Isaiah 9-10

New American Standard Bible

Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace

9 ^[a]But there will be no more ^(A)gloom for her who was in anguish. In earlier times He ^(B)treated the ^(C)land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the ^[b]Gentiles.

²^[c]^(D)The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
³^(E)You will multiply the nation,
You ^(F)will ^[d]increase ^[e]their joy;
They will rejoice in Your presence
As with the joy ^[f]of harvest,
As people ^(G)rejoice when they divide the spoils.
⁴For ^(H)You will break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their ^(I)oppressor, as ^[g]at the battle of ^(J)Midian.
⁵For every boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
⁶For a ^(K)Child will be born to us, a ^(L)Son will be given to us;
And the ^(M)government will ^[h]rest ^(N)on His shoulders;
And His name will be called ^(O)Wonderful Counselor, ^(P)Mighty God,
Eternal ^(Q)Father, Prince of ^(R)Peace.
⁷There will be ^(S)no end to the increase of His government or of peace
On the ^(T)throne of David and over ^[i]his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with ^(U)justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
^(V)The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.

God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance

⁸The Lord sends a ^[j]message against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel.
⁹And all the people know it,
That is, ^(W)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
Asserting in pride and in ^(X)arrogance of heart:
¹⁰“The bricks have fallen down,
But we will ^(Y)rebuild with smooth stones;
The sycamores have been cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
¹¹Therefore the Lord raises superior adversaries against them from ^(Z)Rezin
And provokes their enemies,
¹²The Arameans from the east and the ^(AA)Philistines from the west;
And they ^(AB)devour Israel with ^[k]gaping jaws.
^(AC)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away,
And His hand is still stretched out.

¹³Yet the people ^(AD)do not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they ^(AE)seek the Lord of armies.
¹⁴So the Lord cuts off ^(AF)head and tail from Israel,
Both palm branch and bulrush ^(AG)in a single day.
¹⁵The head is ^(AH)the elder and esteemed man,
And the prophet who teaches ^(AI)falsehood is the tail.
¹⁶^(AJ)For those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are ^[l]confused.
¹⁷Therefore the Lord does ^(AK)not rejoice over their young men,
^(AL)Nor does He have compassion on their ^[m]orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is ^(AM)godless and an ^(AN)evildoer,
And every ^(AO)mouth is speaking foolishness.
^(AP)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away,
And His hand is still stretched out.

¹⁸^(AQ)For wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns;
It also sets the thickets of the forest aflame
And they roll upward in a column of smoke.
¹⁹By the ^(AR)wrath of the Lord of armies the ^(AS)land is burned,
And the ^(AT)people are like fuel for the fire;
No ^(AU)one spares his brother.
²⁰^[n]They devour what is on the right hand but are still ^(AV)hungry,
And ^[o]they eat what is on the left hand, but they are not satisfied;
Each of them eats the ^(AW)flesh of his own arm.
²¹Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
^(AX)And together they are against Judah.
^(AY)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.

Assyria Is God’s Instrument

10 Woe to those who ^(AZ)enact unjust statutes
And to those who constantly record ^[p]harmful decisions,
²So as ^(BA)to ^[q]deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor among My people of their rights,
So ^(BB)that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the ^[r]orphans.
³Now ^(BC)what will you do in the ^(BD)day of punishment,
And in the devastation which will come ^(BE)from afar?
^(BF)To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth?
⁴Nothing remains but to crouch ^[s]among the ^(BG)captives
Or fall ^[t]among those ^(BH)killed.
^(BI)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.

⁵Woe to ^(BJ)Assyria, the ^(BK)rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is ^(BL)My indignation,
⁶I send it against a ^(BM)godless nation
And commission it against the ^(BN)people of My fury
To capture spoils and ^(BO)to seize plunder,
And to ^[u]trample them down like ^(BP)mud in the streets.
⁷Yet it ^(BQ)does not so intend,
Nor does ^[v]it plan so in its heart,
But rather it is ^[w]its purpose to destroy
And to eliminate ^[x]many nations.
⁸For it says, “Are not my officers ^[y]all kings?
⁹Is not ^(BR)Calno like ^(BS)Carchemish,
Or ^(BT)Hamath like Arpad,
Or ^(BU)Samaria like ^(BV)Damascus?
¹⁰As my hand has reached to the ^(BW)kingdoms of the idols,
Whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
¹¹Shall I not do the same to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and ^(BX)her idols?”

¹²So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His ^(BY)work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will ^[z]punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and ^(BZ)the arrogant pride of his eyes.” ¹³For ^(CA)he has said,

“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
Because I have understanding;
And I ^(CB)removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a powerful man I brought down ^[aa]their inhabitants,
¹⁴And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a ^(CC)nest,
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing, opened its beak, or chirped.”

¹⁵Is the ^(CD)axe to ^(CE)boast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like ^(CF)a ^[ab]club wielding those who lift it,
Or like ^(CG)a rod lifting the one who is not wood.
¹⁶Therefore the Lord, the ^[ac]God of armies, will send a ^(CH)wasting disease among his ^(CI)stout warriors;
And under his ^(CJ)glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
¹⁷And the ^(CK)Light of Israel will become a fire and ^[ad]Israel’s ^(CL)Holy One a flame,
And it will ^(CM)burn and devour ^[ae]his thorns and his briars in a single day.
¹⁸And He will ^(CN)destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick person wastes away.
¹⁹And the ^(CO)rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number
That a child could write them down.

A Remnant Will Return

²⁰Now on that day the ^(CP)remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob ^(CQ)who have escaped, will no longer rely on the one who struck them, but will truly ^(CR)rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

²¹A ^(CS)remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the ^(CT)mighty God.
²²For ^(CU)though your people, Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant within them will return;
A ^(CV)destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.

²³For a complete destruction, one that is determined, ^(CW)the Lord ^[af]God of armies will execute in the midst of the whole land.

²⁴Therefore this is what the Lord ^[ag]God of armies says: “My people, you who dwell in ^(CX)Zion, ^(CY)do not fear the Assyrian ^[ah]who ^(CZ)strikes you with the rod, and lifts up his staff against you the way Egypt did. ²⁵For in a very ^(DA)little while ^(DB)My indignation against you will be ended and My anger will be directed toward their destruction.” ²⁶The Lord of armies will ^(DC)wield a whip against him like the defeat of ^(DD)Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His ^(DE)staff will be over the sea, and He will lift it up ^(DF)the way He did in Egypt. ²⁷So it will be on that day, that ^[ai]his ^(DG)burden will be removed from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because ^(DH)of fatness.

²⁸He has come against Aiath,
He has passed through ^(DI)Migron;
At ^(DJ)Michmash he deposited his ^(DK)baggage.
²⁹They have gone through ^(DL)the pass, saying,
“^(DM)Geba will be our encampment for the night.”
^(DN)Ramah is terrified, and ^(DO)Gibeah of Saul has fled.
³⁰Cry aloud with your voice, daughter of ^(DP)Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah and ^[aj]wretched ^(DQ)Anathoth!
³¹Madmenah has fled.
The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.
³²Yet today he will halt at ^(DR)Nob;
He ^(DS)shakes his fist at the mountain of the ^[ak]^(DT)daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

³³Behold, the Lord, the ^[al]God of armies, will lop off the branches with terrifying power;
Those also who are ^(DU)tall in stature will be cut down,
And those who are lofty will be brought low.
³⁴He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe,
And ^(DV)Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.

Footnotes

Isaiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Heb
Isaiah 9:1 Or nations
Isaiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Heb
Isaiah 9:3 Another reading is not increase
Isaiah 9:3 Lit the
Isaiah 9:3 Lit in
Isaiah 9:4 Lit in the day of Midian
Isaiah 9:6 Lit be
Isaiah 9:7 I.e., David’s
Isaiah 9:8 Lit word
Isaiah 9:12 Lit the whole mouth
Isaiah 9:16 Or swallowed up
Isaiah 9:17 Or fatherless
Isaiah 9:20 Lit And he slices
Isaiah 9:20 Lit he eats
Isaiah 10:1 Lit harm
Isaiah 10:2 Lit turn the needy aside from
Isaiah 10:2 Or fatherless
Isaiah 10:4 Lit under
Isaiah 10:4 Lit under
Isaiah 10:6 Lit make them a trampled place
Isaiah 10:7 Lit its heart so plan
Isaiah 10:7 Lit in its heart
Isaiah 10:7 Lit not a few
Isaiah 10:8 Lit altogether
Isaiah 10:12 Lit visit
Isaiah 10:13 Or those who sit on thrones
Isaiah 10:15 Lit staff
Isaiah 10:16 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 10:17 Lit his
Isaiah 10:17 I.e., the Assyrian king’s forces
Isaiah 10:23 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 10:24 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 10:24 Lit he
Isaiah 10:27 I.e., the Assyrian
Isaiah 10:30 An ancient version reads Answer her, O Anathoth
Isaiah 10:32 Another reading is house of
Isaiah 10:33 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord

Ephesians 3

New American Standard Bible

Paul’s Stewardship

3 For this reason I, Paul, ^(A)the prisoner of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^(C)for the sake of you ^(D)Gentiles— ²if indeed you have heard of the ^(E)administration of God’s grace which was given to me for you; ³^(F)that ^(G)by revelation there was ^(H)made known to me ^(I)the mystery, ^(J)as I wrote before briefly. ⁴^[a]By referring to this, when you read you can understand ^(K)my insight ^[b]into the ^(L)mystery of Christ, ⁵which in other generations was not made known to ^[c]mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy ^(M)apostles and prophets ^[d]in the Spirit; ⁶to be specific, that the Gentiles are ^(N)fellow heirs and ^(O)fellow members of the body, and ^(P)fellow partakers of the promise in ^(Q)Christ Jesus through the gospel, ⁷^(R)of which I was made a ^(S)minister, according to the gift of ^(T)God’s grace which was given to me ^(U)according to the working of His power. ⁸To me, ^(V)the very least of all ^[e]saints, this grace was given, to ^(W)preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable ^(X)riches of Christ, ⁹and to ^[f]enlighten all people as to what the plan of the ^(Y)mystery is which for ages has been ^(Z)hidden in God, ^(AA)who created all things; ¹⁰so that the multifaceted ^(AB)wisdom of God might now be ^(AC)made known through the church to the ^(AD)rulers and the authorities in ^(AE)the heavenly places. ¹¹This was in ^(AF)accordance with the ^[g]eternal purpose which He ^[h]carried out in ^(AG)Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹²in whom we have boldness and ^[i]^(AH)confident ^(AI)access through faith ^[j]in Him. ¹³Therefore I ask ^[k]you not ^(AJ)to become discouraged about my tribulations ^(AK)in your behalf, ^[l]since they are your glory.

¹⁴For this reason I ^(AL)bend my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom ^[m]every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, ¹⁶that He would grant you, according to ^(AM)the riches of His glory, to be ^(AN)strengthened with power through His Spirit in ^(AO)the inner ^[n]self, ¹⁷so that ^(AP)Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being ^(AQ)rooted and ^(AR)grounded in love, ¹⁸may be able to comprehend with ^(AS)all the ^[o]saints what is ^(AT)the width and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know ^(AU)the love of Christ which ^(AV)surpasses knowledge, that you may be ^(AW)filled to all the ^(AX)fullness of God.

²⁰^(AY)Now to Him who is ^(AZ)able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, ^(BA)according to the power that works within us, ²¹^(BB)to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations ^[p]forever and ever. Amen.