Isaiah 22

New International Version

A Prophecy About Jerusalem

22 A prophecy^(A) against the Valley^(B) of Vision:^(C)

What troubles you now,
    that you have all gone up on the roofs,^(D)
²you town so full of commotion,
    you city of tumult^(E) and revelry?^(F)
Your slain^(G) were not killed by the sword,^(H)
    nor did they die in battle.
³All your leaders have fled^(I) together;
    they have been captured^(J) without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
    having fled while the enemy was still far away.
⁴Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;
    let me weep^(K) bitterly.
Do not try to console me
    over the destruction of my people.”^(L)

⁵The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day^(M)
    of tumult and trampling^(N) and terror^(O)
    in the Valley of Vision,^(P)
a day of battering down walls^(Q)
    and of crying out to the mountains.
⁶Elam^(R) takes up the quiver,^(S)
    with her charioteers and horses;
    Kir^(T) uncovers the shield.
⁷Your choicest valleys^(U) are full of chariots,
    and horsemen are posted at the city gates.^(V)

⁸The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,
    and you looked in that day^(W)
    to the weapons^(X) in the Palace of the Forest.^(Y)
⁹You saw that the walls of the City of David
    were broken through^(Z) in many places;
you stored up water
    in the Lower Pool.^(AA)
¹⁰You counted the buildings in Jerusalem
    and tore down houses^(AB) to strengthen the wall.^(AC)
¹¹You built a reservoir between the two walls^(AD)
    for the water of the Old Pool,^(AE)
but you did not look to the One who made it,
    or have regard^(AF) for the One who planned^(AG) it long ago.

¹²The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day^(AH)
to weep^(AI) and to wail,
    to tear out your hair^(AJ) and put on sackcloth.^(AK)
¹³But see, there is joy and revelry,^(AL)
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!^(AM)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”^(AN)

¹⁴The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing:^(AO) “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned^(AP) for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

¹⁵This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“Go, say to this steward,
    to Shebna^(AQ) the palace^(AR) administrator:^(AS)
¹⁶What are you doing here and who gave you permission
    to cut out a grave^(AT) for yourself^(AU) here,
hewing your grave on the height
    and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

¹⁷“Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
    and hurl^(AV) you away, you mighty man.
¹⁸He will roll you up tightly like a ball
    and throw^(AW) you into a large country.
There you will die
    and there the chariots^(AX) you were so proud of
    will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
¹⁹I will depose you from your office,
    and you will be ousted^(AY) from your position.^(AZ)

²⁰“In that day^(BA) I will summon my servant,^(BB) Eliakim^(BC) son of Hilkiah. ²¹I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash^(BD) around him and hand your authority^(BE) over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. ²²I will place on his shoulder^(BF) the key^(BG) to the house of David;^(BH) what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.^(BI) ²³I will drive him like a peg^(BJ) into a firm place;^(BK) he will become a seat^[a] of honor^(BL) for the house of his father. ²⁴All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

²⁵“In that day,^(BM)” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg^(BN) driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.^(BO)

Footnotes

Isaiah 22:23 Or throne

2 Corinthians 9

New International Version

9 There is no need^(A) for me to write to you about this service^(B) to the Lord’s people.^(C) ²For I know your eagerness to help,^(D) and I have been boasting^(E) about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year^(F) you in Achaia^(G) were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. ³But I am sending the brothers^(H) in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be.^(I) ⁴For if any Macedonians^(J) come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to say anything about you—would be ashamed of having been so confident. ⁵So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers^(K) to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift,^(L) not as one grudgingly given.^(M)

Generosity Encouraged

⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.^(N) ⁷Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give,^(O) not reluctantly or under compulsion,^(P) for God loves a cheerful giver.^(Q) ⁸And God is able^(R) to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,^(S) you will abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts^(T) to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever.”^[a]^(U)

¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food^(V) will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.^(W) ¹¹You will be enriched^(X) in every way so that you can be generous^(Y) on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.^(Z)

¹²This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs^(AA) of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.^(AB) ¹³Because of the service^(AC) by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God^(AD) for the obedience that accompanies your confession^(AE) of the gospel of Christ,^(AF) and for your generosity^(AG) in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God^(AH) for his indescribable gift!^(AI)

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 9:9 Psalm 112:9

Proverbs 6

New International Version

Warnings Against Folly

6 My son,^(A) if you have put up security^(B) for your neighbor,^(C)
    if you have shaken hands in pledge^(D) for a stranger,
²you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
³So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—^[a]
    and give your neighbor no rest!
⁴Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.^(E)
⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle^(F) from the hand of the hunter,^(G)
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.^(H)

⁶Go to the ant, you sluggard;^(I)
    consider its ways and be wise!
⁷It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
⁸yet it stores its provisions in summer^(J)
    and gathers its food at harvest.^(K)

⁹How long will you lie there, you sluggard?^(L)
    When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest^(M)—
¹¹and poverty^(N) will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

¹²A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
¹³    who winks maliciously with his eye,^(O)
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers,^(P)
¹⁴    who plots evil^(Q) with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict.^(R)
¹⁵Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;^(S)
    he will suddenly^(T) be destroyed—without remedy.^(U)

¹⁶There are six things the Lord hates,^(V)
    seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷        haughty eyes,^(W)
        a lying tongue,^(X)
        hands that shed innocent blood,^(Y)
¹⁸        a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,^(Z)
¹⁹        a false witness^(AA) who pours out lies^(AB)
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.^(AC)

Warning Against Adultery

²⁰My son,^(AD) keep your father’s command
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.^(AE)
²¹Bind them always on your heart;
    fasten them around your neck.^(AF)
²²When you walk, they will guide you;
    when you sleep, they will watch over you;
    when you awake, they will speak to you.
²³For this command is a lamp,
    this teaching is a light,^(AG)
and correction and instruction
    are the way to life,^(AH)
²⁴keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
    from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.^(AI)

²⁵Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life.^(AJ)
²⁷Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned?
²⁸Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched?
²⁹So is he who sleeps^(AK) with another man’s wife;^(AL)
    no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
³¹Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,^(AM)
    though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
³²But a man who commits adultery^(AN) has no sense;^(AO)
    whoever does so destroys himself.
³³Blows and disgrace are his lot,
    and his shame will never^(AP) be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy^(AQ) arouses a husband’s fury,^(AR)
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.^(AS)