Fall of the King of Babylon

It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you (A)will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:

“How the oppressor has ceased,
The (B)golden[a] city ceased!
The Lord has broken (C)the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of the rulers;
He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke,
He who ruled the nations in anger,
Is persecuted and no one hinders.
The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
They break forth into singing.
(D)Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you,
And the cedars of Lebanon,
Saying, ‘Since you [b]were cut down,
No woodsman has come up against us.’

“Hell(E)[c] from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
10 They all shall (F)speak and say to you:
‘Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.’

The Fall of Lucifer

12 “How(G) you are fallen from heaven,
O [d]Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
(H)‘I will ascend into heaven,
(I)I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the (J)mount of the congregation
(K)On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
(L)I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you (M)shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the [e]lowest depths of the Pit.

16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:
Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who [f]did not open the house of his prisoners?’

18 “All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
19 But you are cast out of your grave
Like an [g]abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
[h]Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.
20 You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
(N)The brood of evildoers shall never be named.
21 Prepare slaughter for his children
(O)Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

Babylon Destroyed

22 “For I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts,
“And cut off from Babylon (P)the name and (Q)remnant,
(R)And offspring and posterity,” says the Lord.
23 “I will also make it a possession for the (S)porcupine,
And marshes of muddy water;
I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of hosts.

Assyria Destroyed

24 The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall (T)stand:
25 That I will break the (U)Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then (V)his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders.
26 This is the (W)purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
27 For the Lord of hosts has (X)purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 14:4 Or insolent
  2. Isaiah 14:8 have lain down
  3. Isaiah 14:9 Or Sheol
  4. Isaiah 14:12 Lit. Day Star
  5. Isaiah 14:15 Lit. recesses
  6. Isaiah 14:17 Would not release
  7. Isaiah 14:19 despised
  8. Isaiah 14:19 Pierced

The Twelve Apostles(A)

13 (B)And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, [a]that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have [b]power [c]to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 [d]Simon, (C)to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

A House Divided Cannot Stand(D)

20 Then the multitude came together again, (E)so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His (F)own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, (G)for they said, “He is out of His mind.”

22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, (H)“He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the (I)ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

23 (J)So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. 27 (K)No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin(L)

28 (M)“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” 30 because they (N)said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him(O)

31 (P)Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers [e]are outside seeking You.”

33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the (Q)will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 3:14 NU adds whom He also named apostles
  2. Mark 3:15 authority
  3. Mark 3:15 NU omits to heal sicknesses and
  4. Mark 3:16 NU and He appointed the twelve: Simon . . .
  5. Mark 3:32 NU, M add and Your sisters

Proclamation Against Syria and Israel

17 The (A)burden[a] against Damascus.

“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
[b]The cities of (B)Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks
Which lie down, and (C)no one will make them afraid.
(D)The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

“In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob will [c]wane,
And (E)the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
(F)It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.
(G)Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Four or five in its most fruitful branches,”
Says the Lord God of Israel.

In that day a man will (H)look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his (I)fingers have made,
Nor the [d]wooden images nor the incense altars.

In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken [e]bough
And [f]an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.

10 Because you have forgotten (J)the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your [g]stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.

12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise (K)like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will (L)rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And (M)be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 17:1 oracle, prophecy
  2. Isaiah 17:2 So with MT, Vg.; LXX It shall be forsaken forever; Tg. Its cities shall be forsaken and desolate
  3. Isaiah 17:4 fade
  4. Isaiah 17:8 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
  5. Isaiah 17:9 LXX Hivites; Tg. laid waste; Vg. as the plows
  6. Isaiah 17:9 LXX Amorites; Tg. in ruins; Vg. corn
  7. Isaiah 17:10 refuge

The Mighty Angel with the Little Book

10 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. (A)And a rainbow was on (B)his head, his face was like the sun, and (C)his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book open in his hand. (D)And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, (E)seven thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders [a]uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying [b]to me, (F)“Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land (G)raised up his [c]hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, (H)who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, (I)that there should be delay no longer, but (J)in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

John Eats the Little Book

Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.”

So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”

And he said to me, (K)“Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

10 Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, (L)and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, (M)my stomach became bitter. 11 And [d]he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 10:4 NU, M sounded,
  2. Revelation 10:4 NU, M omit to me
  3. Revelation 10:5 NU, M right hand
  4. Revelation 10:11 NU, M they

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