184 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
184 lines
3.8 KiB
Markdown
A Message about Jerusalem
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# Chapter 29
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1. "What sorrow awaits Ariel, the City of David.
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Year after year you celebrate your feasts.
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2. Yet I will bring disaster upon you,
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and there will be much weeping and sorrow.
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For Jerusalem will become what her name Ariel means--
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an altar covered with blood.
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3. I will be your enemy,
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surrounding Jerusalem and attacking its walls.
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I will build siege towers
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and destroy it.
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4. Then deep from the earth you will speak;
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from low in the dust your words will come.
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Your voice will whisper from the ground
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like a ghost conjured up from the grave.
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5. "But suddenly, your ruthless enemies will be crushed
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like the finest of dust.
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Your many attackers will be driven away
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like chaff before the wind.
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Suddenly, in an instant,
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6. I, the LORD of Heaven's Armies, will act for you
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with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
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with whirlwind and storm and consuming fire.
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7. All the nations fighting against Jerusalem
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will vanish like a dream!
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Those who are attacking her walls
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will vanish like a vision in the night.
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8. A hungry person dreams of eating
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but wakes up still hungry.
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A thirsty person dreams of drinking
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but is still faint from thirst when morning comes.
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So it will be with your enemies,
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with those who attack Mount Zion."
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9. Are you amazed and incredulous?
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Don't you believe it?
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Then go ahead and be blind.
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You are stupid, but not from wine!
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You stagger, but not from liquor!
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10. For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep.
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He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries.
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11. All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, "We can't read it because it is sealed."
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12. When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, "We don't know how to read."
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13. And so the Lord says,
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"These people say they are mine.
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They honor me with their lips,
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but their hearts are far from me.
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And their worship of me
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is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.
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14. Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites
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with amazing wonders.
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The wisdom of the wise will pass away,
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and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear."
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15. What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the LORD,
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who do their evil deeds in the dark!
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"The LORD can't see us," they say.
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"He doesn't know what's going on!"
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16. How foolish can you be?
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He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!
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Should the created thing say of the one who made it,
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"He didn't make me"?
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Does a jar ever say,
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"The potter who made me is stupid"?
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17. Soon--and it will not be very long--
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the forests of Lebanon will become a fertile field,
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and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops.
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18. In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book,
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and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness.
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19. The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the LORD.
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The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
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20. The scoffer will be gone,
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the arrogant will disappear,
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and those who plot evil will be killed.
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21. Those who convict the innocent
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by their false testimony will disappear.
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A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice
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and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.
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22. That is why the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the people of Israel,
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"My people will no longer be ashamed
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or turn pale with fear.
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23. For when they see their many children
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and all the blessings I have given them,
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they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob.
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They will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
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24. Then the wayward will gain understanding,
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and complainers will accept instruction.
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