Philippians 4

English Standard Version

4 Therefore, my brothers,^[a] whom I love and ^(A)long for, ^(B)my joy and ^(C)crown, ^(D)stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Exhortation, Encouragement, and Prayer

²I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to ^(E)agree in the Lord. ³Yes, I ask you also, true companion,^[b] help these women, who have labored^[c] side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, ^(F)whose names are in the book of life.

⁴^(G)Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵Let your reasonableness^[d] be known to everyone. ^(H)The Lord is at hand; ⁶^(I)do not be anxious about anything, ^(J)but in everything by prayer and supplication ^(K)with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And ^(L)the peace of God, ^(M)which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹What you have learned^[e] and ^(N)received and heard and seen ^(O)in me—practice these things, and ^(P)the God of peace will be with you.

God's Provision

¹⁰I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length ^(Q)you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. ¹¹Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be ^(R)content. ¹²I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and ^(S)hunger, abundance and ^(T)need. ¹³I can do all things ^(U)through him who strengthens me.

¹⁴Yet it was kind of you ^(V)to share^[f] my trouble. ¹⁵And you Philippians yourselves know that ^(W)in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, ^(X)no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. ¹⁶Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. ¹⁷^(Y)Not that I seek the gift, but I seek ^(Z)the fruit that increases to your credit.^[g] ¹⁸I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, ^(AA)having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, ^(AB)a fragrant offering, ^(AC)a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. ¹⁹And my God ^(AD)will supply every need of yours ^(AE)according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰To ^(AF)our God and Father be ^(AG)glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

²¹Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. ^(AH)The brothers who are with me greet you. ²²^(AI)All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.

²³^(AJ)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Footnotes

Philippians 4:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 8, 21
Philippians 4:3 Or loyal Syzygus; Greek true yokefellow
Philippians 4:3 Or strived (see 1:27)
Philippians 4:5 Or gentleness
Philippians 4:9 Or these things—⁹which things you have also learned
Philippians 4:14 Or have fellowship in
Philippians 4:17 Or I seek the profit that accrues to your account

Proverbs 7

English Standard Version

Warning Against the Adulteress

7 ^(A)My son, keep my words
    and ^(B)treasure up my commandments with you;
²^(C)keep my commandments and live;
    keep my teaching as ^(D)the apple of your eye;
³^(E)bind them on your fingers;
    ^(F)write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and call insight your intimate friend,
⁵to keep you from ^(G)the forbidden^[a] woman,
    from ^(H)the adulteress^[b] with her smooth words.

⁶For at ^(I)the window of my house
    I have looked out through my lattice,
⁷and I have seen among ^(J)the simple,
    I have perceived among the youths,
    a young man ^(K)lacking sense,
⁸passing along the street ^(L)near her corner,
    taking the road to her house
⁹in ^(M)the twilight, in the evening,
    at ^(N)the time of night and darkness.

¹⁰And behold, the woman meets him,
    ^(O)dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.^[c]
¹¹She is ^(P)loud and ^(Q)wayward;
    ^(R)her feet do not stay at home;
¹²now in the street, now in the market,
    and ^(S)at every corner she ^(T)lies in wait.
¹³She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with ^(U)bold face she says to him,
¹⁴“I had to ^(V)offer sacrifices,^[d]
    and today I have ^(W)paid my vows;
¹⁵so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
¹⁶I have spread my couch with ^(X)coverings,
    colored linens from ^(Y)Egyptian linen;
¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with ^(Z)myrrh,
    aloes, and ^(AA)cinnamon.
¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love till morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
¹⁹For ^(AB)my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey;
²⁰he took a bag of money with him;
    at full moon he will come home.”

²¹With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with ^(AC)her smooth talk she compels him.
²²All at once he follows her,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
or as a stag is caught fast^[e]
²³    till an arrow pierces its liver;
as ^(AD)a bird rushes into a snare;
    he does not know that it will cost him his life.

²⁴And ^(AE)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
²⁵Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths,
²⁶for many a victim has she laid low,
    and all her slain are ^(AF)a mighty throng.
²⁷Her house is ^(AG)the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death.

Footnotes

Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew strange
Proverbs 7:5 Hebrew the foreign woman
Proverbs 7:10 Hebrew guarded in heart
Proverbs 7:14 Hebrew peace offerings
Proverbs 7:22 Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac); Hebrew as a chain to discipline a fool

Isaiah 9-10

English Standard Version

For to Us a Child Is Born

9 ^[a] But there will be no ^(A)gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he ^(B)brought into contempt the land of ^(C)Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he ^(D)has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.^[b]

²^[c] ^(E)The people ^(F)who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of ^(G)deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
³^(H)You have multiplied the nation;
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with ^(I)joy at the harvest,
    as they ^(J)are glad ^(K)when they divide the spoil.
⁴^(L)For the yoke of his burden,
    ^(M)and the staff for his shoulder,
    the rod of his oppressor,
    you have broken as ^(N)on the day of Midian.
⁵^(O)For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
    and every garment rolled in blood
    will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶^(P)For to us a child is born,
    to us ^(Q)a son is given;
^(R)and the government shall be ^(S)upon^[d] his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called^[e]
Wonderful ^(T)Counselor, ^(U)Mighty God,
    ^(V)Everlasting ^(W)Father, Prince of ^(X)Peace.
⁷Of the increase of his government and of peace
    ^(Y)there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
^(Z)with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
^(AA)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression

⁸The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
    and it will fall on Israel;
⁹and all the people will know,
    ^(AB)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
    who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
¹⁰“The bricks have fallen,
    but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
    but we will put cedars in their place.”
¹¹But the Lord raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
    and stirs up his enemies.
¹²^(AC)The Syrians on the east and ^(AD)the Philistines on the west
    devour Israel with open mouth.
^(AE)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

¹³The people ^(AF)did not turn to him who struck them,
    nor inquire of the Lord of hosts.
¹⁴So the Lord cut off from Israel ^(AG)head and tail,
    palm branch and reed in one day—
¹⁵^(AH)the elder and honored man is the head,
    and ^(AI)the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
¹⁶for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
    and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
¹⁷Therefore the Lord does not ^(AJ)rejoice over their young men,
    and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is ^(AK)godless and an evildoer,
    and every mouth speaks ^(AL)folly.^[f]
^(AM)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

¹⁸For wickedness burns like ^(AN)a fire;
    it consumes briers and thorns;
it kindles the thickets of the forest,
    and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts
    the land is scorched,
and ^(AO)the people are like fuel for the fire;
    ^(AP)no one spares another.
²⁰^(AQ)They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
    and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
^(AR)each devours the flesh of his own arm,
²¹Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
    together they are ^(AS)against Judah.
^(AT)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

10 Woe to those who ^(AU)decree iniquitous decrees,
    and the writers who ^(AV)keep writing oppression,
²to turn aside the needy from justice
    and ^(AW)to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
    and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
³What will you do on ^(AX)the day of punishment,
    in the ruin that will come ^(AY)from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
    and where will you leave your wealth?
⁴Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
    or fall among the slain.
^(AZ)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

Judgment on Arrogant Assyria

⁵Woe to Assyria, ^(BA)the rod of my anger;
    the staff in their hands is my fury!
⁶Against a ^(BB)godless nation I send him,
    and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take ^(BC)spoil and seize plunder,
    and to ^(BD)tread them down like the mire of the streets.
⁷But he ^(BE)does not so intend,
    and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
    and to cut off nations not a few;
⁸for he says:
^(BF)“Are not my commanders all kings?
⁹^(BG)Is not ^(BH)Calno like ^(BI)Carchemish?
    Is not ^(BJ)Hamath like ^(BK)Arpad?
    ^(BL)Is not ^(BM)Samaria like Damascus?
¹⁰As my hand has reached to ^(BN)the kingdoms of the idols,
    whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
¹¹shall I not do to Jerusalem and ^(BO)her idols
    ^(BP)as I have done to Samaria and her images?”

¹²^(BQ)When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, ^(BR)he^[g] will punish the speech^[h] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. ¹³^(BS)For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
    and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
    and plunder their treasures;
    like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
¹⁴My hand has found like a nest
    the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
    so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
    or opened the mouth or chirped.”

¹⁵Shall ^(BT)the axe boast over him who hews with it,
    or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
    or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
¹⁶Therefore the Lord God of hosts
    will send wasting sickness among his ^(BU)stout warriors,
and under his glory ^(BV)a burning will be kindled,
    like the burning of fire.
¹⁷^(BW)The light of Israel will become a fire,
    and ^(BX)his Holy One a flame,
and ^(BY)it will burn and devour
    his thorns and briers ^(BZ)in one day.
¹⁸The glory of ^(CA)his forest and of his ^(CB)fruitful land
    the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
    and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
¹⁹The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
    that a child can write them down.

The Remnant of Israel Will Return

²⁰^(CC)In that day ^(CD)the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more ^(CE)lean on him who struck them, but ^(CF)will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. ²¹A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, ^(CG)to the mighty God. ²²^(CH)For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, ^(CI)only a remnant of them will return. ^(CJ)Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. ²³For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.

²⁴Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, ^(CK)who dwell in Zion, ^(CL)be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as ^(CM)the Egyptians did. ²⁵For ^(CN)in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. ²⁶And ^(CO)the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck ^(CP)Midian ^(CQ)at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it ^(CR)as he did in Egypt. ²⁷And in that day ^(CS)his burden will depart from your shoulder, and ^(CT)his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”^[i]

²⁸He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through ^(CU)Migron;
    at Michmash he stores ^(CV)his baggage;
²⁹they have crossed over ^(CW)the pass;
    at ^(CX)Geba they lodge for the night;
^(CY)Ramah trembles;
    ^(CZ)Gibeah of Saul has fled.
³⁰Cry aloud, O daughter of ^(DA)Gallim!
    Give attention, O Laishah!
    O poor ^(DB)Anathoth!
³¹Madmenah is in flight;
    the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
³²This very day he will halt at ^(DC)Nob;
    he will shake his fist
    at the mount of ^(DD)the daughter of Zion,
    the hill of Jerusalem.

³³Behold, the Lord God of hosts
    ^(DE)will lop ^(DF)the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
    and the lofty will be brought low.
³⁴He will cut down ^(DG)the thickets of the forest with an axe,
    and ^(DH)Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.