Authors: Eugene H. Peterson
The Message Remix (273 page)
“Don’t preach,” say the preachers.
“Don’t preach such stuff.
Nothing bad will happen to us.
Talk like
this
to the family of Jacob?
Does GOD lose his temper?
Is this the way he acts?
Isn’t he on the side of good people?
Doesn’t he help those who help themselves?”
“Don’t preach such stuff.
Nothing bad will happen to us.
Talk like
this
to the family of Jacob?
Does GOD lose his temper?
Is this the way he acts?
Isn’t he on the side of good people?
Doesn’t he help those who help themselves?”
“What do you mean, ‘good people’!
You’re the enemy of my people!
You rob unsuspecting people
out for an evening stroll.
You take their coats off their backs
like soldiers who plunder the defenseless.
You drive the women of my people
out of their ample homes.
You make victims of the children
and leave them vulnerable to violence and vice.
Get out of here, the lot of you.
You can’t take it easy here!
You’ve polluted this place,
and now
you’re
polluted—ruined!
If someone showed up with a good smile and glib tongue
and told lies from morning to night—
‘I’ll preach sermons that will tell you
how you can get anything you want from God:
More money, the best wines . . . you name it’—
you’d hire him on the spot as your preacher!
You’re the enemy of my people!
You rob unsuspecting people
out for an evening stroll.
You take their coats off their backs
like soldiers who plunder the defenseless.
You drive the women of my people
out of their ample homes.
You make victims of the children
and leave them vulnerable to violence and vice.
Get out of here, the lot of you.
You can’t take it easy here!
You’ve polluted this place,
and now
you’re
polluted—ruined!
If someone showed up with a good smile and glib tongue
and told lies from morning to night—
‘I’ll preach sermons that will tell you
how you can get anything you want from God:
More money, the best wines . . . you name it’—
you’d hire him on the spot as your preacher!
“I’m calling a meeting, Jacob.
I want everyone back—all the survivors of Israel.
I’ll get them together in one place—
like sheep in a fold, like cattle in a corral—
a milling throng of homebound people!
Then I, GOD, will burst all confinements
and lead them out into the open.
They’ll follow their King.
I will be out in front leading them.”
Haters of Good, Lovers of EvilI want everyone back—all the survivors of Israel.
I’ll get them together in one place—
like sheep in a fold, like cattle in a corral—
a milling throng of homebound people!
Then I, GOD, will burst all confinements
and lead them out into the open.
They’ll follow their King.
I will be out in front leading them.”
003
Then I said:
Then I said:
“Listen, leaders of Jacob, leaders of Israel:
Don’t you know anything of justice?
Haters of good, lovers of evil:
Isn’t justice in your job description?
But you skin my people alive.
You rip the meat off their bones.
You break up the bones, chop the meat,
and throw it in a pot for cannibal stew.”
Don’t you know anything of justice?
Haters of good, lovers of evil:
Isn’t justice in your job description?
But you skin my people alive.
You rip the meat off their bones.
You break up the bones, chop the meat,
and throw it in a pot for cannibal stew.”
The time’s coming, though, when these same leaders
will cry out for help to GOD, but he won’t listen.
He’ll turn his face the other way
because of their history of evil.
will cry out for help to GOD, but he won’t listen.
He’ll turn his face the other way
because of their history of evil.
Here is GOD’s Message to the prophets,
the preachers who lie to my people:
“For as long as they’re well paid and well fed,
the prophets preach, ‘Isn’t life wonderful! Peace to all!’
But if you don’t pay up and jump on their bandwagon,
their ‘God bless you’ turns into ‘God damn you.’
Therefore, you’re going blind. You’ll see nothing.
You’ll live in deep shadows and know nothing.
The sun has set on the prophets.
They’ve had their day; from now on it’s night.
Visionaries will be confused,
experts will be all mixed up.
They’ll hide behind their reputations and make lame excuses
to cover up their God-ignorance.”
the preachers who lie to my people:
“For as long as they’re well paid and well fed,
the prophets preach, ‘Isn’t life wonderful! Peace to all!’
But if you don’t pay up and jump on their bandwagon,
their ‘God bless you’ turns into ‘God damn you.’
Therefore, you’re going blind. You’ll see nothing.
You’ll live in deep shadows and know nothing.
The sun has set on the prophets.
They’ve had their day; from now on it’s night.
Visionaries will be confused,
experts will be all mixed up.
They’ll hide behind their reputations and make lame excuses
to cover up their God-ignorance.”
But me—I’m filled with GOD’s power,
filled with GOD’s Spirit of justice and strength,
Ready to confront Jacob’s crime
and Israel’s sin.
filled with GOD’s Spirit of justice and strength,
Ready to confront Jacob’s crime
and Israel’s sin.
The leaders of Jacob and
the leaders of Israel are
Leaders contemptuous of justice,
who twist and distort right living,
Leaders who build Zion by killing people,
who expand Jerusalem by committing crimes.
Judges sell verdicts to the highest bidder,
priests mass-market their teaching,
prophets preach for high fees,
All the while posturing and pretending
dependence on GOD:
“We’ve got GOD on our side.
He’ll protect us from disaster.”
Because of people like you,
Zion will be turned back into farmland,
Jerusalem end up as a pile of rubble,
and instead of the Temple on the mountain,
a few scraggly scrub pines.
The Making of God’s Peoplethe leaders of Israel are
Leaders contemptuous of justice,
who twist and distort right living,
Leaders who build Zion by killing people,
who expand Jerusalem by committing crimes.
Judges sell verdicts to the highest bidder,
priests mass-market their teaching,
prophets preach for high fees,
All the while posturing and pretending
dependence on GOD:
“We’ve got GOD on our side.
He’ll protect us from disaster.”
Because of people like you,
Zion will be turned back into farmland,
Jerusalem end up as a pile of rubble,
and instead of the Temple on the mountain,
a few scraggly scrub pines.
004
But when all is said and done,
GOD’s Temple on the mountain,
Firmly fixed, will dominate all mountains,
towering above surrounding hills.
People will stream to it
and many nations set out for it,
Saying, “Come, let’s climb GOD’s mountain.
Let’s go to the Temple of Jacob’s God.
He will teach us how to live.
We’ll know how to live God’s way.”
True teaching will issue from Zion,
GOD’s revelation from Jerusalem.
He’ll establish justice in the rabble of nations
and settle disputes in faraway places.
They’ll trade in their swords for shovels,
their spears for rakes and hoes.
Nations will quit fighting each other,
quit learning how to kill one another.
Each man will sit under his own shade tree,
each woman in safety will tend her own garden.
GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies says so,
and he means what he says.
But when all is said and done,
GOD’s Temple on the mountain,
Firmly fixed, will dominate all mountains,
towering above surrounding hills.
People will stream to it
and many nations set out for it,
Saying, “Come, let’s climb GOD’s mountain.
Let’s go to the Temple of Jacob’s God.
He will teach us how to live.
We’ll know how to live God’s way.”
True teaching will issue from Zion,
GOD’s revelation from Jerusalem.
He’ll establish justice in the rabble of nations
and settle disputes in faraway places.
They’ll trade in their swords for shovels,
their spears for rakes and hoes.
Nations will quit fighting each other,
quit learning how to kill one another.
Each man will sit under his own shade tree,
each woman in safety will tend her own garden.
GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies says so,
and he means what he says.
Meanwhile, all the other people live however they wish,
picking and choosing their gods.
But we live honoring GOD,
and we’re loyal to our God forever and ever.
picking and choosing their gods.
But we live honoring GOD,
and we’re loyal to our God forever and ever.
“On that great day,” GOD says,
“I will round up all the hurt and homeless,
everyone I have bruised or banished.
I will transform the battered into a company of the elite.
I will make a strong nation out of the long lost,
A showcase exhibit of GOD’s rule in action,
as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity.
“I will round up all the hurt and homeless,
everyone I have bruised or banished.
I will transform the battered into a company of the elite.
I will make a strong nation out of the long lost,
A showcase exhibit of GOD’s rule in action,
as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity.
“And you stragglers around Jerusalem,
eking out a living in shantytowns:
The glory that once was will be again.
Jerusalem’s daughter will be the kingdom center.”
eking out a living in shantytowns:
The glory that once was will be again.
Jerusalem’s daughter will be the kingdom center.”
So why the doomsday hysterics?
You still have a king, don’t you?
But maybe he’s not doing his job
and you’re panicked like a woman in labor.
Well, go ahead—twist and scream, Daughter Jerusalem.
You
are
like a woman in childbirth.
You’ll soon be out of the city, on your way
and camping in the open country.
And then you’ll arrive in Babylon.
What you lost in Jerusalem will be found in Babylon.
GOD will give you new life again.
He’ll redeem you from your enemies.
You still have a king, don’t you?
But maybe he’s not doing his job
and you’re panicked like a woman in labor.
Well, go ahead—twist and scream, Daughter Jerusalem.
You
are
like a woman in childbirth.
You’ll soon be out of the city, on your way
and camping in the open country.
And then you’ll arrive in Babylon.
What you lost in Jerusalem will be found in Babylon.
GOD will give you new life again.
He’ll redeem you from your enemies.
But for right now, they’re ganged up against you,
many godless peoples, saying,
“Kick her when she’s down! Violate her!
We want to see Zion grovel in the dirt.”
These blasphemers have no idea
what GOD is thinking and doing in this.
They don’t know that this is the making of GOD’s people,
that they are wheat being threshed, gold being refined.
many godless peoples, saying,
“Kick her when she’s down! Violate her!
We want to see Zion grovel in the dirt.”
These blasphemers have no idea
what GOD is thinking and doing in this.
They don’t know that this is the making of GOD’s people,
that they are wheat being threshed, gold being refined.
On your feet, Daughter of Zion! Be threshed of chaff,
be refined of dross.
I’m remaking you into a people invincible,
into God’s juggernaut to crush the godless peoples.
You’ll bring their plunder as holy offerings to GOD,
their wealth to the Master of the earth.
The Leader Who Will Shepherd-Rule Israelbe refined of dross.
I’m remaking you into a people invincible,
into God’s juggernaut to crush the godless peoples.
You’ll bring their plunder as holy offerings to GOD,
their wealth to the Master of the earth.
005
But for now, prepare for the worst, victim daughter!
The siege is set against us.
They humiliate Israel’s king,
slapping him around like a rag doll.
But for now, prepare for the worst, victim daughter!
The siege is set against us.
They humiliate Israel’s king,
slapping him around like a rag doll.
But you, Bethlehem, David’s country,
the runt of the litter—
From you will come the leader
who will shepherd-rule Israel.
He’ll be no upstart, no pretender.
His family tree is ancient and distinguished.
Meanwhile, Israel will be in foster homes
until the birth pangs are over and the child is born,
And the scattered brothers come back
home to the family of Israel.
He will stand tall in his shepherd-rule by GOD’s strength,
centered in the majesty of GOD-Revealed.
And the people will have a good and safe home,
for the whole world will hold him in respect—
Peacemaker of the world!
And if some bullying Assyrian shows up,
invades and violates our land, don’t worry.
We’ll put him in his place, send him packing,
and watch his every move.
Shepherd-rule will extend as far as needed,
to Assyria and all other Nimrod-bullies.
Our shepherd-ruler will save us from old or new enemies,
from anyone who invades or violates our land.
the runt of the litter—
From you will come the leader
who will shepherd-rule Israel.
He’ll be no upstart, no pretender.
His family tree is ancient and distinguished.
Meanwhile, Israel will be in foster homes
until the birth pangs are over and the child is born,
And the scattered brothers come back
home to the family of Israel.
He will stand tall in his shepherd-rule by GOD’s strength,
centered in the majesty of GOD-Revealed.
And the people will have a good and safe home,
for the whole world will hold him in respect—
Peacemaker of the world!
And if some bullying Assyrian shows up,
invades and violates our land, don’t worry.
We’ll put him in his place, send him packing,
and watch his every move.
Shepherd-rule will extend as far as needed,
to Assyria and all other Nimrod-bullies.
Our shepherd-ruler will save us from old or new enemies,
from anyone who invades or violates our land.
The purged and select company of Jacob will be
like an island in the sea of peoples.
They’ll be like dew from GOD,
like summer showers
Not mentioned in the weather forecast,
not subject to calculation or control.
like an island in the sea of peoples.
They’ll be like dew from GOD,
like summer showers
Not mentioned in the weather forecast,
not subject to calculation or control.
Yes, the purged and select company of Jacob will be
like an island in the sea of peoples,
Like the king of beasts among wild beasts,
like a young lion loose in a flock of sheep,
Killing and devouring the lambs
and no one able to stop him.
With your arms raised in triumph over your foes,
your enemies will be no more!
like an island in the sea of peoples,
Like the king of beasts among wild beasts,
like a young lion loose in a flock of sheep,
Killing and devouring the lambs
and no one able to stop him.
With your arms raised in triumph over your foes,
your enemies will be no more!
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