The Earth Will Be Punished

24 See, the Lord will lay the earth waste. He will destroy it, turn its ground up-side-down, and send its people everywhere. ² What happens to the people will happen to the religious leader. What happens to the man servant will happen to his owner. The woman servant will be like her owner. The buyer will be like the seller. The giver will be like the receiver. The one who lets another use his money will be like the one who uses it. ³ All the earth will be laid waste and destroyed, for the Lord has said this.

⁴ The earth cries in sorrow and wastes away. The world becomes weak with sorrow and wastes away, together with the honored people of the earth. ⁵ The earth has been made unclean by its people. They have sinned and not obeyed the laws, and have broken the agreement that was to be forever. ⁶ So the earth is cursed and those who live in it suffer for their guilt. So the people of the earth are burned, and few men are left.

⁷ The new wine dries up and the vine wastes away. All the glad in heart are in sorrow. ⁸ The happiness of the music-makers stops. The noise of those filled with joy stops. The happiness of the harp stops. ⁹ They do not drink wine with singing. Strong drink tastes bad to those who drink it. ¹⁰ The city of trouble is broken down. Every house is shut up so no one may go in. ¹¹ There is a crying out in the streets about the wine. All joy turns to darkness. The happiness of the earth is gone. ¹² The city is laid waste. The gate is broken to pieces. ¹³ For this is how it will be on the earth among the nations. It will be like the shaking of an olive tree, and like what is left after the grapes have been gathered. ¹⁴ They raise their voices. They call out for joy. They cry out from the west about the wonderful power of the Lord. ¹⁵ So honor the Lord in the east. Honor the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea. ¹⁶ From the ends of the earth we hear songs: “Praise the One Who is right and good.” But I say, “I waste away! I waste away! It is bad for me! The false ones are not faithful. Yes, their way is very false.” ¹⁷ Fear and the deep hole and the trap are before you, O people of the earth. ¹⁸ He who runs from the news of trouble will fall into a deep hole. And he who comes out of the hole will be caught in a trap. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the earth shakes. ¹⁹ The earth is broken in pieces. The earth is torn apart. The earth is very shaken. ²⁰ The earth turns from one side to the other side like a drunk man. It shakes like a tent because its sin is heavy upon it. It will fall, never to rise again. ²¹ In that day the Lord will punish the powers of heaven above, and the kings of the earth below. ²² They will be gathered together like those in a prison. They will be kept in a deep, dark prison, and after many days they will be punished. ²³ Then the moon will be dark and the sun will not shine, for the Lord of All will rule on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. And in front of His leaders, He will let His shining-greatness be seen.

A Song of Praise

25 O Lord, You are my God. I will praise You. I will give thanks to Your name. For You have been faithful to do great things, plans that You made long ago. ² For You have laid waste a city. You have destroyed a strong city. The beautiful house of strangers is a city no more. And it will never be built again. ³ So strong people will honor You. Cities of nations that show no pity will fear You. ⁴ For You have been a strong-place for those who could not help themselves and for those in need because of much trouble. You have been a safe place from the storm and a shadow from the heat. For the breath of the one who shows no pity is like a storm against a wall. ⁵ Like heat in a dry place, You quiet the noise of the strangers. Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the one who shows no pity is made quiet.

A Supper for All People

⁶ On this mountain the Lord of All will make a supper of good things ready for all people. It will be a supper of good wine, of the best foods, and of fine wine. ⁷ And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over all people, the covering which is spread over all nations. ⁸ He will take away death for all time. The Lord God will dry tears from all faces. He will take away the shame of His people from all the earth. For the Lord has spoken. ⁹ It will be said in that day, “See, this is our God. We have waited for Him, that He might save us. This is the Lord for Whom we have waited. Let us be glad and full of joy because He saves us.”

Moab Will Be Punished

¹⁰ For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain. And Moab will be crushed in his place, as straw is crushed down in animal waste. ¹¹ Moab will spread out his hands in it, as a man spreads out his hands to swim. But the Lord will put his pride to shame, together with the sinful work of his hands. ¹² And the Lord will bring down your high walls built for war and lay them low. He will throw them to the ground, even to the dust.

A Song of Trust in God

26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city. The Lord saves us and puts up walls to keep us safe. ² Open the gates, that the nation that is right with God may come in, the one that keeps faithful. ³ You will keep the man in perfect peace whose mind is kept on You, because he trusts in You. ⁴ Trust in the Lord forever. For the Lord God is a Rock that lasts forever. ⁵ For He has brought down low those who live on a high place, the high city. He lays it low. He lays it low to the ground. He throws it to the dust. ⁶ It will be crushed under foot, under the feet of those who have suffered and the steps of those who cannot help themselves.”

⁷ The way of the man who is right with God is smooth. O Upright One, make the path straight of those who are right with You. ⁸ While following in Your ways, O Lord, we have waited for You. To remember You and Your name is the desire of our souls. ⁹ My soul has a desire for You in the night. Yes, my spirit within me looks for You in the morning. For when you punish the earth, the people of the world learn what is right and good. ¹⁰ When favor is shown to the sinful, he does not learn what is right and good. He goes on doing what is wrong in the land of those who are right. He does not see the wonderful power of the Lord.

¹¹ O Lord, Your hand is lifted up but they do not see it. Let them see Your care for Your people and be ashamed. Let fire destroy those who hate You. ¹² O Lord, You will give us peace, for You have done all our works for us. ¹³ O Lord our God, other lords than You have ruled us, but Your name alone is the One we honor. ¹⁴ They are dead, and will not live. Their spirits will not return. So You have punished and destroyed them. You have caused them all to be forgotten. ¹⁵ You have made the nation great, O Lord. You have made the nation great. You have received much praise. You have made the land larger. ¹⁶ O Lord, they looked for You in their trouble. They could only say a quiet prayer while You were punishing them. ¹⁷ As the woman who is going to have a baby comes close to the time to give birth, she suffers and cries out in her pains. This is how we were before You, O Lord. ¹⁸ We suffered in pain. We gave birth, as it were, only to wind. We could not bring the world out of its trouble. And no people of the earth were born. ¹⁹ Your dead will live. Their dead bodies will rise. You who lie in the dust, wake up and call out for joy. For as the water on the grass in the morning brings new life, the earth will bring back to life those who have been dead.

Punishment of Sinners

²⁰ Come, my people, go into your rooms. Close your doors behind you. Hide for a little while until God’s anger is past. ²¹ For see, the Lord is about to come out from His place to punish the people of the earth for their sin. And the earth will let the blood be seen that has poured on her. She will no longer cover her dead.

Full-Grown Christians

4 I am being held in prison because of working for the Lord. I ask you from my heart to live and work the way the Lord expected you to live and work. ² Live and work without pride. Be gentle and kind. Do not be hard on others. Let love keep you from doing that. ³ Work hard to live together as one by the help of the Holy Spirit. Then there will be peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit. There is one hope in which you were called. ⁵ There is one Lord and one faith and one baptism. ⁶ There is one God. He is the Father of us all. He is over us all. He is the One working through us all. He is the One living in us all.

⁷ Loving-favor has been given to each one of us. We can see how great it is by the gift of Christ. ⁸ The Holy Writings say, “When Christ went up to heaven, He took those who were held with Him. He gave gifts to men.” ^{(A) 9} When they say, “He went up,” what does it mean but that He had first gone down to the deep parts of the earth? ¹⁰ Christ Who went down into the deep also went up far above the heavens. He did this to fill all the world with Himself.

¹¹ Christ gave gifts to men. He gave to some the gift to be missionaries, some to be preachers, others to be preachers who go from town to town. He gave others the gift to be church leaders and teachers. ¹² These gifts help His people work well for Him. And then the church which is the body of Christ will be made strong. ¹³ All of us are to be as one in the faith and in knowing the Son of God. We are to be full-grown Christians standing as high and complete as Christ is Himself. ¹⁴ Then we will not be as children any longer. Children are like boats thrown up and down on big waves. They are blown with the wind. False teaching is like the wind. False teachers try everything possible to make people believe a lie, ¹⁵ but we are to hold to the truth with love in our hearts. We are to grow up and be more like Christ. He is the leader of the church. ¹⁶ Christ has put each part of the church in its right place. Each part helps other parts. This is what is needed to keep the whole body together. In this way, the whole body grows strong in love.

The Old and the New Life

¹⁷ I tell you this in the name of the Lord: You must not live any longer like the people of the world who do not know God. Their thoughts are foolish. ¹⁸ Their minds are in darkness. They are strangers to the life of God. This is because they have closed their minds to Him and have turned their hearts away from Him. ¹⁹ They do not care anymore about what is right or wrong. They have turned themselves over to the sinful ways of the world and are always wanting to do every kind of sinful act they can think of.

²⁰ But you did not learn anything like this from Christ. ²¹ If you have heard of Him and have learned from Him, ²² put away the old person you used to be. Have nothing to do with your old sinful life. It was sinful because of being fooled into following bad desires. ²³ Let your minds and hearts be made new. ²⁴ You must become a new person and be God-like. Then you will be made right with God and have a true holy life.

²⁵ So stop lying to each other. Tell the truth to your neighbor. We all belong to the same body. ²⁶ If you are angry, do not let it become sin. Get over your anger before the day is finished. ²⁷ Do not let the devil start working in your life. ²⁸ Anyone who steals must stop it! He must work with his hands so he will have what he needs and can give to those who need help. ²⁹ Watch your talk! No bad words should be coming from your mouth. Say what is good. Your words should help others grow as Christians. ³⁰ Do not make God’s Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free. ³¹ Put out of your life all these things: bad feelings about other people, anger, temper, loud talk, bad talk which hurts other people, and bad feelings which hurt other people. ³² You must be kind to each other. Think of the other person. Forgive other people just as God forgave you because of Christ’s death on the cross.