The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 God, put an end to evil; avenging God, show your colors!
1
O LORD, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth!
2 Judge of the earth, take your stand; throw the book at the arrogant.
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Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve!
3 God, the wicked get away with murder - how long will you let this go on?
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O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?
4 They brag and boast and crow about their crimes!
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They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.
5 They walk all over your people, God, exploit and abuse your precious people.
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They crush your people, O LORD, and afflict your heritage.
6 They take out anyone who gets in their way; if they can't use them, they kill them.
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They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;
7 They think, "God isn't looking, Jacob's God is out to lunch."
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and they say, "The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive."
8 Well, think again, you idiots, fools - how long before you get smart?
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Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?
9 Do you think Ear-Maker doesn't hear, Eye-Shaper doesn't see?
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He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 Do you think the trainer of nations doesn't correct, the teacher of Adam doesn't know?
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He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge--
11 God knows, all right - knows your stupidity, sees your shallowness.
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the LORD--knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.
12 How blessed the man you train, God, the woman you instruct in your Word,
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Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law,
13 Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil, while a jail is being built for the wicked.
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to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 God will never walk away from his people, never desert his precious people.
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For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;
15 Rest assured that justice is on its way and every good heart put right.
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for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who stood up for me against the wicked? Who took my side against evil workers?
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Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 If God hadn't been there for me, I never would have made it.
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If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
18 The minute I said, "I'm slipping, I'm falling," your love, God, took hold and held me fast.
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When I thought, "My foot slips," your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
19 When I was upset and beside myself, you calmed me down and cheered me up.
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When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can Misrule have anything in common with you? Can Troublemaker pretend to be on your side?
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Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?
21 They ganged up on good people, plotted behind the backs of the innocent.
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They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But God became my hideout, God was my high mountain retreat,
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But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.
23 Then boomeranged their evil back on them: for their evil ways he wiped them out, our God cleaned them out for good.
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He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out.
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.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.