Isaiah 28-29

New American Standard Bible

Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted

28 Woe to the proud crown of the ^(A)habitually drunk of ^(B)Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the ^[a]fertile valley
Of those who are ^[b]overcome with wine!
²Behold, the Lord has a strong and ^(C)mighty agent;
As a storm of ^(D)hail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of ^(E)mighty overflowing waters,
He has thrown it down to the earth with His hand.
³The splendid crown of the habitually drunk of Ephraim is ^(F)trampled underfoot.
⁴And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the ^[c]fertile valley,
Will be like the ^(G)first-ripe fig prior to the summer,
Which ^[d]one sees,
And ^[e]as soon as it is in his ^[f]hand,
He swallows it.
⁵On that day the ^(H)Lord of armies will become a beautiful ^(I)crown
And a glorious wreath to the remnant of His people;
⁶A ^(J)spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A ^(K)strength to those who repel the ^[g]onslaught at the gate.
⁷And these also ^(L)reel with wine and stagger from intoxicating drink:
^(M)The priest and ^(N)the prophet reel with intoxicating drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from ^(O)intoxicating drink;
They reel while ^[h]having ^(P)visions,
They stagger when rendering a verdict.
⁸For all the tables are full of filthy ^(Q)vomit, without a single clean place.

⁹“To ^(R)whom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Those just ^(S)weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
¹⁰For He says,
‘^[i]^(T)Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.’”
¹¹Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through ^(U)stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
¹²He who said to them, “This is the ^(V)place of quiet, give rest to the weary,”
And, “This is the resting place,” but they would not listen.
¹³So the word of the Lord to them will be,
“^[j]Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and ^(W)stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.

Judah Is Warned

¹⁴Therefore, ^(X)hear the word of the Lord, you ^(Y)scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
¹⁵Because you have said, “We have made a ^(Z)covenant with death,
And with ^[k]Sheol we have made a ^[l]pact.
^(AA)The ^[m]gushing flood will not reach us when it passes by,
Because we have made ^(AB)falsehood our refuge and we have ^(AC)concealed ourselves with deception.”

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord ^[n]God says:

“^(AD)Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a tested ^(AE)stone,
A precious cornerstone for the foundation, ^[o]firmly placed.
The one who believes in it will not be ^[p]disturbed.
¹⁷I will make ^(AF)justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then ^(AG)hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
¹⁸Your ^(AH)covenant with death will be ^[q]^(AI)canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the ^(AJ)^[r]gushing flood passes through,
Then you will become its ^(AK)trampling ground.
¹⁹As ^(AL)often as it passes through, it will ^[s]seize you;
For ^(AM)morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be ^[t]sheer ^(AN)terror to understand ^[u]what it means.”
²⁰The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the ^(AO)blanket is too ^[v]small to wrap oneself in.
²¹For the Lord will rise up as at Mount ^(AP)Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the Valley of ^(AQ)Gibeon,
To do His ^(AR)task, His ^[w]^(AS)unusual task,
And to work His work, His ^[x]extraordinary work.
²²And now do not carry on as ^(AT)scoffers,
Or your shackles will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord ^[y]God of armies
Of decisive ^(AU)destruction on all the earth.

²³Listen and hear my voice,
Pay attention and hear my words.
²⁴Does the ^[z]farmer plow ^[aa]continually to plant seed?
Does he continually ^[ab]turn and break up his ground?
²⁵Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter ^(AV)cumin
And ^[ac]plant ^(AW)wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its ^[ad]area?
²⁶For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
²⁷For dill is not threshed with a ^(AX)threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel ^[ae]driven over cumin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a club.
²⁸Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually ^[af]damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
²⁹This also comes from the Lord of armies,
Who has made His counsel ^(AY)wonderful and His wisdom ^(AZ)great.

Jerusalem Is Warned

29 Woe, ^[ag]Ariel, ^[ah]Ariel the city where David once ^(BA)camped!
Add year to year, ^[ai]^(BB)keep your feasts on schedule.
²I will bring distress to Ariel,
And she will be a city of grieving and ^(BC)mourning;
And she will be like an ^[aj]Ariel to me.
³I will ^(BD)camp against you ^[ak]encircling you,
And I will set up siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up battle towers against you.
⁴Then you will ^(BE)be brought low;
From the earth you will speak,
And from the dust where you are prostrate
Your words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a ^[al]spirit from the ground,
And your speech will whisper from the dust.

⁵But the multitude of your ^[am]enemies will become like fine ^(BF)dust,
And the multitude of the ^(BG)ruthless ones like the chaff which ^[an]blows away;
And it will happen ^(BH)instantly, suddenly.
⁶From the Lord of armies you will be ^(BI)punished with ^(BJ)thunder and earthquake and loud noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.
⁷And the ^(BK)multitude of all the nations who wage war against ^[ao]Ariel,
Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a ^(BL)vision of the night.
⁸It will be as when a hungry person dreams—
And behold, he is eating;
But when he awakens, his ^[ap]hunger is not satisfied,
Or as when a thirsty person dreams—
And behold, he is drinking,
But when he awakens, behold, he is faint
And his ^[aq]thirst is not quenched.
^(BM)So will the multitude of all the nations be
Who wage war against Mount Zion.

⁹^(BN)Be delayed and horrified,
Blind yourselves and be blind;
They ^(BO)become drunk, but not with wine,
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
¹⁰For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep ^(BP)sleep,
He has ^(BQ)shut your eyes—the prophets;
And He has covered your heads—the seers.

¹¹The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed ^[ar]^(BR)book, which, when they give it to the one who ^[as]is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” ¹²Then the ^[at]book will be given to the one who ^[au]is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I ^[av]cannot read.”

¹³Then the Lord said,

“Because ^(BS)this people approaches Me with their ^[aw]words
And honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me,
And their ^[ax]reverence for Me ^[ay]consists of the commandment of men that is taught;
¹⁴Therefore behold, I will once again deal ^(BT)marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And ^(BU)the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the understanding of their men who have understanding will be concealed.”

¹⁵Woe to those who deeply ^(BV)hide their ^[az]plans from the Lord,
And whose ^(BW)deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “^(BX)Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
¹⁶You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered ^[ba]as equal with the clay,
That ^(BY)what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Blessing after Discipline

¹⁷Is it not yet just a little while
^[bb]Before Lebanon will be turned into a ^(BZ)fertile field,
And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?
¹⁸On that day those who are ^(CA)deaf will hear ^(CB)words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the ^(CC)eyes of those who are blind will see.
¹⁹The ^(CD)afflicted also will increase their joy in the Lord,
And the ^(CE)needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
²⁰For the ^(CF)ruthless will come to an end and the ^(CG)scorner will be finished,
Indeed ^(CH)all who ^[bc]are intent on doing evil will be eliminated,
²¹Who ^[bd]cause a person to be indicted by a word,
And ^(CI)set a trap for the arbitrator at the gate,
And ^[be]^(CJ)defraud the one in the right with ^[bf]meaningless arguments.

²²Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed ^(CK)Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob ^(CL)will not be ashamed now, nor will his face turn pale now;
²³But when ^[bg]he sees his ^(CM)children, the ^(CN)work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will ^(CO)sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴Those who ^(CP)err in ^[bh]mind will ^(CQ)know ^[bi]the truth,
And those who ^[bj]criticize will ^[bk]^(CR)accept instruction.

Footnotes

Isaiah 28:1 Lit valley of fatness
Isaiah 28:1 Lit stricken
Isaiah 28:4 Lit valley of fatness
Isaiah 28:4 Lit the one seeing sees
Isaiah 28:4 Lit while it is yet
Isaiah 28:4 Lit palm
Isaiah 28:6 Lit battle
Isaiah 28:7 Lit seeing
Isaiah 28:10 Heb Sav lasav, sav lasav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Zeer sham, zeer sham. These Hebrew fragments, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching.
Isaiah 28:13 See note v 10. The Lord responds to their scoffing by imitating their mockery, to represent the unintelligible language of a conqueror.
Isaiah 28:15 I.e., the netherworld
Isaiah 28:15 As in some ancient versions; MT seer
Isaiah 28:15 Or overwhelming scourge
Isaiah 28:16 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 28:16 Lit well-laid
Isaiah 28:16 Lit in a hurry
Isaiah 28:18 Lit covered over
Isaiah 28:18 Or overwhelming scourge
Isaiah 28:19 Lit take
Isaiah 28:19 Lit only
Isaiah 28:19 Lit the report; or the message
Isaiah 28:20 Lit narrow
Isaiah 28:21 Lit task is strange
Isaiah 28:21 Lit work is foreign
Isaiah 28:22 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 28:24 Lit plowman
Isaiah 28:24 Lit all day
Isaiah 28:24 Lit open
Isaiah 28:25 Lit put
Isaiah 28:25 Lit region
Isaiah 28:27 Lit rolled
Isaiah 28:28 Lit discomfit
Isaiah 29:1 I.e., Lion of God, or Jerusalem
Isaiah 29:1 I.e., Lion of God, or Jerusalem
Isaiah 29:1 Lit let your feasts run their round
Isaiah 29:2 Ariel (i.e., Jerusalem) is a Heb word for “altar hearth” where offerings were burned
Isaiah 29:3 Lit like a circle
Isaiah 29:4 Or ghost
Isaiah 29:5 Lit strangers
Isaiah 29:5 Lit passes away
Isaiah 29:7 See note 1 v 1
Isaiah 29:8 Lit soul
Isaiah 29:8 Lit soul
Isaiah 29:11 Or scroll
Isaiah 29:11 Lit knows books
Isaiah 29:12 Or scroll
Isaiah 29:12 Lit does not know books
Isaiah 29:12 Lit do not know books
Isaiah 29:13 Lit mouth
Isaiah 29:13 Lit fear of Me
Isaiah 29:13 Lit is
Isaiah 29:15 Lit counsel
Isaiah 29:16 Lit like
Isaiah 29:17 Lit And
Isaiah 29:20 Lit watch evil
Isaiah 29:21 Lit bring a person under condemnation
Isaiah 29:21 Lit turn aside
Isaiah 29:21 Lit confusion
Isaiah 29:23 Or his children see
Isaiah 29:24 Lit spirit
Isaiah 29:24 Lit understanding
Isaiah 29:24 Lit murmur
Isaiah 29:24 Lit learn

Philippians 3

New American Standard Bible

The Goal of Life

3 Finally, my brothers and sisters, ^(A)rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble for me, and it is a safeguard for you.

²Beware of the ^(B)dogs, beware of the ^(C)evil workers, beware of the ^[a]false circumcision; ³for ^(D)we are the true ^[b]circumcision, who ^(E)worship in the Spirit of God and take ^(F)pride in ^(G)Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh, ⁴although ^(H)I myself could boast as having confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason: ⁵^(I)circumcised the eighth day, of the ^(J)nation of Israel, of the ^(K)tribe of Benjamin, a ^(L)Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, ^(M)a Pharisee; ⁶as to zeal, ^(N)a persecutor of the church; as to the ^(O)righteousness which is in the Law, found ^(P)blameless.

⁷But ^(Q)whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. ⁸More than that, I count all things to be loss ^[c]in view of the surpassing value of ^[d]^(R)knowing ^(S)Christ Jesus my Lord, ^[e]for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, ⁹and may be found in Him, not having ^(T)a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, ^(U)the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, ¹⁰that I may ^(V)know Him and ^(W)the power of His resurrection and ^[f]^(X)the fellowship of His sufferings, being ^(Y)conformed to His death; ¹¹if somehow I may ^(Z)attain to the resurrection from the dead.

¹²Not that I have already ^[g]^(AA)grasped it all or have already ^(AB)become perfect, but I press on if I may also ^(AC)take hold of that ^[h]for which I ^(AD)was even taken hold of by ^(AE)Christ Jesus. ¹³Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: ^(AF)forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I ^(AG)press on toward the goal for the prize of the ^(AH)upward call of God in ^(AI)Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Therefore, all who are ^[i]^(AJ)mature, let’s have this attitude; and if in anything you have a ^(AK)different attitude, ^(AL)God will reveal that to you as well; ¹⁶however, let’s keep ^[j]^(AM)living by that same standard to which we have attained.

¹⁷Brothers and sisters, ^(AN)join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the ^(AO)pattern you have in us. ¹⁸For ^(AP)many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I ^(AQ)weep, that they are the enemies of ^(AR)the cross of Christ, ¹⁹whose end is destruction, whose god is their ^[k]^(AS)appetite, and whose ^(AT)glory is in their shame, who ^(AU)have their minds on earthly things. ²⁰For ^(AV)our ^[l]citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly ^(AW)wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹who will ^(AX)transform the body of our lowly condition into ^(AY)conformity with ^[m]His ^(AZ)glorious body, ^(BA)by the exertion of the power that He has even to ^(BB)subject all things to Himself.