Old/New Testament
Mercy on Jacob
14 For the Lord (A)will have mercy on Jacob, and (B)will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. (C)The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob. 2 Then people will take them (D)and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord; they will take them captive whose captives they were, (E)and rule over their oppressors.
Fall of the King of Babylon
3 It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, 4 that you (F)will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:
“How the oppressor has ceased,
The (G)golden[a] city ceased!
5 The Lord has broken (H)the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the rulers;
6 He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
He who ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted and no one hinders.
7 The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.
8 (I)Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,
And the cedars of Lebanon,
Saying, ‘Since you [b]were cut down,
No woodsman has come up against us.’
9 “Hell(J)[c] from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
10 They all shall (K)speak and say to you:
‘Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.’
The Fall of Lucifer
12 “How(L) you are fallen from heaven,
O [d]Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
(M)‘I will ascend into heaven,
(N)I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the (O)mount of the congregation
(P)On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
(Q)I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you (R)shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the [e]lowest depths of the Pit.
16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who [f]did not open the house of his prisoners?’
18 “All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
19 But you are cast out of your grave
Like an [g]abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
[h]Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
(S)The brood of evildoers shall never be named.
21 Prepare slaughter for his children
(T)Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”
Babylon Destroyed
22 “For I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts,
“And cut off from Babylon (U)the name and (V)remnant,
(W)And offspring and posterity,” says the Lord.
23 “I will also make it a possession for the (X)porcupine,
And marshes of muddy water;
I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of hosts.
Assyria Destroyed
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall (Y)stand:
25 That I will break the (Z)Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then (AA)his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders.
26 This is the (AB)purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts has (AC)purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?”
Philistia Destroyed
28 This is the [i]burden which came in the year that (AD)King Ahaz died.
29 “Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia,
(AE)Because the rod that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s roots will come forth a viper,
(AF)And its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.
30 The firstborn of the poor will feed,
And the needy will lie down in safety;
I will kill your roots with famine,
And it will slay your remnant.
31 Wail, O gate! Cry, O city!
All you of Philistia are dissolved;
For smoke will come from the north,
And no one will be alone in his [j]appointed times.”
32 What will they answer the messengers of the nation?
That (AG)the Lord has founded Zion,
And (AH)the poor of His people shall take refuge in it.
Proclamation Against Moab
15 The (AI)burden[k] against Moab.
Because in the night (AJ)Ar of (AK)Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
2 He has gone up to the [l]temple and Dibon,
To the high places to weep.
Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;
(AL)On all their heads will be baldness,
And every beard cut off.
3 In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth;
On the tops of their houses
And in their streets
Everyone will wail, (AM)weeping bitterly.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out,
Their voice shall be heard as far as (AN)Jahaz;
Therefore the [m]armed soldiers of Moab will cry out;
His life will be burdensome to him.
5 “My(AO) heart will cry out for Moab;
His fugitives shall flee to Zoar,
Like [n]a three-year-old heifer.
For (AP)by the Ascent of Luhith
They will go up with weeping;
For in the way of Horonaim
They will raise up a cry of destruction,
6 For the waters (AQ)of Nimrim will be desolate,
For the green grass has withered away;
The grass fails, there is nothing green.
7 Therefore the abundance they have gained,
And what they have laid up,
They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.
8 For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,
Its wailing to Eglaim
And its wailing to Beer Elim.
9 For the waters of [o]Dimon will be full of blood;
Because I will bring more upon Dimon,
(AR)Lions upon him who escapes from Moab,
And on the remnant of the land.”
Moab Destroyed
16 Send (AS)the lamb to the ruler of the land,
(AT)From [p]Sela to the wilderness,
To the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 For it shall be as a (AU)wandering bird thrown out of the nest;
So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the (AV)Arnon.
3 “Take counsel, execute judgment;
Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day;
Hide the outcasts,
Do not betray him who escapes.
4 Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab;
Be a shelter to them from the face of the [q]spoiler.
For the extortioner is at an end,
Devastation ceases,
The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5 In mercy (AW)the throne will be established;
And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,
(AX)Judging and seeking justice and hastening (AY)righteousness.”
6 We have heard of the (AZ)pride of Moab—
He is very proud—
Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath;
(BA)But his [r]lies shall not be so.
7 Therefore Moab shall (BB)wail for Moab;
Everyone shall wail.
For the foundations (BC)of Kir Hareseth you shall mourn;
Surely they are stricken.
8 For (BD)the fields of Heshbon languish,
And (BE)the vine of Sibmah;
The lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants,
Which have reached to Jazer
And wandered through the wilderness.
Her branches are stretched out,
They are gone over the (BF)sea.
9 Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah,
With the weeping of Jazer;
I will drench you with my tears,
(BG)O Heshbon and Elealeh;
For [s]battle cries have fallen
Over your summer fruits and your harvest.
10 (BH)Gladness is taken away,
And joy from the plentiful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing,
Nor will there be shouting;
No treaders will tread out wine in the presses;
I have made their shouting cease.
11 Therefore (BI)my [t]heart shall resound like a harp for Moab,
And my inner being for [u]Kir Heres.
12 And it shall come to pass,
When it is seen that Moab is weary on (BJ)the high place,
That he will come to his sanctuary to pray;
But he will not prevail.
13 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “Within three years, (BK)as the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”
Walk in Love
5 Therefore(A) be imitators of God as dear (B)children. 2 And (C)walk in love, (D)as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God (E)for a sweet-smelling aroma.
3 But fornication and all (F)uncleanness or (G)covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 (H)neither filthiness, nor (I)foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, (J)which are not fitting, but rather (K)giving of thanks. 5 For [a]this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any (L)inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be (M)partakers with them.
Walk in Light
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are (N)light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for (O)the fruit of the [b]Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 (P)finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have (Q)no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather [c]expose them. 12 (R)For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But (S)all things that are [d]exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:
(T)“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”
Walk in Wisdom
15 (U)See then that you walk [e]circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 (V)redeeming the time, (W)because the days are evil.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.