Proverbs 18

English Standard Version

18 Whoever ^(A)isolates himself seeks his own desire;
    he breaks out against all sound judgment.
²A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
    but only ^(B)in expressing his opinion.
³When wickedness comes, contempt comes also,
    and with dishonor comes disgrace.
⁴The words of a man's mouth are ^(C)deep waters;
    the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
⁵It is not good to ^(D)be partial to^[a] the wicked
    or to ^(E)deprive the righteous of justice.
⁶A fool's lips walk into a fight,
    and his mouth invites ^(F)a beating.
⁷^(G)A fool's mouth is his ruin,
    and his lips are a snare to his soul.
⁸^(H)The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
    they go down into ^(I)the inner parts of the body.
⁹Whoever is slack in his work
    is a ^(J)brother to him who destroys.
¹⁰^(K)The name of the Lord is ^(L)a strong tower;
    the righteous man runs into it and ^(M)is safe.
¹¹^(N)A rich man's wealth is his strong city,
    and like a high wall in his imagination.
¹²^(O)Before destruction a man's heart is haughty,
    but ^(P)humility comes before honor.
¹³If one gives an answer ^(Q)before he hears,
    it is his folly and shame.
¹⁴A man's spirit will endure sickness,
    but ^(R)a crushed spirit who can bear?
¹⁵An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
    and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
¹⁶A man's ^(S)gift makes room for him
    and brings him before the great.
¹⁷The one who states his case first seems right,
    until the other comes and examines him.
¹⁸^(T)The lot puts an end to quarrels
    and decides between powerful contenders.
¹⁹A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city,
    and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
²⁰^(U)From the fruit of a man's mouth his stomach is satisfied;
    he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
²¹^(V)Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
    and those who love it will eat its fruits.
²²He who finds ^(W)a wife finds ^(X)a good thing
    and ^(Y)obtains favor ^(Z)from the Lord.
²³The poor use entreaties,
    but ^(AA)the rich answer roughly.
²⁴A man of many companions may come to ruin,
    but ^(AB)there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Footnotes

Proverbs 18:5 Hebrew to lift the face of

Isaiah 34

English Standard Version

Judgment on the Nations

34 Draw near, ^(A)O nations, to hear,
    and give attention, O peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
    the world, and all that comes from it.
²For the Lord is enraged against all the nations,
    and furious against all their host;
    he has ^(B)devoted them to destruction,^[a] has given them over for slaughter.
³Their slain shall be cast out,
    and ^(C)the stench of their corpses shall rise;
    ^(D)the mountains shall flow with their blood.
⁴^(E)All the host of heaven shall rot away,
    and the skies roll up like a scroll.
All their host shall fall,
    as leaves fall from the vine,
    like leaves falling from the fig tree.

⁵For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
    behold, it descends for judgment upon ^(F)Edom,
    upon the people ^(G)I have devoted to destruction.
⁶The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood;
    it is gorged with fat,
    with the blood of lambs and goats,
    with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
^(H)For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
    a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
⁷^(I)Wild oxen shall ^(J)fall with them,
    and ^(K)young steers with ^(L)the mighty bulls.
Their land shall drink its fill of blood,
    and their soil shall be gorged with fat.

⁸^(M)For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
    a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
⁹^(N)And the streams of Edom^[b] shall be turned into pitch,
    and her soil into sulfur;
    her land shall become burning pitch.
¹⁰Night and day ^(O)it shall not be quenched;
    ^(P)its smoke shall go up forever.
^(Q)From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
    none shall pass through it forever and ever.
¹¹^(R)But the hawk and the porcupine^[c] shall possess it,
    the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
^(S)He shall stretch the line of ^(T)confusion^[d] over it,
    and the plumb line of emptiness.
¹²Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,
    and all its princes shall be nothing.

¹³^(U)Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,
    nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
It shall be the haunt of ^(V)jackals,
    an abode for ostriches.^[e]
¹⁴^(W)And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;
    the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;
indeed, there the night bird^[f] settles
    and finds for herself a resting place.

¹⁵There the owl nests and lays
    and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;
indeed, there ^(X)the hawks are gathered,
    each one with her mate.
¹⁶Seek and read from the book of the Lord:
    Not one of these shall be missing;
    none shall be without her mate.
For the mouth of the Lord has commanded,
    and his Spirit has gathered them.
¹⁷^(Y)He has cast the lot for them;
    his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;
they shall possess it forever;
    from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.

Footnotes

Isaiah 34:2 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 5
Isaiah 34:9 Hebrew her streams
Isaiah 34:11 The identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain
Isaiah 34:11 Hebrew formlessness
Isaiah 34:13 Or owls
Isaiah 34:14 Identity uncertain

Ezekiel 28

English Standard Version

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

28 The word of the Lord came to me: ²^(A)“Son of man, say to ^(B)the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God:

^(C)“Because your heart is proud,
    and ^(D)you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of the gods,
    in the heart of the seas,’
yet ^(E)you are but a man, and no god,
    ^(F)though you make your heart like the heart of a god—
³^(G)you are indeed wiser ^(H)than ^(I)Daniel;
    no secret is hidden from you;
⁴by your wisdom and your understanding
    ^(J)you have made wealth for yourself,
and have gathered gold and silver
    into your treasuries;
⁵by your great wisdom in your trade
    you have increased your wealth,
    and ^(K)your heart has become proud in your wealth—
⁶therefore thus says the Lord God:
^(L)Because you make your heart
    like the heart of a god,
⁷therefore, behold, I will bring ^(M)foreigners upon you,
    the most ruthless of the nations;
and they shall draw their swords against ^(N)the beauty of your wisdom
    and defile ^(O)your splendor.
⁸^(P)They shall thrust you down into the pit,
    ^(Q)and you shall die the death of the slain
    in the heart of the seas.
⁹^(R)Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’
    in the presence of those who kill you,
though ^(S)you are but a man, and no god,
    in the hands of those who slay you?
¹⁰^(T)You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
    by the hand of foreigners;
    ^(U)for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.”

A Lament over the King of Tyre

¹¹Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: ¹²^(V)“Son of man, ^(W)raise a lamentation over ^(X)the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:

“You were the signet of perfection,^[a]
    ^(Y)full of wisdom and ^(Z)perfect in beauty.
¹³You were in ^(AA)Eden, the garden of God;
    ^(AB)every precious stone was your covering,
^(AC)sardius, topaz, and diamond,
    beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire,^[b] ^(AD)emerald, and carbuncle;
    and crafted in gold were your settings
    and your engravings.^[c]
^(AE)On the day that you were created
    they were prepared.
¹⁴You were an anointed ^(AF)guardian cherub.
    I placed you;^[d] you were on ^(AG)the holy mountain of God;
    in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
¹⁵You were blameless in your ways
    ^(AH)from the day you were created,
    till unrighteousness was found in you.
¹⁶In the abundance of ^(AI)your trade
    you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from ^(AJ)the mountain of God,
    and I destroyed you,^[e] ^(AK)O guardian cherub,
    from the midst of the stones of fire.
¹⁷^(AL)Your heart was proud because of ^(AM)your beauty;
    you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
    I exposed you before kings,
    to feast their eyes on you.
¹⁸By the multitude of your iniquities,
    in the unrighteousness of your trade
    you profaned your sanctuaries;
so ^(AN)I brought fire out from your midst;
    it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
    ^(AO)in the sight of all who saw you.
¹⁹All who know you among the peoples
    are appalled at you;
^(AP)you have come to a dreadful end
    and shall be no more forever.”

Prophecy Against Sidon

²⁰The word of the Lord came to me: ²¹^(AQ)“Son of man, ^(AR)set your face toward ^(AS)Sidon, and ^(AT)prophesy against her ²²and say, Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, ^(AU)I am against you, O Sidon,
    and ^(AV)I will manifest my glory in your midst.
And ^(AW)they shall know that I am the Lord
    ^(AX)when I execute judgments in her
    and ^(AY)manifest my holiness in her;
²³for I will send ^(AZ)pestilence into her,
    and blood into her streets;
and the slain shall fall in her midst,
    by the sword that is against her on every side.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.

²⁴“And for the house of Israel ^(BA)there shall be no more a brier to prick or ^(BB)a thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors ^(BC)who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

Israel Gathered in Security

²⁵“Thus says the Lord God: ^(BD)When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and ^(BE)manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, ^(BF)then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. ²⁶^(BG)And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, ^(BH)when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors ^(BI)who have treated them with contempt. ^(BJ)Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”