The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 <To the chief music-maker. Of the sons of Korah Maschil.> It has come to our ears, O God, our fathers have given us the story, of the works which you did in their days, in the old times,
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With our own ears we have heard it, O God - our ancestors have told us about it, about the great things you did in their time, in the days of long ago:
2 Uprooting the nations with your hand, and planting our fathers in their place; cutting down the nations, but increasing the growth of your people.
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how you yourself drove out the heathen and established your people in their land; how you punished the other nations and caused your own to prosper.
3 For they did not make the land theirs by their swords, and it was not their arms which kept them safe; but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your face, because you had pleasure in them.
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Your people did not conquer the land with their swords; they did not win it by their own power; it was by your power and your strength, by the assurance of your presence, which showed that you loved them.
4 You are my King and my God; ordering salvation for Jacob.
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You are my king and my God; you give victory to your people,
5 Through you will we overcome our haters; by your name will they be crushed under our feet who are violent against us.
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and by your power we defeat our enemies.
6 I will not put faith in my bow, my sword will not be my salvation.
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I do not trust in my bow or in my sword to save me;
7 But it is you who have been our saviour from those who were against us, and have put to shame those who had hate for us.
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but you have saved us from our enemies and defeated those who hate us.
8 Our pride is in God at all times, to his name we give praise for ever. (Selah.)
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We will always praise you and give thanks to you forever.
9 But now you have sent us away from you, and put us to shame; you do not go out with our armies.
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But now you have rejected us and let us be defeated; you no longer march out with our armies.
10 Because of this we are turned back by the attacker: those who have hate for us take our goods for themselves.
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You made us run from our enemies, and they took for themselves what was ours.
11 You have made us like sheep which are taken for meat; we are put to flight among the nations.
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You allowed us to be slaughtered like sheep; you scattered us in foreign countries.
12 You let your people go for nothing; your wealth is not increased by their price.
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You sold your own people for a small price as though they had little value.
13 You have made us to be looked down on by our neighbours, we are laughed at and shamed by those who are round about us.
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Our neighbors see what you did to us, and they mock us and laugh at us.
14 Our name is a word of shame among the nations, a sign for the shaking of heads among the peoples.
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You have made us a joke among the nations; they shake their heads at us in scorn.
15 My downfall is ever before me, and I am covered with the shame of my face;
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I am always in disgrace; I am covered with shame
16 Because of the voice of him who says sharp and bitter words; because of the hater and him who is the instrument of punishment.
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from hearing the sneers and insults of my enemies and those who hate me.
17 All this has come on us, but still we have kept you in our memory; and we have not been false to your word.
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All this has happened to us, even though we have not forgotten you or broken the covenant you made with us.
18 Our hearts have not gone back, and our steps have not been turned out of your way;
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We have not been disloyal to you; we have not disobeyed your commands.
19 Though you have let us be crushed in the place of jackals, though we are covered with darkest shade.
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Yet you left us helpless among wild animals; you abandoned us in deepest darkness.
20 If the name of our God has gone out of our minds, or if our hands have been stretched out to a strange god,
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If we had stopped worshiping our God and prayed to a foreign god,
21 Will not God make search for it? for he sees the secrets of the heart.
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you would surely have discovered it, because you know our secret thoughts.
22 Truly, because of you we are put to death every day; we are numbered like sheep for destruction.
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But it is on your account that we are being killed all the time, that we are treated like sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Why are you sleeping, O Lord? awake! and come to our help, do not give us up for ever.
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Wake up, Lord! Why are you asleep? Rouse yourself! Don't reject us forever!
24 Why is your face covered, and why do you give no thought to our trouble and our cruel fate?
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Why are you hiding from us? Don't forget our suffering and trouble!
25 For our souls are crushed down to the dust: our bodies are stretched out on the earth.
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We fall crushed to the ground; we lie defeated in the dust.
26 Up! and come to our help, and give us salvation because of your mercy.
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Come to our aid! Because of your constant love save us!
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.