Isaiah 17-18

New American Standard Bible

Prophecy about Damascus

17 The ^(A)pronouncement concerning ^(B)Damascus:

“Behold, Damascus is about to be ^(C)removed from being a city
And will become a ^(D)fallen ruin.
²The cities ^[a]of ^(E)Aroer are abandoned;
They will be for ^(F)herds ^[b]to lie down in,
And there will be ^(G)no one to frighten them.
³The ^[c]^(H)fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And ^[d]sovereignty from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram;
They will be like the ^(I)glory of the sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord of armies.

⁴Now on that day the ^(J)glory of Jacob will ^[e]fade,
And ^(K)the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
⁵It will be ^(L)like the ^[f]reaper gathering the standing grain,
As his arm harvests the ears,
Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain
In the ^(M)Valley of Rephaim.
⁶Yet ^(N)gleanings will be left in it like the ^[g]shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives on the topmost branch,
Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree,
Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
⁷On that day man will ^(O)look to his Maker
And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.
⁸And he will not look to the ^(P)altars, the work of his hands,
Nor will he look to that which his ^(Q)fingers have made,
Even the ^[h]^(R)Asherim and incense altars.
⁹On that day ^[i]their strong cities will be like ^[j]abandoned places in the forest,
Or like branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel;
And ^[k]the land will be a desolation.
¹⁰For ^(S)you have forgotten the ^(T)God of your salvation
And have not remembered the ^(U)rock of your refuge.
Therefore you plant delightful plants
And set them with vine shoots of a strange god.
¹¹On the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the ^(V)morning you bring your seed to blossom;
But the harvest will ^(W)flee
On a day of illness and incurable pain.

¹²Oh, the uproar of many peoples
^(X)Who roar like the roaring of the seas,
And the rumbling of nations
Who rush on like the ^(Y)rumbling of mighty waters!
¹³The ^(Z)nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,
But He will ^(AA)rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
And be chased ^(AB)like chaff on the mountains before the wind,
Or like whirling dust before a gale.
¹⁴At evening time, behold, there is terror!
Before morning ^(AC)they are gone.
This will be the ^[l]fate of those who plunder us
And the lot of those who pillage us.

Message to Ethiopia

18 Woe, land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of ^[m]^(AD)Cush,
²Which sends messengers by the sea,
Even in ^(AE)papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation ^[n]^(AF)tall and smooth,
To a people ^(AG)feared ^[o]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
³^(AH)All you who inhabit the world, and live on earth,
As soon as a flag is raised on the mountains, ^(AI)you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

⁴For this is what the Lord has told me:

“I will quietly look ^[p]from My ^(AJ)dwelling place
Like dazzling heat in the ^[q]^(AK)sunshine,
Like a cloud of ^(AL)dew in the heat of harvest.”
⁵For ^(AM)before the harvest, as soon as the bud ^[r]blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives,
And remove and tear away the spreading branches.
⁶They will be left together for mountain birds ^(AN)of prey,
And for the animals of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the animals of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
⁷At that time a gift of tribute will be brought to the Lord of armies
^[s]From a ^(AO)people ^[t]tall and smooth,
From a people feared ^[u]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the ^(AP)place of the name of the Lord of armies, to Mount Zion.

Footnotes

Isaiah 17:2 LXX forever and ever
Isaiah 17:2 Lit and they will lie down
Isaiah 17:3 Or fortification
Isaiah 17:3 Or royal power
Isaiah 17:4 Lit become little
Isaiah 17:5 Lit gathering of the harvest, the standing grain
Isaiah 17:6 Lit striking
Isaiah 17:8 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
Isaiah 17:9 Lit his; i.e., mankind’s
Isaiah 17:9 LXX the deserted places of the Amorites and the Hivites which they abandoned
Isaiah 17:9 Lit it
Isaiah 17:14 Lit portion
Isaiah 18:1 Or Ethiopia
Isaiah 18:2 Lit drawn out
Isaiah 18:2 Lit from it and beyond
Isaiah 18:4 Lit in
Isaiah 18:4 Lit light
Isaiah 18:5 Lit is finished
Isaiah 18:7 Some ancient versions and DSS; MT implies Consisting of a people
Isaiah 18:7 Lit drawn out
Isaiah 18:7 Lit from it and beyond

1 Peter 5

New American Standard Bible

Serve God Willingly

5 ^(A)Therefore, I urge elders among you, as your ^(B)fellow elder and a ^(C)witness of the sufferings of Christ, and one who is also a ^[a]^(D)fellow partaker of the glory that is to be revealed: ²shepherd ^(E)the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, ^(F)not under compulsion but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and ^(G)not ^[b]with greed but with eagerness; ³nor yet as ^(H)domineering over ^[c]those assigned to your care, but by ^[d]proving to be ^[e]^(I)examples to the flock. ⁴And when the Chief ^(J)Shepherd appears, you will receive the ^(K)unfading ^[f]^(L)crown of glory. ⁵^(M)You ^[g]younger men, likewise, ^(N)be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with ^(O)humility toward one another, because ^(P)God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

⁶Therefore ^(Q)humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷having cast all your ^(R)anxiety on Him, because He cares about you. ⁸^(S)Be of sober spirit, ^(T)be on the alert. Your adversary, ^(U)the devil, prowls around like a roaring ^(V)lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹^[h]^(W)So resist him, ^(X)firm in your faith, knowing that ^(Y)the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your ^[i]brothers and sisters who are in the world. ¹⁰After you have suffered ^(Z)for a little while, the ^(AA)God of all grace, who ^(AB)called you to His ^(AC)eternal glory in Christ, will Himself ^(AD)perfect, ^(AE)confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹^(AF)To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹²Through ^(AG)Silvanus, our faithful brother ^[j](for so I regard him), ^(AH)I have written to you briefly, ^[k]exhorting and testifying that this is ^(AI)the true grace of God. ^(AJ)Stand firm in it! ¹³She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, ^(AK)Mark. ¹⁴^(AL)Greet one another with a kiss of love.