Israel Set Free

27 In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan, the large snake-like sea animal, with His sharp and great and powerful sword. He will punish Leviathan the turning snake, and kill the big dragon that lives in the sea.

² In that day it will be said: “Sing about a grape-field of wine! ³ I, the Lord, am its keeper. I water it all the time. I watch over it day and night so no one will hurt it. ⁴ I am not angry. If someone were to give Me thistles and thorns in battle, I would step on them. I would burn them together. ⁵ Or let him trust in Me to keep him safe. Let him make peace with Me. Yes, let him make peace with Me.” ⁶ In the days to come Jacob will take root. Israel will flower and begin to grow, and fill the whole world with fruit.

⁷ Has the Lord punished Israel as He punished those who went against Israel? Or have as many people of Israel been killed as their killers were killed? ⁸ You showed Your anger towards them by driving them out of the land. You moved them out with Your strong wind on the day of the east wind. ⁹ So by this Jacob’s sin will be forgiven. This will be the full price of taking his sin away: When he crushes all the altar stones into fine pieces, so the wooden female goddess Asherah and the altars of special perfume will not stand. ¹⁰ The city made strong for battle is empty and alone, a place left alone like the desert. The calves eat there, and they lie down and eat from its branches. ¹¹ When its branches are dry, they are broken off. Women come and make a fire with them. They are not a people of understanding, so their Maker will not have pity on them. The One Who made them will not show kindness to them.

¹² In that day the Lord will beat out His grain from the flowing river of the Euphrates to the river of Egypt. And you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. ¹³ In that day a great horn will be blown. Those who were dying in the land of Assyria and those who were sent everywhere through the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Time of Trouble for Ephraim and Jerusalem

28 It is a time of trouble to the crown of pride and to the drunk men of Ephraim, whose shining beauty is a dying flower. It is at the head of the rich valley of those who have taken too much wine! ² See, the Lord has one who is strong and powerful, like a storm of hail, a destroying storm. As with a flood of powerful waters flowing over, He will bring them down to the earth with His hand. ³ The crown of pride, the drunk men of Ephraim, will be crushed under foot. ⁴ The dying flower of its shining beauty which is at the head of the rich valley will be like the first fig grown before the summer. When one sees it, he takes it in his hand and eats it. ⁵ In that day the Lord of All will be a crown of shining-greatness, a beautiful crown to those who are left of His people. ⁶ He will be a spirit of what is fair to him who judges the people. He will be a strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. ⁷ These also walk from one side to the other side because of wine and strong drink. The religious leaders and the men who tell what will happen in the future make mistakes because of strong drink. They are troubled by wine. They walk from side to side because of strong drink. They make mistakes as they have special dreams. And they make mistakes when judging between right and wrong. ⁸ All the tables are covered with what they have spit up. There is no place that is clean.

⁹ “Who is it He is trying to teach? To whom will He tell what He has to say? Children finished with their nursing and just taken from the breast? ¹⁰ For He says, ‘Law on law, law on law, rule on rule, rule on rule, a little here, a little there.’” ¹¹ The Lord will speak to these people through men from other lands and in strange languages. ¹² He Who said to them, “This is rest, give rest to the tired and weak.” And, “This is the place to rest,” but they would not listen. ¹³ So the Word of the Lord to them will be, “Law on law, law on law, rule on rule, rule on rule, a little here, a little there,” that they may go and fall back, be broken, trapped, and taken away by those who hate them.

A Stone of Great Worth in Jerusalem

¹⁴ So hear the Word of the Lord, you who laugh at the truth, who rule the people in Jerusalem! ¹⁵ You have said, “We have made an agreement with death. With the place of the dead we have made an agreement. The destroying flood will not touch us when it passes by. We have made lies our safe place. We have hidden ourselves with what is false.” ¹⁶ So the Lord God says, “See, I lay in Jerusalem a Stone of great worth to build upon, a tested Stone. Anyone who puts his trust in Him will not be afraid of what will happen. ¹⁷ And I will use what is fair to decide about the base. And I will use what is right and good to make it straight. Then hail will take away all the lies you depend on, and the waters will flow over the place where you hide. ¹⁸ Your agreement with death will come to an end. Your agreement with the place of the dead will be stopped. When a flood of trouble passes through, you will be beaten down by it. ¹⁹ As often as it passes through, it will take you. And it will pass through morning after morning, anytime during the day or night. To understand what it means will bring much fear.” ²⁰ The bed is too short to lie on in comfort. And the covering is too small to put around yourself. ²¹ For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon, to do what He needs to do, His strange act, and to do His work, His different kind of work. ²² So now do not laugh, or your chains will be made stronger. I have heard that the Lord God of All plans to destroy the whole earth.

The Wisdom of God

²³ Listen and hear my voice. Listen and hear my words. ²⁴ Does the farmer plow all the time to plant seed? Does he keep on turning and digging up the ground? ²⁵ When he gets the ground ready to plant, does he not sow dill seeds and cummin seeds and wheat in rows? Does he not put barley in its place, and rye in the right place? ²⁶ For his God tells him what to do and teaches him the right way. ²⁷ Dill is not crushed with a crushing object. And the wagon wheel is not rolled over cummin. But dill is beaten out with a stick, and cummin with a heavy stick. ²⁸ Grain for bread is crushed. He does not keep on crushing it forever. When he drives his wagon-wheel over it with his horses, it does not crush it. ²⁹ This also comes from the Lord of All, Who has given wonderful wise words and great wisdom.

5 Do as God would do. Much-loved children want to do as their fathers do. ² Live with love as Christ loved you. He gave Himself for us, a gift on the altar to God which was as a sweet smell to God.

³ Do not let sex sins or anything sinful be even talked about among those who belong to Christ. Do not always want everything. ⁴ Do not be guilty of telling bad stories and of foolish talk. These things are not for you to do. Instead, you are to give thanks for what God has done for you. ⁵ Be sure of this! No person who does sex sins or who is not pure will have any part in the holy nation of Christ and of God. The same is true for the person who always wants what other people have. This becomes a god to him. ⁶ Do not let anyone lead you in the wrong way with foolish talk. The anger of God comes on such people because they choose to not obey Him. ⁷ Have nothing to do with them. ⁸ At one time you lived in darkness. Now you are living in the light that comes from the Lord. Live as children who have the light of the Lord in them. ⁹ This light gives us truth. It makes us right with God and makes us good. ¹⁰ Learn how to please the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the bad things done in darkness. Instead, show that these things are wrong. ¹² It is a shame even to talk about these things done in secret. ¹³ All things can be seen when they are in the light. Everything that can be seen is in the light. ¹⁴ The Holy Writings say, “Wake up, you who are sleeping. Rise from the dead and Christ will give you light.” ^(A)

Be Filled With the Spirit of God

¹⁵ So be careful how you live. Live as men who are wise and not foolish. ¹⁶ Make the best use of your time. These are sinful days. ¹⁷ Do not be foolish. Understand what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk with wine. That leads to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Tell of your joy to each other by singing the Songs of David and church songs. Sing in your heart to the Lord. ²⁰ Always give thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How Wives Must Live

²¹ Be willing to help and care for each other because of Christ. By doing this, you honor Christ. ²² Wives, obey your own husbands. In doing this, you obey the Lord. ²³ For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is His body (the church) that He saves. ²⁴ As the church is to obey Christ, wives are to obey their own husbands in everything.

How Husbands Must Live

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives. You must love them as Christ loved the church. He gave His life for it. ²⁶ Christ did this so He could set the church apart for Himself. He made it clean by the washing of water with the Word. ²⁷ Christ did this so the church might stand before Him in shining-greatness. There is to be no sin of any kind in it. It is to be holy and without blame. ²⁸ So men should love their wives as they love their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ No man hates himself. He takes care of his own body. That is the way Christ does. He cares for His body which is the church. ³⁰ We are all a part of His body, the church. ³¹ For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother when he gets married and be joined to his wife. The two become one. ³² This is hard to understand, but it shows that the church is the body of Christ. ³³ So every man must love his wife as he loves himself. Every wife must respect her husband.