Isaiah 20-22

New American Standard Bible

Prophecy about Egypt and Ethiopia

20 In the year that the ^[a]^(A)commander came to ^(B)Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it, ²at that time the Lord spoke through ^(C)Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go and loosen the ^(D)sackcloth from your hips and take your ^(E)sandals off your feet.” And he did so, going ^(F)naked and barefoot. ³Then the Lord said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a ^(G)sign and symbol against Egypt and ^[b]^(H)Cush, ⁴so the ^(I)king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, ^(J)young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the ^[c]shame of Egypt. ⁵Then they will be ^(K)terrified and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their ^(L)pride. ⁶So the inhabitants of this coastland will say on that day, ‘Behold, such is our hope, where we fled ^(M)for help to be saved from the king of Assyria; and ^(N)how are we ourselves to escape?’”

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

21 The ^(O)pronouncement concerning the ^[d]^(P)wilderness of the sea:

As ^(Q)windstorms in the ^[e]Negev come in turns,
It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.
²A ^(R)harsh vision has been shown to me;
The ^(S)treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, ^(T)Elam, lay siege, Media;
I have put an end to all ^[f]the groaning she has caused.
³For this reason my ^(U)loins are full of anguish;
Pains have seized me like the pains of a ^(V)woman in labor.
I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.
⁴My ^[g]mind reels, ^[h]horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been ^(W)turned into trembling for me.
⁵They ^(X)set the table, they ^[i]spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;
“Rise up, captains, oil the shields!”

⁶For this is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, station the lookout, have him ^(Y)report what he sees.
⁷When he sees ^[j]a ^(Z)column of chariots, horsemen in pairs,
A train of donkeys, a train of camels,
He is to pay close attention, very close attention.”

⁸Then ^[k]the lookout called,

“^(AA)Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,
And I am stationed every night at my guard post.
⁹Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”
And one said, “^(AB)Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the ^(AC)images of her gods ^[l]are shattered on the ground.”
¹⁰My ^(AD)downtrodden people, and my ^[m]afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of armies,
The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Pronouncements about Edom and Arabia

¹¹The pronouncement concerning ^[n]^(AE)Edom:

One keeps calling to me from ^(AF)Seir,
“Watchman, ^[o]how far gone is the night?
Watchman, ^[p]how far gone is the night?”
¹²The watchman says,
“Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.”

¹³The pronouncement about ^(AG)Arabia:

In the thickets of Arabia you ^[q]must spend the night,
You caravans of ^(AH)Dedanites.
¹⁴Bring water ^[r]for the thirsty,
You inhabitants of the land of ^(AI)Tema;
Meet the fugitive with bread.
¹⁵For they have ^(AJ)fled from the swords,
From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow,
And from the press of battle.

¹⁶For this is what the Lord said to me: “In a ^(AK)year, as ^[s]a hired worker would count it, all the splendor of ^(AL)Kedar will come to an end; ¹⁷and the ^(AM)remainder of the number of bowmen, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord God of Israel ^(AN)has spoken.”

The Valley of Vision

22 The pronouncement concerning the ^(AO)valley of vision:

What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the ^(AP)housetops?
²You who were full of noise,
You tumultuous town, you ^(AQ)jubilant city;
Your dead were ^(AR)not killed with the sword,
Nor ^[t]did they die in battle.
³^(AS)All your rulers have fled together,
And have been captured ^[u]without the bow;
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
^[v]Though they had fled far away.
⁴Therefore I say, “Look away from me,
Let me ^(AT)weep bitterly,
Do not ^[w]try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
⁵^(AU)For the Lord ^[x]God of armies has a ^(AV)day of panic, ^(AW)subjugation, and confusion
^(AX)In the valley of vision,
A breaking down of walls
And a crying ^[y]to the mountain.
⁶^(AY)Elam picked up the quiver,
With the chariots, ^[z]infantry, and horsemen;
And ^(AZ)Kir uncovered the shield.
⁷Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took positions at the gate.
⁸And He removed the ^[aa]defense of Judah.
On that day you ^[ab]depended on the weapons of the ^(BA)house of the forest,
⁹And you saw that the breaches
In the wall of the city of David were many;
And you ^(BB)collected the waters of the lower pool.
¹⁰Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And tore down houses to fortify the wall.
¹¹And you made a reservoir ^(BC)between the two walls
For the waters of the ^(BD)old pool.
But you did not ^[ac]depend on Him who made it,
Nor did you ^[ad]take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.

¹²Therefore on that day the Lord ^[ae]God of armies called you to ^(BE)weeping, to wailing,
To ^(BF)shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.
¹³Instead, there is ^(BG)joy and jubilation,
Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating of meat and drinking of wine:
“^(BH)Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
¹⁴But the Lord of armies revealed Himself ^[af]to me:
“Certainly this ^(BI)wrongdoing ^(BJ)will not be ^[ag]forgiven you
^(BK)Until you die,” says the Lord ^[ah]God of armies.

¹⁵This is what the Lord ^[ai]God of armies says:

“Come, go to this steward,
To ^(BL)Shebna who is in charge of the royal household,
¹⁶‘What right do you have here,
And whom do you have here,
That you have ^(BM)cut out a tomb for yourself here,
You who cut out a tomb on the height,
You who carve a resting place for ^[aj]yourself in the rock?
¹⁷Behold, the Lord is about to hurl you violently, you strong man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
¹⁸And wrap you up tightly like a ball,
To be ^(BN)driven into a vast country;
There you will die,
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house!’
¹⁹I will ^(BO)depose you from your office,
And ^[ak]I will pull you down from your position.
²⁰Then it will come about on that day,
That I will summon My servant ^(BP)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
²¹And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely around him.
I will hand your ^[al]authority over to him,
And he will become a ^(BQ)father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
²²Then I will put ^(BR)the key of the ^(BS)house of David on his shoulder;
When he opens, no one will shut,
When he shuts, no one will ^(BT)open.
²³I will drive him like a ^(BU)peg in a firm place,
And he will become a ^(BV)throne of glory to his father’s house.

²⁴So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the ^[am]descendants, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars. ²⁵On that day,” declares the Lord of armies, “the ^(BW)peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will even ^(BX)break off and fall, and the load that is hanging on it will be cut off, for the ^(BY)Lord has spoken.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 20:1 Heb Tartan
Isaiah 20:3 Or Ethiopia, as in vv 4, 5
Isaiah 20:4 Lit nakedness
Isaiah 21:1 Or sandy wastes, sea country
Isaiah 21:1 I.e., South country
Isaiah 21:2 Lit her groaning
Isaiah 21:4 Lit heart has wandered
Isaiah 21:4 Lit shuddering
Isaiah 21:5 Or spread out the rugs or possibly they arranged the seating
Isaiah 21:7 Or riders
Isaiah 21:8 As in DSS; MT he called like a lion
Isaiah 21:9 Lit he has shattered to the earth
Isaiah 21:10 Lit son
Isaiah 21:11 As in LXX; MT Dumah, silence
Isaiah 21:11 Lit what is the time of the night?
Isaiah 21:11 Lit what is the time of the night?
Isaiah 21:13 Or will spend
Isaiah 21:14 Lit to meet
Isaiah 21:16 Lit the years of a hired
Isaiah 22:2 Lit dead in battle
Isaiah 22:3 Lit from a bow
Isaiah 22:3 As in ancient versions; MT They fled far away
Isaiah 22:4 Lit insist
Isaiah 22:5 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 22:5 Or against
Isaiah 22:6 Lit man
Isaiah 22:8 Lit covering
Isaiah 22:8 Lit looked to
Isaiah 22:11 Or look to, consider
Isaiah 22:11 Lit see Him
Isaiah 22:12 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 22:14 Lit in my ears
Isaiah 22:14 Lit atoned for
Isaiah 22:14 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 22:15 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 22:16 Lit himself
Isaiah 22:19 As in many ancient versions; MT He
Isaiah 22:21 Lit dominion
Isaiah 22:24 Or perhaps, leaf

Ephesians 6

New American Standard Bible

Children and Parents

6 ^(A)Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²^(B)Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), ³so that it may turn out well for you, and that you may live long on the earth.

⁴^(C)Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but ^(D)bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Slaves and Masters

⁵^(E)Slaves, be obedient to those who are your ^[a]masters according to the flesh, with ^(F)fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, ^(G)as to Christ; ⁶^(H)not ^[b]by way of ^[c]eye-service, as ^(I)people-pleasers, but as ^(J)slaves of Christ, ^(K)doing the will of God from the ^[d]heart. ⁷With goodwill ^[e]render service, ^(L)as to the Lord, and not to people, ⁸^(M)knowing that ^(N)whatever good thing each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord, ^(O)whether slave or free.

⁹And masters, do the same things to them, and ^(P)give up threatening, knowing that ^(Q)both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is ^(R)no partiality with Him.

The Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, ^(S)be strong in the Lord and in ^(T)the strength of His might. ¹¹^(U)Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the ^(V)schemes of the devil. ¹²For our ^(W)struggle is not against ^[f]^(X)flesh and blood, but ^(Y)against the rulers, against the powers, against the ^(Z)world forces of this ^(AA)darkness, against the ^(AB)spiritual forces of wickedness in ^(AC)the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore, take up ^(AD)the full armor of God, so that you will be able to ^(AE)resist on ^(AF)the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand firm therefore, ^(AG)having belted your waist with truth, and having ^(AH)put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and having ^(AI)strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶^[g]in addition to all, taking up the ^(AJ)shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the ^(AK)flaming arrows of ^(AL)the evil one. ¹⁷And take ^(AM)the helmet of salvation and the ^(AN)sword of the Spirit, which is ^(AO)the word of God.

¹⁸^[h]With every ^(AP)prayer and request, ^[i]^(AQ)pray at all times ^(AR)in the Spirit, and with this in view, ^[j]^(AS)be alert with all ^(AT)perseverance and every ^(AU)request for all the ^[k]saints, ¹⁹and ^(AV)pray in my behalf, that speech may be given to me ^(AW)in the opening of my mouth, to make known with ^(AX)boldness ^(AY)the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I am an ^(AZ)ambassador ^(BA)in ^[l]chains; that ^[m]in proclaiming it I may speak ^(BB)boldly, ^(BC)as I ought to speak.

²¹^(BD)Now, so that you also may know about my circumstances as to ^[n]what I am doing, ^(BE)Tychicus, ^(BF)the beloved brother and faithful ^[o]servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you. ²²^[p]^(BG)I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know ^[q]about us, and that he may ^(BH)comfort your hearts.

²³^(BI)Peace be to the brothers and sisters, and ^(BJ)love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ ^[r]with incorruptible love.