7:1 ·Poor [Woe to] me! I am like a hungry man, and all the summer fruit has been picked— there are no grapes left to eat, none of the early figs I ·love [crave].
7:2 All of the faithful people ·are gone [L have perished from the land/earth]; there is not one ·good [upright] person left in this country. Everyone ·is waiting to kill someone [L lies in wait for blood]; everyone ·is trying to trap someone else [L hunts his brother with a net].
7:3 With both hands they are doing evil. Rulers ask for ·money [gifts], and judges’ decisions are bought for a ·price [bribe]. ·Rich [Influential; Great] people ·tell what they want [make demands], and they get it.
7:4 Even the best of them is like a ·thornbush [brier]; the most ·honest [upright] of them is worse than a ·prickly plant [thorn hedge]. The day ·that your watchmen warned you about [L of your watchmen; C the coming exile predicted by the prophets] has come. Now they will be confused [C without the guidance of the prophets].
7:5 Don’t ·believe [trust] your neighbor or ·trust [put confidence in] a friend. ·Don’t say anything [L Guard the doors of your mouth], even to ·your wife [L the one who lies on your bosom].
7:6 A son will not honor his father, a daughter will ·turn against [defy; rise up against] her mother, and a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law; a person’s enemies will be ·members of his own family [or the servants of his household; L the men/people of his house; Matt. 10:36].
7:7 Israel says, “I will look to the Lord for help. I will wait for God ·to save me [my savior]; my God will hear me.
7:8 Enemy, don’t ·laugh at [gloat over] me. I have fallen, but I will get up again. I sit in ·the shadow of trouble now [L darkness], but the Lord will be a light for me.
7:9 I sinned against the Lord, so ·he was angry with me [L I will bear the wrath of the Lord], but he will ·defend my case in court [plead my case]. He will ·bring about what is right [accomplish justice] for me. Then he will bring me out into the light, and I will see ·him set things right [his righteousness/justice/vindication].
7:10 Then my enemies will see this, and they will be ·ashamed [L covered wth shame], those who said to me, ‘Where is the Lord your God?’ I will ·look down on [gloat over] them. They will ·get walked on [be trampled down], like mud in the street.”
7:11 The ·time [L day] will come when your walls will be built again, when your ·country will grow [borders will be extended].
7:12 ·At that time [L In that day] your people will come back to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the ·Euphrates River [L River], and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
7:13 The earth will be ·ruined [desolate] ·for [or because of] the people who live in it ·because [L for the fruit] of their deeds.
7:14 So shepherd your people with your ·stick [shepherd’s staff]; tend the flock of ·people who belong to you [L your inheritance/possession]. That flock now lives alone in the forest in the middle of ·a garden land [pasturelands; or Carmel]. Let them ·feed [graze] in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago.
7:15 “As in the days when I brought you out of Egypt, I will show them ·miracles [wonders].”
7:16 When the nations see those miracles, they will ·no longer brag [be ashamed/disappointed] about their power. They will put their hands over their mouths, ·refusing to listen [and their ears will be deaf].
7:17 They will ·crawl in the [L lick] dust like a snake, like ·insects crawling [or serpents; L crawling things] on the ground. They will come trembling from their ·holes [or strongholds] to the Lord our God and will turn in fear before you.
7:18 There is no God like you. You forgive those who are guilty of sin; you ·don’t look at the sins [pass over the transgressions] of ·your people who are left alive [L the remnant of your inheritance]. You will not stay angry forever, because you ·enjoy [delight in] ·being kind [mercy; lovingkindness].
7:19 You will have ·mercy [compassion] on us again; you will conquer our sins. You will ·throw away [hurl; cast] all our sins into the ·deepest part [depths] of the sea.
7:20 You will be ·true [faithful] to ·the people of Jacob [L Jacob], and you will ·be kind [show mercy/lovingkindness] to ·the people of Abraham [L Abraham] as you promised to our ·ancestors [fathers] long ago.
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