Common English Bible CEB
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 I'm doomed! I've become like one who, even after the summer fruit has been gathered, after the ripened fruits have been collected, has no cluster of grapes to eat, no ripe fig that I might desire.
1
Poor me! I am like those gathering summer fruit, like those picking grapes. But there aren't any grapes to eat or any ripened figs that I crave.
2 Faithful ones have perished from the land; there is no righteous one among humanity. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; they hunt each other with nets.
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Faithful people are gone from the earth, and no one is decent. All people lie in ambush to commit murder. They trap each other with nets.
3 Their hands are skilled at doing evil. Official and judge alike ask for a bribe; the powerful speak however they like; this is how they conspire.
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Their hands are skilled in doing evil. Officials ask for gifts. Judges accept bribes. Powerful people dictate what they want. So they scheme together.
4 The good among them are like a briar; those who do the right thing are like a thorny thicket. (A day for your lookouts! Your punishment has arrived. The confusion of the wicked is nearby.)
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The best of them is like a briar. The most decent person is sharper than thornbushes. The day you thought you would be punished has come. Now is the time you will be confused.
5 Don't rely on a friend; put no trust in a companion; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your embrace.
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Don't trust your neighbors. Don't have confidence in [your] friends. Keep your mouth shut even when a woman is lying in your arms.
6 Son disrespects father; a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; the enemies of a man are those of his own household.
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A son treats his father with contempt. A daughter rebels against her mother. A daughter-in-law rebels against her mother-in-law. People's enemies are the members of their own families.
7 But me! I will keep watch for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
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I will look to the LORD. I will wait for God to save me. I will wait for my God to listen to me.
8 Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, because when I fall, I will rise; if I sit in darkness, the LORD is my light.
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Don't laugh at me, my enemies. Although I've fallen, I will get up. Although I sit in the dark, the LORD is my light.
9 I must bear the raging of the LORD, for I have sinned against him, until he decides my case and provides justice for me. He will bring me out into the light; I will see by means of his righteousness.
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I have sinned against the LORD. So I will endure his fury until he takes up my cause and wins my case. He will bring me into the light, and I will see his victory.
10 Then my enemy will see; shame will cover her who said to me: "Where is the LORD your God?" My eyes will see her ruin; now she will become something to be trampled, like mud in the streets.
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Then my enemies will see this, and they will be covered with shame, because they asked me, "Where is the LORD your God?" Now I look at them. They are trampled like mud in the streets.
11 A day for the building of your walls! On that day, the boundary will be distant.
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The day for rebuilding your walls and extending your borders is coming.
12 On that day, they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
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When that day comes, your people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, from Egypt to the Euphrates River, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
13 And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants, because of the fruit of their actions.
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The earth will become a wasteland for those who live on it because of what the people living there have done.
14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the sheep of your inheritance, those dwelling alone in a forest in the midst of Carmel. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as a long time ago.
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With your shepherd's staff, take care of your people, the sheep that belong to you. They live alone in the woods, in fertile pastures. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead like before.
15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show Israel wonderful things.
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Let us see miracles like the time you came out of Egypt.
16 Nations will see and be ashamed of all their strength; they will cover their mouths; their ears will be deaf.
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Nations will see this and be ashamed in spite of all their strength. They will put their hands over their mouths. Their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick dust like the snake, like things that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds to the LORD our God; they will dread and fear you!
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They will lick dust like snakes, like animals that crawl on the ground. They will come out of their hiding places trembling. They will turn away from your presence in fear, O LORD our God. They will be afraid of you.
18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity, overlooking the sin of the few remaining for his inheritance? He doesn't hold on to his anger forever; he delights in faithful love.
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Who is a God like you? You forgive sin and overlook the rebellion of your faithful people. You will not be angry forever, because you would rather show mercy.
19 He will once again have compassion on us; he will tread down our iniquities. You will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea.
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You will again have compassion on us. You will overcome our wrongdoing. You will throw all our sins into the deep sea.
20 You will provide faithfulness to Jacob, faithful love to Abraham, as you swore to our ancestors a long time ago.
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You will be faithful to Jacob. You will have mercy on Abraham as you swore by an oath to our ancestors long ago.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.