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Isaiah 11

The Branch From Jesse

 ² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
       the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
       the Spirit of counsel and of power,
       the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

 ³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
       He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
       or decide by what he hears with his ears;

 ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
       with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
       He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
       with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

 ⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
       and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

 ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
       the leopard will lie down with the goat,
       the calf and the lion and the yearling ^[a] together;
       and a little child will lead them.

 ⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
       their young will lie down together,
       and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

 ⁸ The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
       and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

 ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
       on all my holy mountain,
       for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
       as the waters cover the sea.

 ¹⁰ In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. ¹¹ In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, ^[b] from Cush, ^[c] from Elam, from Babylonia, ^[d] from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.

 ¹² He will raise a banner for the nations
       and gather the exiles of Israel;
       he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
       from the four quarters of the earth.

 ¹³ Ephraim's jealousy will vanish,
       and Judah's enemies ^[e] will be cut off;
       Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
       nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.

 ¹⁴ They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
       together they will plunder the people to the east.
       They will lay hands on Edom and Moab,
       and the Ammonites will be subject to them.

 ¹⁵ The LORD will dry up
       the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
       with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand
       over the Euphrates River. ^[f]
       He will break it up into seven streams
       so that men can cross over in sandals.

 ¹⁶ There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
       that is left from Assyria,
       as there was for Israel
       when they came up from Egypt.

Isaiah 12

Songs of Praise

 ² Surely God is my salvation;
       I will trust and not be afraid.
       The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
       he has become my salvation."

 ³ With joy you will draw water
       from the wells of salvation.

 ⁴ In that day you will say:
       "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
       make known among the nations what he has done,
       and proclaim that his name is exalted.

 ⁵ Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
       let this be known to all the world.

 ⁶ Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
       for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

Isaiah 13

A Prophecy Against Babylon

 ² Raise a banner on a bare hilltop,
       shout to them;
       beckon to them
       to enter the gates of the nobles.

 ³ I have commanded my holy ones;
       I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath—
       those who rejoice in my triumph.

 ⁴ Listen, a noise on the mountains,
       like that of a great multitude!
       Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms,
       like nations massing together!
       The LORD Almighty is mustering
       an army for war.

 ⁵ They come from faraway lands,
       from the ends of the heavens—
       the LORD and the weapons of his wrath—
       to destroy the whole country.

 ⁶ Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
       it will come like destruction from the Almighty. ^[g]

 ⁷ Because of this, all hands will go limp,
       every man's heart will melt.

 ⁸ Terror will seize them,
       pain and anguish will grip them;
       they will writhe like a woman in labor.
       They will look aghast at each other,
       their faces aflame.

 ⁹ See, the day of the LORD is coming
       —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
       to make the land desolate
       and destroy the sinners within it.

 ¹⁰ The stars of heaven and their constellations
       will not show their light.
       The rising sun will be darkened
       and the moon will not give its light.

 ¹¹ I will punish the world for its evil,
       the wicked for their sins.
       I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
       and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

 ¹² I will make man scarcer than pure gold,
       more rare than the gold of Ophir.

 ¹³ Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
       and the earth will shake from its place
       at the wrath of the LORD Almighty,
       in the day of his burning anger.

 ¹⁴ Like a hunted gazelle,
       like sheep without a shepherd,
       each will return to his own people,
       each will flee to his native land.

 ¹⁵ Whoever is captured will be thrust through;
       all who are caught will fall by the sword.

 ¹⁶ Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
       their houses will be looted and their wives ravished.

 ¹⁷ See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
       who do not care for silver
       and have no delight in gold.

 ¹⁸ Their bows will strike down the young men;
       they will have no mercy on infants
       nor will they look with compassion on children.

 ¹⁹ Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
       the glory of the Babylonians' ^[h] pride,
       will be overthrown by God
       like Sodom and Gomorrah.

 ²⁰ She will never be inhabited
       or lived in through all generations;
       no Arab will pitch his tent there,
       no shepherd will rest his flocks there.

 ²¹ But desert creatures will lie there,
       jackals will fill her houses;
       there the owls will dwell,
       and there the wild goats will leap about.

 ²² Hyenas will howl in her strongholds,
       jackals in her luxurious palaces.
       Her time is at hand,
       and her days will not be prolonged.

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Ephesians 4

Unity in the Body of Christ

 ⁷But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸This is why it^[a] says:
   "When he ascended on high,
      he led captives in his train
      and gave gifts to men."^{[b] 9}(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions^[c]? ¹⁰He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

 ¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Living as Children of Light

 ²⁰You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. ²¹Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²²You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

 ²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶"In your anger do not sin"^[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

 ²⁹Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.