New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The sacred stones lie scattered at the head of every street.
1 Oh, oh, oh . . . How gold is treated like dirt, the finest gold thrown out with the garbage, Priceless jewels scattered all over, jewels loose in the gutters.
2 The precious children of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold— how they are reckoned as earthen pots, the work of a potter's hands!
2 And the people of Zion, once prized, far surpassing their weight in gold, Are now treated like cheap pottery, like everyday pots and bowls mass-produced by a potter.
3 Even the jackals offer the breast and nurse their young, but my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
3 Even wild jackals nurture their babies, give them their breasts to suckle. But my people have turned cruel to their babies, like an ostrich in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives them anything.
4 Babies have nothing to drink. Their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths. Little children ask for bread but no one gives them so much as a crust.
5 Those who feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple cling to ash heaps.
5 People used to the finest cuisine forage for food in the streets. People used to the latest in fashions pick through the trash for something to wear.
6 For the chastisement of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, though no hand was laid on it.
6 The evil guilt of my dear people was worse than the sin of Sodom - The city was destroyed in a flash, and no one around to help.
7 Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, their hair like sapphire.
7 The splendid and sacred nobles once glowed with health. Their bodies were robust and ruddy, their beards like carved stone.
8 Now their visage is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood.
8 But now they are smeared with soot, unrecognizable in the street, Their bones sticking out, their skin dried out like old leather.
9 Happier were those pierced by the sword than those pierced by hunger, whose life drains away, deprived of the produce of the field.
9 Better to have been killed in battle than killed by starvation. Better to have died of battle wounds than to slowly starve to death.
10 The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food in the destruction of my people.
10 Nice and kindly women boiled their own children for supper. This was the only food in town when my dear people were broken.
11 The Lord gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations.
11 God let all his anger loose, held nothing back. He poured out his raging wrath. He set a fire in Zion that burned it to the ground.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
12 The kings of the earth couldn't believe it. World rulers were in shock, Watching old enemies march in big as you please, right through Jerusalem's gates.
13 It was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in the midst of her.
13 Because of the sins of her prophets and the evil of her priests, Who exploited good and trusting people, robbing them of their lives,
14 Blindly they wandered through the streets, so defiled with blood that no one was able to touch their garments.
14 These prophets and priests blindly grope their way through the streets, grimy and stained from their dirty lives, Wasted by their wasted lives, shuffling from fatigue, dressed in rags.
15 "Away! Unclean!" people shouted at them; "Away! Away! Do not touch!" So they became fugitives and wanderers; it was said among the nations, "They shall stay here no longer."
15 People yell at them, "Get out of here, dirty old men! Get lost, don't touch us, don't infect us!" They have to leave town. They wander off. Nobody wants them to stay here. Everyone knows, wherever they wander, that they've been kicked out of their own hometown.
16 The Lord himself has scattered them, he will regard them no more; no honor was shown to the priests, no favor to the elders.
16 God himself scattered them. No longer does he look out for them. He has nothing to do with the priests; he cares nothing for the elders.
17 Our eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; we were watching eagerly for a nation that could not save.
17 We watched and watched, wore our eyes out looking for help. And nothing. We mounted our lookouts and looked for the help that never showed up.
18 They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered; for our end had come.
18 They tracked us down, those hunters. It wasn't safe to go out in the street. Our end was near, our days numbered. We were doomed.
19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
19 They came after us faster than eagles in flight, pressed us hard in the mountains, ambushed us in the desert.
20 The Lord's anointed, the breath of our life, was taken in their pits— the one of whom we said, "Under his shadow we shall live among the nations."
20 Our king, our life's breath, the anointed of God, was caught in their traps - Our king under whose protection we always said we'd live.
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter Edom, you that live in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
21 Celebrate while you can, O Edom! Live it up in Uz! For it won't be long before you drink this cup, too. You'll find out what it's like to drink God's wrath, Get drunk on God's wrath and wake up with nothing, stripped naked.
22 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter Zion, is accomplished, he will keep you in exile no longer; but your iniquity, O daughter Edom, he will punish, he will uncover your sins.
22 And that's it for you, Zion. The punishment's complete. You won't have to go through this exile again. But Edom, your time is coming: He'll punish your evil life, put all your sins on display.
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.
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.