Isaiah 31-32

New King James Version

The Folly of Not Trusting God

31 Woe to those ^(A)who go down to Egypt for help,
And ^(B)rely on horses,
Who trust in chariots because they are many,
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
^(C)Nor seek the Lord!
²Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster,
And ^(D)will not ^[a]call back His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers,
And against the help of those who work iniquity.
³Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out His hand,
Both he who helps will fall,
And he who is helped will fall down;
They all will perish ^(E)together.

God Will Deliver Jerusalem

⁴For thus the Lord has spoken to me:

^(F)“As a lion roars,
And a young lion over his prey
(When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him,
He will not be afraid of their voice
Nor be disturbed by their noise),
So the Lord of hosts will come down
To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill.
⁵^(G)Like birds flying about,
So will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem.
Defending, He will also deliver it;
Passing over, He will preserve it.”

⁶Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have ^(H)deeply revolted. ⁷For in that day every man shall ^(I)throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—^(J)sin, which your own hands have made for yourselves.

⁸“Then Assyria shall ^(K)fall by a sword not of man,
And a sword not of mankind shall ^(L)devour him.
But he shall flee from the sword,
And his young men shall become forced labor.
⁹^(M)He shall cross over to his stronghold for fear,
And his princes shall be afraid of the banner,”
Says the Lord,
Whose fire is in Zion
And whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

A Reign of Righteousness

32 Behold, ^(N)a king will reign in righteousness,
And princes will rule with justice.
²A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,
And ^(O)a ^[b]cover from the tempest,
As rivers of water in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
³^(P)The eyes of those who see will not be dim,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
⁴Also the heart of the ^[c]rash will ^(Q)understand knowledge,
And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.

⁵The foolish person will no longer be called ^[d]generous,
Nor the miser said to be bountiful;
⁶For the foolish person will speak foolishness,
And his heart will work ^(R)iniquity:
To practice ungodliness,
To utter error against the Lord,
To keep the hungry unsatisfied,
And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
⁷Also the schemes of the schemer are evil;
He devises wicked plans
To destroy the poor with ^(S)lying words,
Even when the needy speaks justice.
⁸But a ^[e]generous man devises generous things,
And by generosity he shall stand.

Consequences of Complacency

⁹Rise up, you women ^(T)who are at ease,
Hear my voice;
You complacent daughters,
Give ear to my speech.
¹⁰In a year and some days
You will be troubled, you complacent women;
For the vintage will fail,
The gathering will not come.
¹¹Tremble, you women who are at ease;
Be troubled, you complacent ones;
Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare,
And gird sackcloth on your waists.

¹²People shall mourn upon their breasts
For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
¹³^(U)On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers,
Yes, on all the happy homes in ^(V)the joyous city;
¹⁴^(W)Because the palaces will be forsaken,
The bustling city will be deserted.
The forts and towers will become lairs forever,
A joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks—
¹⁵Until ^(X)the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
And ^(Y)the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field is counted as a forest.

The Peace of God’s Reign

¹⁶Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
¹⁷^(Z)The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
¹⁸My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings, and in quiet ^(AA)resting places,
¹⁹^(AB)Though hail comes down ^(AC)on the forest,
And the city is brought low in humiliation.

²⁰Blessed are you who sow beside all waters,
Who send out freely the feet of ^(AD)the ox and the donkey.

Footnotes

Isaiah 31:2 retract
Isaiah 32:2 shelter
Isaiah 32:4 hasty
Isaiah 32:5 noble
Isaiah 32:8 noble

Psalm 108:7-13

New King James Version

⁷God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice;
I will divide Shechem
And measure out the Valley of Succoth.
⁸Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the ^[a]helmet for My head;
^(A)Judah is My lawgiver.
⁹Moab is My washpot;
Over Edom I will cast My shoe;
Over Philistia I will triumph.”

¹⁰^(B)Who will bring me into the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
¹¹Is it not You, O God, who cast us off?
And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?
¹²Give us help from trouble,
For the help of man is useless.
¹³^(C)Through God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.

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Footnotes

Psalm 108:8 Lit. protection

Proverbs 25:23-24

New King James Version

²³The north wind brings forth rain,
And ^(A)a backbiting tongue an angry countenance.

²⁴^(B)It is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

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2 Corinthians 11:16-33

New King James Version

Reluctant Boasting

¹⁶I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little. ¹⁷What I speak, ^(A)I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. ¹⁸Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast. ¹⁹For you put up with fools gladly, ^(B)since you yourselves are wise! ²⁰For you put up with it ^(C)if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. ²¹To our shame ^(D)I say that we were too weak for that! But ^(E)in whatever anyone is bold—I speak foolishly—I am bold also.

Suffering for Christ

²²Are they ^(F)Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. ²³Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: ^(G)in labors more abundant, ^(H)in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, ^(I)in deaths often. ²⁴From the Jews five times I received ^(J)forty ^(K)stripes minus one. ²⁵Three times I was ^(L)beaten with rods; ^(M)once I was stoned; three times I ^(N)was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; ²⁶in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, ^(O)in perils of my own countrymen, ^(P)in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; ²⁷in weariness and toil, ^(Q)in sleeplessness often, ^(R)in hunger and thirst, in ^(S)fastings often, in cold and nakedness— ²⁸besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: ^(T)my deep concern for all the churches. ²⁹^(U)Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

³⁰If I must boast, ^(V)I will boast in the things which concern my ^[a]infirmity. ³¹^(W)The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(X)who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. ³²^(Y)In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; ³³but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.