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4 Look at how the gold has lost its brightness!
See how dull the fine gold has become!
The sacred jewels are scattered
at every street corner.
2 The priceless children of Zion
were worth their weight in gold.
But now they are thought of as clay pots
made by the hands of a potter.
nurse their young pups.
But my people are as mean
as ostriches in the desert.
4 When our babies get thirsty,
their tongues stick to the roofs of their mouths.
When our children beg for bread,
no one gives them any.
5 Those who once ate fine food
are dying in the streets.
Those who wore fancy clothes
are now lying on piles of trash.
6 My people have been punished
more than Sodom was.
It was destroyed in a moment.
No one offered it a helping hand.
7 Jerusalem’s princes were brighter than snow.
They were whiter than milk.
Their bodies were redder than rubies.
They looked like sapphires.
8 But now they are blacker than coal.
No one even recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin is wrinkled on their bones.
It has become as dry as a stick.
9 Those who have been killed with swords are better off
than those who have to die of hunger.
Those who are hungry waste away to nothing.
They don’t have any food from the fields.
10 With their own hands, loving mothers
have had to cook even their own children.
They ate their children
when my people were destroyed.
11 The Lord has become very angry.
He has poured out his burning anger.
He started a fire in Zion.
It burned up the very foundations.
12 The kings of the earth couldn’t believe what was happening.
Neither could any of the world’s people.
Enemies actually attacked and entered
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 It happened because Jerusalem’s prophets had sinned.
Its priests had done evil things.
All of them spilled the blood
of those who did what was right.
14 Now those prophets and priests
have to feel their way along the streets
like people who are blind.
The blood of those they killed has made them “unclean.”
So no one dares even to touch their clothes.
15 “Go away! You are ‘unclean’!”
people cry out to them.
“Go away! Get out of here!
Don’t touch us!”
So they run away and wander around.
Then people among the nations say,
“They can’t stay here anymore.”
16 The Lord himself has scattered them.
He doesn’t watch over them anymore.
No one shows the priests any respect.
No one honors the elders.
17 And that’s not all. Our eyes grew tired.
We looked for help that never came.
We watched from our towers.
We kept looking for a nation that couldn’t save us.
18 People hunted us down no matter where we went.
We couldn’t even walk in our streets.
Our end was near. We only had a few days to live.
Our end had come.
19 Those who were hunting us down were faster
than eagles in the sky.
They chased us over the mountains.
They hid and waited for us in the desert.
20 Zedekiah, the Lord’s anointed king, was our last hope.
But he was caught in their traps.
We thought he would keep us safe.
We expected to continue living among the nations.
You who live in the land of Uz, be glad.
But the cup of the Lord’s anger will also be passed to you.
Then you will become drunk.
Your clothes will be stripped off.
22 People of Zion, the time for you to be punished
will come to an end.
The Lord won’t keep you away from your land any longer.
But he will punish your sin, people of Edom.
He will show you the evil things you have done.
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About New International Reader’s Version (1998)The New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) was developed to help early readers understand the Bible. Begun in 1992, the NIrV is a simplification of the New International Version (NIV). The NIrV uses shorter words and sentences so that those with a typical fourth grade reading level can comprehend what they are reading. The chapters have been separated into shorter sections and most have titles that clearly indicate what the section is all about. The NIrV will be a valuable translation to those for whom English is a second language. The NIrV still relies on the best and oldest copies of the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts for its translation, guaranteeing that those who read it are getting the actual Word of God. |
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Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved. The NIrV text may be quoted for non-commercial usage in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio) up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without the express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted. Notice of copyright must appear on the title or copyright page of the work as follows: Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER’S VERSION™. Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. When quotations from the NIrV text are used in non-saleable media, such as church bulletins, orders of service, posters, transparencies or similar media, a complete copyright notice is not required, but the initials (NIrV) must appear at the end of each quotation. Any commentary or other Biblical reference work produced for commercial sale that uses the New International Reader’s Version must obtain written permission for use of the NIrV text. Permission requests for commercial use within the U.S. and Canada that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49530. Permission requests for commercial use within the U.K., EEC, and EFTA countries that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, Hodder Headline Plc., 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH, England. Permission requests for non-commercial usage that exceed the above guidelines must be directed to, and approved in writing by, International Bible Society, 1820 Jet Stream Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921. |
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