Colossians 2:20-3:17

New King James Version

²⁰^[a]Therefore, if you ^(A)died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, ^(B)why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— ²¹^(C)“Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” ²²which all concern things which perish with the using—^(D)according to the commandments and doctrines of men? ²³^(E)These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and ^[b]neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Not Carnality but Christ

3 If then you were ^(F)raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, ^(G)where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ²Set your mind on things above, not on things on the ^(H)earth. ³^(I)For you died, ^(J)and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴^(K)When Christ who is ^(L)our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in ^(M)glory.

⁵^(N)Therefore put to death ^(O)your members which are on the earth: ^(P)fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, ^(Q)which is idolatry. ⁶^(R)Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon ^(S)the sons of disobedience, ⁷^(T)in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

⁸^(U)But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. ⁹Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, ¹⁰and have put on the new man who ^(V)is renewed in knowledge ^(W)according to the image of Him who ^(X)created him, ¹¹where there is neither ^(Y)Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, ^(Z)but Christ is all and in all.

Character of the New Man

¹²Therefore, ^(AA)as the elect of God, holy and beloved, ^(AB)put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³^(AC)bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. ¹⁴^(AD)But above all these things ^(AE)put on love, which is the ^(AF)bond of perfection. ¹⁵And let ^(AG)the peace of God rule in your hearts, ^(AH)to which also you were called ^(AI)in one body; and ^(AJ)be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another ^(AK)in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ¹⁷And ^(AL)whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Footnotes

Colossians 2:20 NU, M omit Therefore
Colossians 2:23 severe treatment, asceticism

Ezekiel 29-30

New King James Version

Proclamation Against Egypt

29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, ^(A)set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and ^(B)against all Egypt. ³Speak, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

^(C)“Behold, I am against you,
O Pharaoh king of Egypt,
O great ^(D)monster who lies in the midst of his rivers,
^(E)Who has said, ‘My ^[a]River is my own;
I have made it for myself.’
⁴But ^(F)I will put hooks in your jaws,
And cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales;
I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers,
And all the fish in your rivers will stick to your scales.
⁵I will leave you in the wilderness,
You and all the fish of your rivers;
You shall fall on the ^[b]open ^(G)field;
^(H)You shall not be picked up or ^[c]gathered.
^(I)I have given you as food
To the beasts of the field
And to the birds of the heavens.

⁶“Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
Shall know that I am the Lord,
Because they have been a ^(J)staff of reed to the house of Israel.
⁷^(K)When they took hold of you with the hand,
You broke and tore all their ^[d]shoulders;
When they leaned on you,
You broke and made all their backs quiver.”

⁸‘Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will bring ^(L)a sword upon you and cut off from you man and beast. ⁹And the land of Egypt shall become ^(M)desolate and waste; then they will know that I am the Lord, because he said, ‘The River is mine, and I have made it.’ ¹⁰Indeed, therefore, I am against you and against your rivers, ^(N)and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, ^(O)from ^[e]Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia. ¹¹^(P)Neither foot of man shall pass through it nor foot of beast pass through it, and it shall be uninhabited forty years. ¹²^(Q)I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and among the cities that are laid waste, her cities shall be desolate forty years; and I will ^(R)scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.”

¹³‘Yet, thus says the Lord God: “At the ^(S)end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. ¹⁴I will bring back the captives of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they shall be a ^(T)lowly kingdom. ¹⁵It shall be the lowliest of kingdoms; it shall never again exalt itself above the nations, for I will diminish them so that they will not rule over the nations anymore. ¹⁶No longer shall it be ^(U)the confidence of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they turned to follow them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.” ’ ”

Babylonia Will Plunder Egypt

¹⁷And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸“Son of man, ^(V)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre; every head was made ^(W)bald, and every shoulder rubbed raw; yet neither he nor his army received wages from Tyre, for the labor which they expended on it. ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I will give the land of Egypt to ^(X)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he shall take away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove her pillage; and that will be the wages for his army. ²⁰I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they ^(Y)worked for Me,’ says the Lord God.

²¹‘In that day ^(Z)I will cause the ^[f]horn of the house of Israel to spring forth, and I will ^(AA)open your mouth to speak in their midst. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

Egypt and Her Allies Will Fall

30 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, ²“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

^(AB)“Wail, ‘Woe to the day!’
³For ^(AC)the day is near,
Even the day of the Lord is near;
It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles.
⁴The sword shall come upon Egypt,
And great anguish shall be in ^[g]Ethiopia,
When the slain fall in Egypt,
And they ^(AD)take away her wealth,
And ^(AE)her foundations are broken down.

⁵“Ethiopia, ^[h]Libya, ^[i]Lydia, ^(AF)all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.”

⁶‘Thus says the Lord:

“Those who uphold Egypt shall fall,
And the pride of her power shall come down.
^(AG)From ^[j]Migdol to Syene
Those within her shall fall by the sword,”
Says the Lord God.

⁷“They^(AH) shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate countries,
And her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste.
⁸Then they will know that I am the Lord,
When I have set a fire in Egypt
And all her helpers are destroyed.
⁹On that day ^(AI)messengers shall go forth from Me in ships
To make the ^[k]careless Ethiopians afraid,
And great anguish shall come upon them,
As on the day of Egypt;
For indeed it is coming!”

¹⁰‘Thus says the Lord God:

^(AJ)“I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease
By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
¹¹He and his people with him, ^(AK)the most terrible of the nations,
Shall be brought to destroy the land;
They shall draw their swords against Egypt,
And fill the land with the slain.
¹²^(AL)I will make the rivers dry,
And ^(AM)sell the land into the hand of the wicked;
I will make the land waste, and all that is in it,
By the hand of aliens.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”

¹³‘Thus says the Lord God:

“I will also ^(AN)destroy the idols,
And cause the images to cease from ^[l]Noph;
^(AO)There shall no longer be princes from the land of Egypt;
^(AP)I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
¹⁴I will make ^(AQ)Pathros desolate,
Set fire to ^(AR)Zoan,
^(AS)And execute judgments in ^[m]No.
¹⁵I will pour My fury on ^[n]Sin, the strength of Egypt;
^(AT)I will cut off the multitude of ^[o]No,
¹⁶And ^(AU)set a fire in Egypt;
Sin shall have great pain,
No shall be split open,
And Noph shall be in distress daily.
¹⁷The young men of ^[p]Aven and Pi Beseth shall fall by the sword,
And these cities shall go into captivity.
¹⁸^(AV)At ^[q]Tehaphnehes the day shall also be ^[r]darkened,
When I break the yokes of Egypt there.
And her arrogant strength shall cease in her;
As for her, a cloud shall cover her,
And her daughters shall go into captivity.
¹⁹Thus I will ^(AW)execute judgments on Egypt,
Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

Proclamation Against Pharaoh

²⁰And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²¹“Son of man, I have ^(AX)broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and see, ^(AY)it has not been bandaged for healing, nor a ^[s]splint put on to bind it, to make it strong enough to hold a sword. ²²Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I am ^(AZ)against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will ^(BA)break his arms, both the strong one and the one that was broken; and I will make the sword fall out of his hand. ²³^(BB)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the countries. ²⁴I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; but I will break Pharaoh’s arms, and he will groan before him with the groanings of a mortally wounded man. ²⁵Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; ^(BC)they shall know that I am the Lord, when I put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. ²⁶^(BD)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”

Footnotes

Ezekiel 29:3 The Nile
Ezekiel 29:5 Lit. face of the field
Ezekiel 29:5 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; some Heb. mss., Tg. buried
Ezekiel 29:7 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr. hand
Ezekiel 29:10 Or the tower
Ezekiel 29:21 Strength
Ezekiel 30:4 Heb. Cush
Ezekiel 30:5 Heb. Put
Ezekiel 30:5 Heb. Lud
Ezekiel 30:6 Or the tower
Ezekiel 30:9 Or secure
Ezekiel 30:13 Ancient Memphis
Ezekiel 30:14 Ancient Thebes
Ezekiel 30:15 Ancient Pelusium
Ezekiel 30:15 Ancient Thebes
Ezekiel 30:17 Ancient On, Heliopolis
Ezekiel 30:18 Tahpanhes, Jer. 43:7
Ezekiel 30:18 So with many Heb. mss., Bg., LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg.; MT refrained
Ezekiel 30:21 Lit. bandage

Isaiah 55

New King James Version

An Invitation to Abundant Life

55 “Ho! ^(A)Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
^(B)Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
²Why do you ^[a]spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
³Incline your ear, and ^(C)come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
^(D)And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The ^(E)sure mercies of David.
⁴Indeed I have given him as ^(F)a witness to the people,
^(G)A leader and commander for the people.
⁵^(H)Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
^(I)And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
^(J)For He has glorified you.”

⁶^(K)Seek the Lord while He may be ^(L)found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
⁷^(M)Let the ^[b]wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man ^(N)his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
^(O)And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.

⁸“For^(P) My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
⁹“For^(Q) as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰“For ^(R)as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
¹¹^(S)So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me ^[c]void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall ^(T)prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

¹²“For^(U) you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall ^(V)break forth into singing before you,
And ^(W)all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³^(X)Instead of ^(Y)the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the Lord ^(Z)for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”