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 Wisdom is the book of God's
commandments, the Law that
will last forever. All who hold onto
her will live, but those who abandon
her will die. note
2 Turn to Wisdom, people
of Israel, and take hold of her.
Make your way toward the splendor
of her light.
3 Do not surrender our
glorious privileges to any other people.
4 How happy we are, people of
Israel; we have the advantage of
knowing what is pleasing to God!
Comfort for Jerusalem
5 Take courage, my people, you
are the ones who keep Israel's name
alive.
6 You were sold to Gentile nations,
but not to be destroyed. Because
you made God angry, he
handed you over to your enemies.
7 When you offered sacrifices to demons
instead of to God, you angered
the one who made you.
8 You forgot
the Eternal God, who had nourished
you as a child, and so you brought
grief to Jerusalem, who had been
like a mother to you.
9 Jerusalem
saw that God was punishing you because
he was angry, and she said to
all the neighboring cities, “Look at
the great misery that God has
brought on me.
10 I saw my sons and
daughters taken into captivity, a
captivity brought on them by the
Eternal God.
11 I brought up my children
with great delight, but I cried
and mourned when they were taken
from me.
12 Let no one take pleasure
in my suffering now that I am a
widow and so many of my children
have been taken from me. They
turned away from God's Law, and
their sins have made me a deserted
city.
13 They had no respect for his
commandments and would not live
by them; they refused to let him
guide them in the way of righteousness.
14 “All you neighboring cities,
come and consider how the Eternal
God has sent my children into exile.
15 He brought against them a nation
from far away, a shameless nation
that speaks a foreign language and
has no respect for the elderly and no
pity for children.
16 These people carried
off my beloved sons and took
away my daughters, and I was left a
widow, completely alone.
17 “My children in exile, I can do
nothing to help you.
18 Only the one
who brought this punishment upon
you can rescue you from your enemies.
19 Go your own way, my children;
live your own life! I am all
alone. note
20 I have taken off the robes I
wore during days of peace, and I
have dressed myself like a person in
mourning. I will cry out to the Eternal
God for help as long as I live.
21 “Take courage, my children, and
cry out to God for help. He will rescue
you from oppression, from the
power of your enemies.
22 I am confident
that the Eternal God will soon
set you free. The Holy One, your
eternal savior, will make me happy
when he shows you mercy.
23 I cried
and wailed when you were taken
away, but God will bring you back
and will make me happy forever.
24 Just as the neighboring cities
watched as you were taken captive,
so they will soon see the Eternal God
coming in glorious splendor to rescue
you.
25 My children, endure
God's punishment with patience.
Your enemies have persecuted you,
but you will soon see them destroyed
and at your mercy.
26 My
children, I spoiled you with love, but
you have had to follow rugged
paths; you were carried off like
sheep caught in an enemy raid.
-- --
27 “Take courage, my children, and
cry out to God for help. He punished
you, but he will not forget you.
28 Just as you were once determined
to turn away from God, now turn
back and serve him with ten times
more determination.
29 The one who
brought these calamities upon you
will rescue you and bring you everlasting
joy.”
Jerusalem Is Assured of Help
30 Take courage, Jerusalem. God,
who gave you your name, will now
bring comfort to you.
31 Misery will
come to those who mistreated you
and then rejoiced when you fell.
32 Misery will come to those cities
that made your children slaves. Misery
will be the fate of Babylon, that
city which swallowed up your sons.
33 Just as that city rejoiced when you
fell and took delight in your ruin, so
now she will mourn when she herself
is deserted.
34 I will turn her
proud boastings into mourning and
take away her large population in
which she took pride.
35 I, the Eternal
God, will send down fire on her,
and it will burn for many days. Her
ruins will be haunted by demons for
a long time to come.
36 Look to the east, Jerusalem, and
see the joy that God is bringing to
you.
37 Look, your children are coming
home, the children that were
taken from you. They have been
gathered together from the east and
from the west by the command of
God, the Holy One. And now they
are coming home, rejoicing in the
glory of God.
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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