating on the water - useless, cursed junk, good for nothing.
19 Drought and heat steal melted snow, just as the underworld steals sinners.
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As surely as snow melts under the hot, summer sun, sinners disappear in the grave.
20 The womb forgets them; the worm consumes them; they aren't remembered, and so wickedness is shattered like a tree.
20
The womb has forgotten them, worms have relished them - nothing that is evil lasts.
21 They prey on the barren, the childless, do nothing good for the widow.
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Unscrupulous, they prey on those less fortunate.
22 They drag away the strong by force; they may get up but without guarantee of survival.
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However much they strut and flex their muscles, there's nothing to them. They're hollow.
23 They make themselves secure; they are at ease. His eyes are on their ways.
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They may have an illusion of security, but God has his eye on them.
24 They are exalted for a short time, but no longer. They are humbled then gathered in like everyone else; cut off like heads of grain.
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They may get their brief successes, but then it's over, nothing to show for it. Like yesterday's newspaper, they're used to wrap up the garbage.
25 If this isn't so, who can prove me a liar and make my words disappear?
25
You're free to try to prove me a liar, but you won't be able to do it."
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
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.