The Living Bible (235 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast; tell my people of their sins!
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Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and are so delighted to hear the reading of my laws—just as though they would obey them—just as though they don’t despise the commandments of their God! How anxious they are to worship correctly; oh, how they love the Temple services!
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“We have fasted before you,” they say. “Why aren’t you impressed? Why don’t you see our sacrifices? Why don’t you hear our prayers? We have done much penance, and you don’t even notice it!” I’ll tell you why! Because you are living in evil pleasure even while you are fasting, and you keep right on oppressing your workers.
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Look, what good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.
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Is this what I want—this doing of penance and bowing like reeds in the wind, putting on sackcloth and covering yourselves with ashes? Is this what you call fasting?
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No, the kind of fast I want is that you stop oppressing those who work for you and treat them fairly and give them what they earn.
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I want you to share your food with the hungry and bring right into your own homes those who are helpless, poor, and destitute. Clothe those who are cold, and don’t hide from relatives who need your help.
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If you do these things, God will shed his own glorious light upon you. He will heal you; your godliness will lead you forward, goodness will be a shield before you, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
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Then, when you call, the Lord will answer. “Yes, I am here,” he will quickly reply. All you need to do is to stop oppressing the weak and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors!
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Feed the hungry! Help those in trouble! Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you shall be as bright as day.
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And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy you with all good things, and keep you healthy too; and you will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.
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Your sons will rebuild the long-deserted ruins of your cities, and you will be known as “The People Who Rebuild Their Walls and Cities.”
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If you keep the Sabbath holy, not having your own fun and business on that day, but enjoying the Sabbath, speaking of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day, and honoring the Lord in what you do, not following your own desires and pleasure nor talking idly—
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then the Lord will be your delight, and I will see to it that you ride high and get your full share of the blessings I promised to Jacob, your father. The Lord has spoken.
Listen now! The Lord isn’t too weak to save you. And he isn’t getting deaf! He can hear you when you call!
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But the trouble is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin he has turned his face away from you and will not listen anymore.
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For your hands are those of murderers and your fingers are filthy with sin. You lie and grumble and oppose the good.
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No one cares about being fair and true. Your lawsuits are based on lies; you spend your time plotting evil deeds and doing them.
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You spend your time and energy in spinning evil plans that end up in deadly actions.
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You cheat and shortchange everyone. Everything you do is filled with sin; violence is your trademark.
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Your feet run to do evil and rush to murder; your thoughts are only of sinning, and wherever you go you leave behind a trail of misery and death.
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You don’t know what true peace is, nor what it means to be just and good; you continually do wrong and those who follow you won’t experience any peace either.
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It is because of all this evil that you aren’t finding God’s blessings; that’s why he doesn’t punish those who injure you. No wonder you are in darkness when you expected light. No wonder you are walking in the gloom.
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No wonder you grope like blind men and stumble along in broad daylight, yes, even at brightest noontime, as though it were the darkest night! No wonder you are like corpses when compared with vigorous young men!
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You roar like hungry bears; you moan with mournful cries like doves. You look for God to keep you, but he doesn’t. He has turned away.
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For your sins keep piling up before the righteous God and testify against you.
Yes, we know what sinners we are.
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We know our disobedience; we have denied the Lord our God. We know what rebels we are and how unfair we are, for we carefully plan our lies.
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Our courts oppose the righteous man; fairness is unknown. Truth falls dead in the streets, and justice is outlawed.
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Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who tries a better life is soon attacked. The Lord saw all the evil and was displeased to find no steps taken against sin.
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He saw no one was helping you and wondered that no one intervened. Therefore he himself stepped in to save you through his mighty power and justice.
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He put on righteousness as armor and the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with robes of vengeance and of godly fury.
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He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds—fury for his foes in distant lands.
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Then at last they will reverence and glorify the name of God from west to east. For he will come like a flood tide driven by Jehovah’s breath.
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He will come as a Redeemer to those in Zion who have turned away from sin.
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“As for me, this is my promise to them,” says the Lord: “My Holy Spirit shall not leave them, and they shall want the good and hate the wrong—they and their children and their children’s children forever.”
Arise, my people! Let your light shine for all the nations to see! For the glory of the Lord is streaming from you.
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Darkness as black as night shall cover all the peoples of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine from you.
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All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see the glory of the Lord upon you.
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Lift up your eyes and see! For your sons and daughters are coming home to you from distant lands.
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Your eyes will shine with joy, your hearts will thrill, for merchants from around the world will flow to you, bringing you the wealth of many lands.
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Vast droves of camels will converge upon you, dromedaries from Midian and Sheba and Ephah too, bringing gold and incense to add to the praise of God.
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The flocks of Kedar shall be given you, and the rams of Nabaioth for my altars, and I will glorify my glorious Temple in that day.
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And who are these who fly like a cloud to Israel, like doves to their nests?
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I have reserved the ships of many lands, the very best,
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to bring the sons of Israel home again from far away, bringing their wealth with them. For the Holy One of Israel, known around the world, has glorified you in the eyes of all.
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Foreigners will come and build your cities. Presidents and kings will send you aid. For though I destroyed you in my anger, I will have mercy on you through my grace.
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Your gates will stay wide open around the clock to receive the wealth of many lands. The kings of the world will cater to you.
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For the nations refusing to be your allies
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will perish; they shall be destroyed.
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The glory of Lebanon will be yours—the forests of firs, pines, and box trees—to beautify my sanctuary. My Temple will be glorious.
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The sons of anti-Semites will come and bow before you! They will kiss your feet! They will call Jerusalem “The City of the Lord” and “The Glorious Mountain of the Holy One of Israel.”
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Though once despised and hated and rebuffed by all, you will be beautiful forever, a joy for all the generations of the world, for I will make you so.
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Powerful kings and mighty nations shall provide you with the choicest of their goods to satisfy your every need, and you will know at last and really understand that I, the Lord, am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.
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I will exchange your brass for gold, your iron for silver, your wood for brass, your stones for iron. Peace and righteousness shall be your taskmasters!
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Violence will disappear out of your land—all war will end. Your walls will be “Salvation” and your gates “Praise.”
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No longer will you need the sun or moon to give you light, for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light, and he will be your glory.
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Your sun shall never set; the moon shall not go down—for the Lord will be your everlasting light; your days of mourning all will end.
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All your people will be good. They will possess their land forever, for I will plant them there with my own hands; this will bring me glory.
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The smallest family shall multiply into a clan; the tiny group shall be a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will bring it all to pass when it is time.