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Isaiah 32

The Kingdom of Righteousness

 ² Each man will be like a shelter from the wind
       and a refuge from the storm,
       like streams of water in the desert
       and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

 ³ Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
       and the ears of those who hear will listen.

 ⁴ The mind of the rash will know and understand,
       and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.

 ⁵ No longer will the fool be called noble
       nor the scoundrel be highly respected.

 ⁶ For the fool speaks folly,
       his mind is busy with evil:
       He practices ungodliness
       and spreads error concerning the LORD;
       the hungry he leaves empty
       and from the thirsty he withholds water.

 ⁷ The scoundrel's methods are wicked,
       he makes up evil schemes
       to destroy the poor with lies,
       even when the plea of the needy is just.

 ⁸ But the noble man makes noble plans,
       and by noble deeds he stands.

The Women of Jerusalem

 ¹⁰ In little more than a year
       you who feel secure will tremble;
       the grape harvest will fail,
       and the harvest of fruit will not come.

 ¹¹ Tremble, you complacent women;
       shudder, you daughters who feel secure!
       Strip off your clothes,
       put sackcloth around your waists.

 ¹² Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
       for the fruitful vines

 ¹³ and for the land of my people,
       a land overgrown with thorns and briers—
       yes, mourn for all houses of merriment
       and for this city of revelry.

 ¹⁴ The fortress will be abandoned,
       the noisy city deserted;
       citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever,
       the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,

 ¹⁵ till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
       and the desert becomes a fertile field,
       and the fertile field seems like a forest.

 ¹⁶ Justice will dwell in the desert
       and righteousness live in the fertile field.

 ¹⁷ The fruit of righteousness will be peace;
       the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.

 ¹⁸ My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,
       in secure homes,
       in undisturbed places of rest.

 ¹⁹ Though hail flattens the forest
       and the city is leveled completely,

 ²⁰ how blessed you will be,
       sowing your seed by every stream,
       and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

Isaiah 33

Distress and Help

 ² O LORD, be gracious to us;
       we long for you.
       Be our strength every morning,
       our salvation in time of distress.

 ³ At the thunder of your voice, the peoples flee;
       when you rise up, the nations scatter.

 ⁴ Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts;
       like a swarm of locusts men pounce on it.

 ⁵ The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
       he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.

 ⁶ He will be the sure foundation for your times,
       a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
       the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. ^[a]

 ⁷ Look, their brave men cry aloud in the streets;
       the envoys of peace weep bitterly.

 ⁸ The highways are deserted,
       no travelers are on the roads.
       The treaty is broken,
       its witnesses ^[b] are despised,
       no one is respected.

 ⁹ The land mourns ^[c] and wastes away,
       Lebanon is ashamed and withers;
       Sharon is like the Arabah,
       and Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.

 ¹⁰ "Now will I arise," says the LORD.
       "Now will I be exalted;
       now will I be lifted up.

 ¹¹ You conceive chaff,
       you give birth to straw;
       your breath is a fire that consumes you.

 ¹² The peoples will be burned as if to lime;
       like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze."

 ¹³ You who are far away, hear what I have done;
       you who are near, acknowledge my power!

 ¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are terrified;
       trembling grips the godless:
       "Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?
       Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?"

 ¹⁵ He who walks righteously
       and speaks what is right,
       who rejects gain from extortion
       and keeps his hand from accepting bribes,
       who stops his ears against plots of murder
       and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil-

 ¹⁶ this is the man who will dwell on the heights,
       whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.
       His bread will be supplied,
       and water will not fail him.

 ¹⁷ Your eyes will see the king in his beauty
       and view a land that stretches afar.

 ¹⁸ In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror:
       "Where is that chief officer?
       Where is the one who took the revenue?
       Where is the officer in charge of the towers?"

 ¹⁹ You will see those arrogant people no more,
       those people of an obscure speech,
       with their strange, incomprehensible tongue.

 ²⁰ Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals;
       your eyes will see Jerusalem,
       a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved;
       its stakes will never be pulled up,
       nor any of its ropes broken.

 ²¹ There the LORD will be our Mighty One.
       It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.
       No galley with oars will ride them,
       no mighty ship will sail them.

 ²² For the LORD is our judge,
       the LORD is our lawgiver,
       the LORD is our king;
       it is he who will save us.

 ²³ Your rigging hangs loose:
       The mast is not held secure,
       the sail is not spread.
       Then an abundance of spoils will be divided
       and even the lame will carry off plunder.

 ²⁴ No one living in Zion will say, "I am ill";
       and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.

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Colossians 1

 ¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

 ²To the holy and faithful^[a] brothers in Christ at Colosse:
      Grace and peace to you from God our Father.^[b]

Thanksgiving and Prayer

 ⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^[d] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. ¹³For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption,^[e] the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of Christ

 ²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of^[f] your evil behavior. ²²But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Paul's Labor for the Church

 ²⁸We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. ²⁹To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.