The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 "Remember, God, all we've been through. Study our plight, the black mark we've made in history.
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LORD, remember what has happened to us. See how we have been disgraced!
2 Our precious land has been given to outsiders, our homes to strangers.
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Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners.
3 Orphans we are, not a father in sight, and our mothers no better than widows.
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We are orphaned and fatherless. Our mothers are widowed.
4 We have to pay to drink our own water. Even our firewood comes at a price.
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We have to pay for water to drink, and even firewood is expensive.
5 We're nothing but slaves, bullied and bowed, worn out and without any rest.
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Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are exhausted but are given no rest.
6 We sold ourselves to Assyria and Egypt just to get something to eat.
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We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough food to survive.
7 Our parents sinned and are no more, and now we're paying for the wrongs they did.
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Our ancestors sinned, but they have died— and we are suffering the punishment they deserved!
8 Slaves rule over us; there's no escape from their grip.
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Slaves have now become our masters; there is no one left to rescue us.
9 We risk our lives to gather food in the bandit-infested desert.
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We hunt for food at the risk of our lives, for violence rules the countryside.
10 Our skin has turned black as an oven, dried out like old leather from the famine.
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The famine has blackened our skin as though baked in an oven.
11 Our wives were raped in the streets in Zion, and our virgins in the cities of Judah.
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Our enemies rape the women in Jerusalem and the young girls in all the towns of Judah.
12 They hanged our princes by their hands, dishonored our elders.
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Our princes are being hanged by their thumbs, and our elders are treated with contempt.
13 Strapping young men were put to women's work, mere boys forced to do men's work.
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Young men are led away to work at millstones, and boys stagger under heavy loads of wood.
14 The city gate is empty of wise elders. Music from the young is heard no more.
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The elders no longer sit in the city gates; the young men no longer dance and sing.
15 All the joy is gone from our hearts. Our dances have turned into dirges.
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Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
16 The crown of glory has toppled from our head. Woe! Woe! Would that we'd never sinned!
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The garlands have fallen from our heads. Weep for us because we have sinned.
17 Because of all this we're heartsick; we can't see through the tears.
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Our hearts are sick and weary, and our eyes grow dim with tears.
18 On Mount Zion, wrecked and ruined, jackals pace and prowl.
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For Jerusalem is empty and desolate, a place haunted by jackals.
19 And yet, God, you're sovereign still, your throne intact and eternal.
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But LORD, you remain the same forever! Your throne continues from generation to generation.
20 So why do you keep forgetting us? Why dump us and leave us like this?
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Why do you continue to forget us? Why have you abandoned us for so long?
21 Bring us back to you, God - we're ready to come back. Give us a fresh start.
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Restore us, O LORD, and bring us back to you again! Give us back the joys we once had!
22 As it is, you've cruelly disowned us. You've been so very angry with us."
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Or have you utterly rejected us? Are you angry with us still?
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.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.