Isaiah 3-5

New American Standard Bible

God Will Remove the Leaders

3 For behold, the Lord ^[a]God of armies ^(A)is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah
Both supply and support, the entire supply of bread
And the entire supply of water;
²^(B)The mighty man and the warrior,
The judge and the prophet,
The diviner and the elder,
³The captain of fifty and the esteemed person,
The counselor and the expert artisan,
And the skillful enchanter.
⁴And I will make mere ^(C)boys their leaders,
And ^[b]mischievous children will rule over them,
⁵And the people will be ^(D)oppressed,
Each one by another, and each one by his ^(E)neighbor;
The youth will assault the elder,
And the contemptible person will assault the one honored.
⁶When a man ^(F)lays hold of his brother in his father’s house, saying,
“You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler!
And these ruins will be under your ^[c]authority,”
⁷He will ^[d]protest on that day, saying,
“I will not be your ^[e]^(G)healer,
For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
You should not appoint me ruler of the people.”
⁸For ^(H)Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,
Because their ^[f]^(I)speech and their actions are against the Lord,
To ^(J)rebel against ^[g]His glorious presence.
⁹^[h]The expression of their faces testifies against them,
And they ^[i]display their sin like ^(K)Sodom;
They do not even conceal it.
Woe to ^[j]them!
For they have ^(L)done evil to themselves.
¹⁰Say to the ^(M)righteous that it will go well for them,
For they will eat the fruit of their actions.
¹¹Woe to the wicked! It will go badly for him,
For ^[k]^(N)what he deserves will be done to him.
¹²My people! Their oppressors ^(O)treat them violently,
And women rule over them.
My people! ^(P)Those who guide you lead you astray
And confuse the direction of your paths.

God Will Judge

¹³^(Q)The Lord arises to contend,
And stands to judge the people.
¹⁴The Lord ^(R)enters into judgment with the elders and leaders of His people,
“It is you who have ^[l]^(S)devoured the vineyard;
The ^(T)goods stolen from the poor are in your houses.
¹⁵What do you mean by ^(U)crushing My people
And ^[m]oppressing the face of the poor?”
Declares the Lord ^[n]God of armies.

Judah’s Women Denounced

¹⁶Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the ^(V)daughters of Zion are haughty
And walk with ^[o]heads held high and seductive eyes,
And go along with mincing steps
And jingle the anklets on their feet,
¹⁷The Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs,
And the Lord will make their foreheads bare.”

¹⁸On that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, ^(W)crescent ornaments, ¹⁹dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, ²⁰^(X)headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, ²¹^[p]finger rings, ^(Y)nose rings, ²²festive robes, outer garments, shawls, purses, ²³papyrus garments, undergarments, headbands, and veils.

²⁴Now it will come about that instead of ^(Z)balsam oil there will be a stench;
Instead of a belt, a rope;
Instead of ^(AA)well-set hair, a ^(AB)plucked-out scalp;
Instead of fine clothes, a ^(AC)robe of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty.
²⁵Your men will ^(AD)fall by the sword
And your ^[q]mighty ones in battle.
²⁶And her ^[r]^(AE)gates will lament and mourn,
And she will ^(AF)sit deserted on the ground.

A Remnant Prepared

4 For seven women will take hold of ^(AG)one man on that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; ^(AH)take away our disgrace!”

²On that day the ^(AI)Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the ^(AJ)fruit of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the ^(AK)survivors of Israel. ³And it will come about that the one who is ^(AL)left in Zion and remains behind in Jerusalem will be called ^(AM)holy—everyone who is ^(AN)recorded for life in Jerusalem. ⁴When the Lord has washed away the filth of the ^(AO)daughters of Zion and ^[s]purged the ^(AP)bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the ^(AQ)spirit of judgment and the ^(AR)spirit of ^[t]burning, ⁵then the Lord will create over the entire area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies ^(AS)a cloud by day, and smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the ^(AT)glory will be a canopy. ⁶And there will be a ^(AU)shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and ^[u]protection from the storm and the rain.

Parable of the Vineyard

5 Let me sing now for my beloved
A song of my beloved about His vineyard.
My beloved had a ^(AV)vineyard on ^[v]a fertile hill.
²He dug it all around, cleared it of stones,
And planted it with ^[w]the ^(AW)choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it,
And also carved out a ^[x]wine vat in it;
Then He ^(AX)expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only ^[y]worthless ones.

³“And now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
^(AY)Judge between Me and My vineyard.
⁴^(AZ)What more was there to do for My vineyard ^[z]that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce ^[aa]worthless ones?
⁵So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will ^(BA)remove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will ^(BB)break down its wall and it will become ^(BC)trampled ground.
⁶I will ^(BD)lay it waste;
It will not be pruned nor hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also command the clouds not to ^(BE)rain on it.”

⁷For the ^(BF)vineyard of the Lord of armies is the house of Israel,
And the people of Judah are His delightful plant.
So He waited for justice, but behold, there was ^(BG)bloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

Woes for the Wicked

⁸Woe to those who ^(BH)attach house to house and join field to field,
Until there is no more room,
And you alone are a landowner in the midst of the land!
⁹In my ears the Lord of armies has sworn, “^(BI)Many houses shall certainly become ^(BJ)desolate,
Even great and fine ones, without occupants.
¹⁰For ^(BK)ten acres of vineyard will yield only one ^[ab]bath of wine,
And a ^[ac]^(BL)homer of seed will yield only an ^[ad]ephah of grain.”
¹¹Woe to those who rise early in the morning so that they may pursue ^(BM)intoxicating drink,
Who stay up late in the evening so that wine may inflame them!
¹²Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and ^(BN)harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine;
But they ^(BO)do not pay attention to the deeds of the Lord,
Nor do they consider the work of His hands.

¹³Therefore My people go into exile for their ^(BP)lack of knowledge;
And their ^[ae]^(BQ)nobles are famished,
And their multitude is parched with thirst.
¹⁴Therefore ^(BR)Sheol has enlarged its ^[af]throat and opened its mouth beyond measure;
And ^[ag]Jerusalem’s splendor, her multitude, her noise of revelry, and the jubilant within her, descend into it.
¹⁵So the common people will be humbled and the person of importance brought low,
^(BS)The eyes of the haughty also will be brought low.
¹⁶But the ^(BT)Lord of armies will be ^(BU)exalted in judgment,
And the holy God will show Himself ^(BV)holy in righteousness.
¹⁷^(BW)Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture,
And strangers will eat in the ruins of the ^[ah]wealthy.

¹⁸Woe to those who drag ^(BX)wrongdoing with the cords of ^[ai]deceit,
And sin as if with cart ropes;
¹⁹^(BY)Who say, “Let Him hurry, let Him do His work quickly, so that we may see it;
And let the plan of the Holy One of Israel approach
And come to pass, so that we may know it!”
²⁰Woe to those who ^(BZ)call evil good, and good evil;
Who ^[aj]^(CA)substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who ^[ak]substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
²¹Woe to those who are ^(CB)wise in their own eyes
And ^[al]clever in their own sight!
²²^(CC)Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine,
And valiant men in mixing intoxicating drink,
²³^(CD)Who declare the wicked innocent for a bribe,
And ^(CE)take away the ^[am]rights of the ones who are in the right!

²⁴Therefore, ^(CF)as a tongue of fire consumes stubble,
And dry grass collapses in the flame,
So their ^(CG)root will become ^(CH)like rot, and their blossom ^[an]blow away like dust;
For they have ^(CI)rejected the Law of the Lord of armies,
And discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.
²⁵For this reason the ^(CJ)anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them.
And the ^(CK)mountains quaked, and their ^(CL)corpses ^[ao]lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
^(CM)Despite all this, His anger ^[ap]is not spent,
But His ^(CN)hand is still stretched out.

²⁶He will also lift up a ^(CO)flag to the distant ^[aq]nation,
And ^(CP)whistle for it ^(CQ)from the ends of the earth;
And behold, it will ^(CR)come with speed swiftly.
²⁷^(CS)No one in it is tired or stumbles,
No one slumbers or sleeps;
Nor is the ^(CT)undergarment at his waist loosened,
Nor his sandal strap broken.
²⁸^[ar]^(CU)Its arrows are sharp and all its bows are bent;
The hoofs of its horses ^[as]seem like flint, and its chariot ^(CV)wheels like a storm wind.
²⁹Its ^(CW)roaring is like a lioness, and it roars like young lions;
It growls as it ^(CX)seizes the prey
And carries it off with ^(CY)no one to save it.
³⁰And it will ^(CZ)roar against it on that day like the roaring of the sea.
If one ^(DA)looks across to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress;
Even the light is darkened by its clouds.

Footnotes

Isaiah 3:1 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 3:4 Or arbitrary power will rule
Isaiah 3:6 Lit hand
Isaiah 3:7 Lit lift up his voice
Isaiah 3:7 Lit binder of wounds
Isaiah 3:8 Lit tongue
Isaiah 3:8 Lit the eyes of His glory
Isaiah 3:9 Or Their partiality testifies
Isaiah 3:9 Lit proclaim
Isaiah 3:9 Lit their soul
Isaiah 3:11 Lit the accomplishment of his hands
Isaiah 3:14 Lit grazed over
Isaiah 3:15 Lit grinding the face of
Isaiah 3:15 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 3:16 Lit outstretched necks
Isaiah 3:21 Or signet rings
Isaiah 3:25 Lit strength
Isaiah 3:26 Lit entrances
Isaiah 4:4 Lit rinsed away
Isaiah 4:4 Or destruction
Isaiah 4:6 Lit a hiding place
Isaiah 5:1 Lit horn, a son of fatness
Isaiah 5:2 Lit a bright red grape
Isaiah 5:2 Or wine press
Isaiah 5:2 Or unripe
Isaiah 5:4 Lit and I have not done
Isaiah 5:4 Or unripe
Isaiah 5:10 About 6 gallons or 23 liters
Isaiah 5:10 About 7.7 cubic feet or 0.22 cubit meters or more
Isaiah 5:10 About 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
Isaiah 5:13 Lit glory is men of famine
Isaiah 5:14 Or appetite
Isaiah 5:14 Lit her
Isaiah 5:17 Lit fat
Isaiah 5:18 Or worthlessness
Isaiah 5:20 Lit set
Isaiah 5:20 Lit set
Isaiah 5:21 Lit discerning
Isaiah 5:23 Lit justice
Isaiah 5:24 Lit ascend
Isaiah 5:25 Lit were
Isaiah 5:25 Lit has not turned away
Isaiah 5:26 Lit nations; prob. Assyria
Isaiah 5:28 Lit Which, its arrows
Isaiah 5:28 Lit are regarded as

2 Corinthians 11:1-15

New American Standard Bible

Paul Defends His Apostleship

11 I wish that you would ^(A)bear with me in a little ^(B)foolishness; but ^[a]indeed you are bearing with me. ²For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I ^(C)betrothed you to one husband, to ^(D)present you as a pure virgin to Christ. ³But I am afraid that, as the ^(E)serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴For if ^[b]one comes and preaches ^(F)another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a ^(G)different spirit which you have not received, or a ^(H)different gospel which you have not accepted, this you ^(I)tolerate ^(J)very well! ⁵For I consider myself ^(K)not in the least inferior to the ^[c]most eminent apostles. ⁶But even if I am ^(L)unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in ^(M)knowledge; in fact, in every way we have ^(N)made this evident to you in all things.

⁷Or ^(O)did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the ^(P)gospel of God to you ^(Q)without charge? ⁸I robbed other churches by ^(R)taking wages from them to serve you; ⁹and when I was present with you and was in need, I was ^(S)not a burden to anyone; for when ^(T)the brothers came from ^(U)Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from ^(V)being a burden to you, ^[d]and will continue to do so. ¹⁰^(W)As the truth of Christ is in me, ^(X)this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of ^(Y)Achaia. ¹¹Why? ^(Z)Because I do not love you? ^(AA)God knows that I do!

¹²But what I am doing I will also continue to do, ^(AB)so that I may eliminate the opportunity from those who want an opportunity to be ^[e]regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. ¹³For such men are ^(AC)false apostles, ^(AD)deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴No wonder, for even ^(AE)Satan disguises himself as an ^(AF)angel of light. ¹⁵Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, ^(AG)whose end will be according to their deeds.

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Footnotes

2 Corinthians 11:1 Or do indeed bear with me
2 Corinthians 11:4 Lit the one who comes preaches
2 Corinthians 11:5 Or super-apostles
2 Corinthians 11:9 Lit and I will keep
2 Corinthians 11:12 Lit found

Psalm 53

New American Standard Bible

Foolishness and Wickedness of People.

For the music director; according to ^[a]Mahalath. A ^[b]Maskil of David.

53 ^(A)The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
^(B)There is no one who does good.
²God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind
To see if there is ^(C)anyone who ^[c]understands,
Who ^(D)seeks after God.
³^(E)Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴Have the workers of injustice ^(F)no knowledge,
Who eat up My people like they ate bread,
And have not called upon God?
⁵They were in great ^[d]fear there, ^(G)where no ^[e]fear had been;
For God ^(H)scattered the bones of ^[f]him who encamped against you;
You ^(I)put them to shame, because ^(J)God had rejected them.
⁶Oh, that ^(K)the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad.