Trouble for Jerusalem

29 It is bad for Ariel, Ariel the city where David once set up his tents! Add year to year. Keep your special suppers at the right times. ² I will bring trouble to Ariel. She will be a city of sorrow and crying. She will be like an altar covered with blood to me. ³ I will camp against you, all around you. And I will build battle walls against you, and towers from which to fight you. ⁴ Then you will be brought low. From the earth you will speak. Your words will come from the dust. Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground. Your quiet speaking will come from the dust.

⁵ But the many who hate you will become like fine dust. The many who show no pity will be like the part of the grain that is of no worth and blows away. It will happen all at once. ⁶ You will be visited by the Lord of All, with thunder and earth-shaking and loud noise, and with wind and storm and a destroying fire. ⁷ And the many nations that fight against Ariel, all who fight against her and her strong-place and bring trouble to her, will be like a dream. They will be like a special dream of the night. ⁸ It will be as when a hungry man dreams he is eating, but when he wakes up, he is not filled. It will be as when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking, but when he wakes up, he is weak and still thirsty. This is how the many nations will be that fight against Mount Zion.

The Locked Book

⁹ Stop and wait. Blind yourselves and be blind. They are drunk, but not with wine. They walk from side to side, but not because of strong drink. ¹⁰ For the Lord has given you a deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, you who speak for God. He has covered your heads, men of God. ¹¹ And the special dream of all this will be to you like the words of a locked book. When they give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is locked.” ¹² Then they will give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

¹³ The Lord said, “These people show respect to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach rules that men have made. ¹⁴ So see, I will once again do great things with these people, great and wonderful things. And the wisdom of their wise men will be gone. The understanding of their wise men will be hidden.”

Hope for the Future

¹⁵ It is bad for those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, and whose works are done in a dark place. They say, “Who sees us?” or, “Who knows us?” ¹⁶ You turn things up-side-down! Is the pot-maker the same as the clay? Should what is made say to its maker, “He did not make me”? Should what is made say to him who made it, “He has no understanding”?

¹⁷ Is it not yet a very little while before Lebanon will be turned into a rich good field? The rich good field will be thought of as being full of many trees. ¹⁸ In that day those who cannot hear will hear the words of a book. And the eyes of the blind will see out of the darkness. ¹⁹ Those who have suffered will be happier in the Lord. Those who are in need will have joy in the Holy One of Israel. ²⁰ For those who show no pity will come to an end. And those who laugh at the truth will be stopped. All who want to be sinful will be cut off. ²¹ Those who say something to make a man seem to be in the wrong, and who trap the one who acts as a judge at the gate, and who tell lies to cause a good man to be punished, will be cut off.

²² So this is what the Lord, Who made Abraham free, said about the family of Jacob: “Jacob will not be ashamed. No more will their faces become white with fear. ²³ But when they see their children with them, the work of My hands, they will keep My Name holy, and will give honor to the Holy One of Jacob. They will stand in wonder of the God of Israel. ²⁴ Those who do wrong in spirit will understand the truth. And those who complain will receive teaching.”

Israel Cannot Depend on Egypt

30 “It is bad for the children who will not obey!” says the Lord, “They act on a plan that is not Mine, and make an agreement that is not of My Spirit, and so add sin to sin. ² They go down to Egypt without asking Me. They want Pharaoh to keep them safe and they look for a safe place in the shadow of Egypt. ³ So the safe place of Pharaoh will be your shame. You will be brought low in the safe place in the shadow of Egypt. ⁴ For their rulers are at Zoan, and leaders come to Hanes. ⁵ Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot be of help to them. They do not bring help or riches, but only shame.”

⁶ The special word about the wild animals of the Negev: They go through a land of trouble and suffering, where there are male and female lions, deadly snakes and flying snakes. They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys and camels, to a people who cannot be of help to them. ⁷ Egypt’s help is of no worth and is empty. So I have called her Rahab who has done nothing.

The People Who Do Not Obey

⁸ Now go and write it down in front of them. And write it in a book, that it may be seen for all time to come. ⁹ For these people will not obey. They are not true sons. They will not listen to the teaching of the Lord. ¹⁰ They say to the men who tell what will happen in the future, “Do not see special dreams.” They say to those who speak for God, “You must not tell to us what is right. Speak pleasing things to us, tell us what we like to hear. ¹¹ Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. We do not want to hear any more about the Holy One of Israel.” ¹² So the Holy One of Israel says, “Because you have turned away from this Word, and have put your trust in a power that makes it hard for others and fools them, ¹³ this sin will be to you like a high wall, ready to break and fall apart. It will fall all at once. ¹⁴ Its fall is like the breaking of a pot-maker’s jar. It is broken in so many pieces that a piece will not be found big enough to pick up hot coals from the fire or to get water from the well.” ¹⁵ The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In turning away from sin and in rest, you will be saved. Your strength will come by being quiet and by trusting.” But you would not. ¹⁶ You said, “No, we will go away fast on horses.” So you will go away in a hurry! You say, “We will go on fast horses.” So those who come to take you will be fast. ¹⁷ One thousand will run away as one man stands up against them. You will all run away when five stand up against them, until you are like flags lifted up on a mountain top, like something special to see on a hill.

Good Will Come to God’s People

¹⁸ So the Lord wants to show you kindness. He waits on high to have loving-pity on you. For the Lord is a God of what is right and fair. And good will come to all those who hope in Him. ¹⁹ O people in Zion who live in Jerusalem, you will cry no more. For sure He will show loving-kindness to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears it, He will answer you. ²⁰ The Lord has given you the bread of trouble and water of suffering. But He, your Teacher, will not hide Himself any more. Your eyes will see your Teacher. ²¹ Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. ²² You will take your sinful objects of worship, covered with silver and gold and will throw them away as an unclean cloth, and say to them, “Be gone!”

²³ Then He will give you rain for the seed you will plant in the ground. And He will give you bread from the grain from the ground. It will be good, and more than you need. In that day your cattle will eat in a large field. ²⁴ The oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted grain, which has been spread out with certain tools. ²⁵ On every high mountain and on every high hill there will be rivers flowing with water in the day when many will be killed, when the towers fall. ²⁶ The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord takes care of the hurts of His people and heals the sores He has given them.

God Will Punish Assyria

²⁷ See, the name of the Lord comes from a far away place, with His anger burning, and with dark smoke rising. His lips are full of anger and His tongue is like a destroying fire. ²⁸ His breath is like a river flowing over, that comes up to the neck. It shakes the nations back and forth putting them through a test of pride. And it puts a piece of iron in the mouths of the people to lead them the wrong way.

²⁹ You will have a song as in the night when you have a special holy supper. You will be glad in your heart as when one steps to the sound of the horn going to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. ³⁰ The Lord will make His voice of great power heard. And He will let His arm be seen coming down in the destroying fire, hard rain, storm, and hailstones. ³¹ The Assyrians will be filled with fear at the voice of the Lord, when He punishes them with His power. ³² Every beat from the special stick of punishment which the Lord will give them will be to the sound of timbrels and of harps. He will fight them in battle with a strong arm. ³³ For a place of fire has long been ready. Yes, it has been made ready for the king. It has been made deep and wide, with fire and much wood. The breath of the Lord starts the fire and it is like a river of sulphur.

How Children Must Live

6 Children, as Christians, obey your parents. This is the right thing to do. ² Respect your father and mother. This is the first Law given that had a promise. ³ The promise is this: If you respect your father and mother, you will live a long time and your life will be full of many good things.

⁴ Fathers, do not be too hard on your children so they will become angry. Teach them in their growing years with Christian teaching.

⁵ You servants who are owned by someone must obey your owners. Work for them as hard as you can. Work for them the same as if you were working for Christ. ⁶ Do not work hard only when your owner sees you. You would be doing this just to please men. Work as you would work for Christ. Do what God wants you to do with all your heart. ⁷ Be happy as you work. Do your work as for the Lord, not for men. ⁸ Remember this, whatever good thing you do, the Lord will pay you for it. It is the same to the Lord if you are a servant owned by someone or if you work for pay.

⁹ Owners, do the right thing for those who work for you. Stop saying that you are going to be hard on them. Remember that your Owner and their Owner is in heaven. God does not respect one person more than another.

Things God Gives the Christian to Fight With

¹⁰ This is the last thing I want to say: Be strong with the Lord’s strength. ¹¹ Put on the things God gives you to fight with. Then you will not fall into the traps of the devil. ¹² Our fight is not with people. It is against the leaders and the powers and the spirits of darkness in this world. It is against the demon world that works in the heavens. ¹³ Because of this, put on all the things God gives you to fight with. Then you will be able to stand in that sinful day. When it is all over, you will still be standing. ¹⁴ So stand up and do not be moved. Wear a belt of truth around your body. Wear a piece of iron over your chest which is being right with God. ¹⁵ Wear shoes on your feet which are the Good News of peace. ¹⁶ Most important of all, you need a covering of faith in front of you. This is to put out the fire-arrows of the devil. ¹⁷ The covering for your head is that you have been saved from the punishment of sin. Take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

How and What to Pray For

¹⁸ You must pray at all times as the Holy Spirit leads you to pray. Pray for the things that are needed. You must watch and keep on praying. Remember to pray for all Christians. ¹⁹ Pray for me also. Pray that I might open my mouth without fear. Pray that I will use the right words to preach that which is hard to understand in the Good News. ²⁰ This is the reason I was sent out. But now I am in chains for preaching the Good News. I want to keep on speaking for Christ without fear the way I should.

²¹ Tychicus will tell you how I am getting along. He is a much-loved brother and a faithful preacher. ²² I have sent him to you because I want him to tell you about us. He will comfort you. ²³ May all the Christian brothers have peace and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ May God give loving-favor to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love that never gets weak.