Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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1 “So the Lord carried out the
threat he had made against
us and against our judges, our
kings, our rulers, and the people
of Israel and Judah.
2 Nowhere
else on earth have such things
happened as happened in Jerusalem
when the Lord carried out
the threats written in the Law of
Moses.
3 Things were so bad that
we even ate the flesh of our own
sons and daughters.
4 The Lord
scattered our people, handing us
over to the control of all the nations
around us, and they looked
on us with reproach and horror.
5 We sinned against the Lord our
God and refused to obey him.
Therefore, our nation was conquered,
instead of being victorious.
6 “The Lord our God is always
righteous, but we and our ancestors
are still burdened with our
guilt.
7 Even though the Lord
punished us as he had threatened,
8 we still did not turn to
him and pray that we would
abandon our evil thoughts.
9
10 We did not obey him or live
by his just commands, so the
Lord brought on us all the punishments
he had kept ready for
us.
-- --
The Prayer for Deliverance
11 “You, O Lord, are the God
of Israel who brought your people
out of Egypt with great
power and with signs, miracles,
and wonders. You showed your
mighty strength and gained a
glorious reputation, which is
still recognized today.
12 O Lord
our God, we have sinned; we
have been unfaithful; we have
disobeyed all your commands.
13 But do not be angry with us
any longer. Here among the nations
where you have scattered
us, only a few of us are left.
14 Listen to our prayer of petition,
Lord, and rescue us for the
sake of your own honor. Let
those who have taken us into
exile be pleased with us.
15 Then
the whole world will know that
you are the Lord our God and
that you have chosen the nation
of Israel to be your own people.
16 “O Lord, look down from
heaven and see our misery. Listen
to our prayer.
17 Open your
eyes and look upon us. Those in
the world of the dead with no
breath left in their bodies cannot
offer praises to you or proclaim
how just you are.
18 Only the living,
O Lord, can offer you praise
and acknowledge your justice,
even though they may be suffering
greatly, bent and weak, hungry
and with failing eyesight.
19 “O Lord our God, we pray to
you for mercy, but not because
of any good things done by our
ancestors and our kings.
20 You
turned your anger and wrath
against us, just as you had
threatened to do when your
servants the prophets spoke
your word to us and said,
21 ‘Bend your backs and serve
the king of Babylonia, and you
can remain in the land that I
gave to your ancestors.
22 But if
you refuse to obey my command
to serve him,
23 I will bring to an
end every sound of joy and celebration
in the towns of Judah
and in Jerusalem. Even the happy
sounds of wedding feasts will
no longer be heard. The whole
land will be desolate and uninhabited.’ note
24 “But we did not obey your
command to serve the king of
Babylonia, so you carried out
the threat that you had made
when you spoke through your
servants the prophets, when you
said that the bones of our kings
and of our ancestors would be
taken from their tombs and scattered. note
25 And now here they lie
exposed to the heat of the day
and to the frost of the night.
They died in torment from famine,
war, and disease.
26 And because
of the sin of the people of
Israel and Judah, you have reduced
your own Temple to
ruins, even as it is today.
27 “But, Lord, you have been
patient with us and have shown
us great mercy,
28 as you promised
through your servant Moses
on the day you commanded him
to write your Law in the presence
of the Israelites.
29 ‘If you
do not obey me,’ you said, ‘you
will be reduced to a handful
among the nations where I will
scatter you. note
30 I know that you
will not obey me, because you
are a stubborn people. But when
you are taken into exile in another
land, you will come to
your senses.
31 Then you will realize
that I am the Lord your
God, and I will give you a desire
to know and a mind with which
to understand.
32 There in the
land of your exile you will praise
me and remember me.
33 You
will stop being so stubborn and
wicked, for you will remember
what happened to your ancestors
when they sinned against
the Lord.
34 Then I will bring you
back to the land that I solemnly
promised to give to your ancestors,
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and it will be yours again. I
will increase your population,
-- --
and you will never again be reduced
to a small number.
35 I will
make an everlasting covenant
with you; I will be your God and
you will be my people. I will
never again remove you, the
people of Israel, from the land
that I gave you.’ note
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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