Isaiah 17-18
Christian Standard Bible
A Pronouncement against Damascus
17 A pronouncement(A) concerning Damascus:(B)
Look, Damascus is no longer a city.
It has become a ruined heap.
2 The cities of Aroer are abandoned;
they will be places for flocks.
They will lie down without fear.
3 The fortress disappears from Ephraim,(C)
and a kingdom from Damascus.
The remnant of Aram will be
like the splendor of the Israelites.
This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.
Judgment against Israel
4 On that day
the splendor of Jacob will fade,
and his healthy body[a] will become emaciated.(D)
5 It will be as if a reaper had gathered standing grain—
his arm harvesting the heads of grain—
and as if one had gleaned heads of grain
in Rephaim Valley.(E)
6 Only gleanings will be left in Israel,(F)
as if an olive tree had been beaten—
two or three olives at the very top of the tree,
four or five on its fruitful branches.
This is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 On that day people will look to their Maker and will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.(G) 8 They will not look to the altars(H) they made with their hands or to the Asherahs and shrines[b](I) they made with their fingers.
9 On that day their strong cities will be
like the abandoned woods and mountaintops
that were abandoned because of the Israelites;
there will be desolation.
10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
and you have failed to remember
the rock of your strength;(J)
therefore you will plant beautiful plants
and set out cuttings from exotic vines.
11 On the day that you plant,
you will help them to grow,
and in the morning
you will help your seed to sprout,
but the harvest will vanish
on the day of disease and incurable pain.
Judgment against the Nations
12 Ah! The roar of many peoples—
they roar like the roaring of the seas.
The raging of the nations—
they rage like the rumble of rushing water.(K)
13 The nations rage like the rumble of a huge torrent.(L)
He rebukes them, and they flee far away,(M)
driven before the wind like chaff on the hills(N)
and like tumbleweeds before a gale.
14 In the evening—sudden terror!
Before morning—it is gone!
This is the fate of those who plunder us
and the lot of those who ravage us.
The Lord’s Message to Cush
18 Woe to the land of buzzing insect wings[c]
beyond the rivers of Cush,(O)
2 which sends envoys by sea,
in reed vessels over the water.
Go, swift messengers,
to a nation tall and smooth-skinned,
to a people feared far and near,
a powerful nation with a strange language,[d]
whose land is divided by rivers.
3 All you inhabitants of the world
and you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains, look!
When a ram’s horn sounds, listen!
4 For the Lord said to me:
I will quietly look out from my place,
like shimmering heat in sunshine,
like a rain cloud in harvest heat.
5 For before the harvest, when the blossoming is over
and the blossom becomes a ripening grape,
he will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife,
and tear away and remove the branches.
6 They will all be left for the birds of prey on the hills
and for the wild animals of the land.
The birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
and all the wild animals the winter.
7 At that time a gift will be brought to the Lord of Armies from[e] a people tall and smooth-skinned,(P) a people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers—to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of Armies.
1 Corinthians 7:1-16
Christian Standard Bible
Principles of Marriage
7 Now in response to the matters you wrote[a] about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”[b] 2 But because sexual immorality is so common,[c](A) each man should have sexual relations with his own wife,(B) and each woman should have sexual relations with her own husband. 3 A husband should fulfill his marital duty(C) to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. 4 A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does. 5 Do not deprive(D) one another—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to[d] prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all people were as I am. But each has his own gift(E) from God, one person has this gift, another has that.
A Word to the Unmarried
8 I say to the unmarried[e] and to widows:(F) It is good for them if they remain as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control,(G) they should marry, since it is better to marry(H) than to burn with desire.
About Married People
10 To the married I give this command(I)—not I, but the Lord—a wife is not to leave[f] her husband. 11 But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband is not to divorce his wife.(J) 12 But I (not the Lord) say to the rest: If any brother(K) has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy(L) by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy by the husband.[g] Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you[h] to live in peace. 16 Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.[i]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 7:1 Other mss add to me
- 7:1 Or “It is good for a man not to use a woman for sex”; lit “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.”
- 7:2 Lit because of immoralities
- 7:5 Other mss add fasting and to
- 7:8 Or widowers
- 7:10 Or separate from, or divorce
- 7:14 Lit the brother
- 7:15 Other mss read us
- 7:16 Or Wife, how do you know that you will save your husband? Husband, how do you know that you will save your wife?
Psalm 104:9-15
Christian Standard Bible
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
they will never cover the earth again.(A)
10 He causes the springs to gush into the valleys;
they flow between the mountains.(B)
11 They supply water for every wild beast;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.(C)
12 The birds of the sky live beside the springs;
they make their voices heard among the foliage.(D)
13 He waters the mountains from his palace;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of your labor.(E)
14 He causes grass to grow for the livestock
and provides crops for man to cultivate,
producing food from the earth,(F)
15 wine that makes human hearts glad—
making his face shine with oil—
and bread that sustains human hearts.(G)
Proverbs 22:1-2
Christian Standard Bible
22 A good name is to be chosen over great wealth;
favor is better than silver and gold.(A)
Footnotes
- 22:2 Lit poor meet
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