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People’s Plans and God’s Plans

2 How terrible it will be for those

who plan to harm others!

How terrible for those who make evil plans

before they even get out of bed!

As soon as daylight comes,

they carry them out.

That’s because they have the power to do it.

2 If they want fields or houses,

they take them.

They cheat men out of

their homes and property.

3So the Lord says to them,

“I am planning to send trouble on you.

You will not be able to save yourselves from it.

You will not live so proudly anymore.

It will be a time of trouble.

4 At that time people will make fun of you.

They will tease you by singing a song of sadness.

They will pretend to be you and say,

‘We are totally destroyed.

Our enemies have divided up our land.

The Lord has taken it away from us!

He has given our fields to those

who turned against us.’ ”

5 So you won’t even have anyone left

in the Lord’s community

who can divide up the land for you.

Some Prophets Aren’t Really Prophets at All

6 “Don’t prophesy,” the people’s prophets say.

“Don’t prophesy about bad things.

Nothing shameful is going to happen to us.”

7 People of Jacob, should others say,

“The Lord isn’t angry with us.

He doesn’t do things like that”?

The Lord replies, “What I promise brings good things

to those who lead honest lives.

8 But lately my people have attacked one another

as if they were enemies.

You strip the rich robes off

those who happen to pass by.

They thought they were as safe as men

returning from a battle they had won.

9 You drive the women among my people

out of their pleasant homes.

You take my blessing away

from their children forever.

10 Get up! Leave this land!

It is no longer your resting place.

You have made it ‘unclean.’

You have completely destroyed it.

11 Suppose a prophet goes around telling lies.

And he prophesies that you will have

plenty of wine and beer.

Then that kind of prophet would be

just right for this nation!

The Lord Promises He Will Save His People

12 “People of Jacob, I will gather all of you.

I will bring together

you who are still left alive in Israel.

I will gather you together like sheep in a pen.

You will be like a flock in its grasslands.

Your country will be filled with people.

13 I will open the way for you to return.

I will march in front of you.

You will break through the city gates and go free.

I am your King. I will pass through the gates

in front of you.

I will lead the way.”

NIrV

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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All rights reserved.

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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.

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