Warning Against Adultery

(A)My son, be attentive to my wisdom;
    (B)incline your ear to my understanding,
that you may keep (C)discretion,
    and your lips may (D)guard knowledge.
For the lips of (E)a forbidden[a] woman drip honey,
    and her speech[b] is (F)smoother than oil,
but in the end she is (G)bitter as (H)wormwood,
    (I)sharp as (J)a two-edged sword.
Her feet (K)go down to death;
    her steps follow the path to[c] Sheol;
she (L)does not ponder the path of life;
    her ways wander, and she does not know it.

And (M)now, O sons, listen to me,
    and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
Keep your way far from her,
    and do not go near the door of her house,
lest you give your honor to others
    and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
    and your (N)labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and at the end of your life you (O)groan,
    when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and you say, (P)“How I hated discipline,
    and my heart (Q)despised reproof!
13 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers
    or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 (R)I am at the brink of utter ruin
    in the assembled congregation.”

15 Drink (S)water from your own cistern,
    flowing water from your own well.
16 Should your (T)springs be scattered abroad,
    streams of water (U)in the streets?
17 (V)Let them be for yourself alone,
    and not for strangers with you.
18 Let your (W)fountain be blessed,
    and (X)rejoice in (Y)the wife of your youth,
19     a lovely (Z)deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts (AA)fill you at all times with delight;
    be intoxicated[d] always in her love.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with (AB)a forbidden woman
    and embrace the bosom of (AC)an adulteress?[e]
21 For (AD)a man's ways are (AE)before the eyes of the Lord,
    and he (AF)ponders[f] all his paths.
22 The (AG)iniquities of the wicked (AH)ensnare him,
    and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
23 (AI)He dies for lack of discipline,
    and because of his great folly he is (AJ)led astray.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:3 Hebrew strange; also verse 20
  2. Proverbs 5:3 Hebrew palate
  3. Proverbs 5:5 Hebrew lay hold of
  4. Proverbs 5:19 Hebrew be led astray; also verse 20
  5. Proverbs 5:20 Hebrew a foreign woman
  6. Proverbs 5:21 Or makes level

10 Woe to those who (A)decree iniquitous decrees,
    and the writers who (B)keep writing oppression,
to turn aside the needy from justice
    and (C)to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
    and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
What will you do on (D)the day of punishment,
    in the ruin that will come (E)from afar?
To whom will you flee for help,
    and where will you leave your wealth?
Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
    or fall among the slain.
(F)For all this his anger has not turned away,
    and his hand is stretched out still.

Judgment on Arrogant Assyria

Woe to Assyria, (G)the rod of my anger;
    the staff in their hands is my fury!
Against a (H)godless nation I send him,
    and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take (I)spoil and seize plunder,
    and to (J)tread them down like the mire of the streets.
But he (K)does not so intend,
    and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
    and to cut off nations not a few;
for he says:
(L)“Are not my commanders all kings?
(M)Is not (N)Calno like (O)Carchemish?
    Is not (P)Hamath like (Q)Arpad?
    (R)Is not (S)Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to (T)the kingdoms of the idols,
    whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and (U)her idols
    (V)as I have done to Samaria and her images?”

12 (W)When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, (X)he[a] will punish the speech[b] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 (Y)For he says:

“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
    and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
    and plunder their treasures;
    like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
14 My hand has found like a nest
    the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
    so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
    or opened the mouth or chirped.”

15 Shall (Z)the axe boast over him who hews with it,
    or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
    or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts
    will send wasting sickness among his (AA)stout warriors,
and under his glory (AB)a burning will be kindled,
    like the burning of fire.
17 (AC)The light of Israel will become a fire,
    and (AD)his Holy One a flame,
and (AE)it will burn and devour
    his thorns and briers (AF)in one day.
18 The glory of (AG)his forest and of his (AH)fruitful land
    the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
    and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
    that a child can write them down.

The Remnant of Israel Will Return

20 (AI)In that day (AJ)the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more (AK)lean on him who struck them, but (AL)will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, (AM)to the mighty God. 22 (AN)For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, (AO)only a remnant of them will return. (AP)Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.

24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people, (AQ)who dwell in Zion, (AR)be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as (AS)the Egyptians did. 25 For (AT)in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And (AU)the Lord of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck (AV)Midian (AW)at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it (AX)as he did in Egypt. 27 And in that day (AY)his burden will depart from your shoulder, and (AZ)his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”[c]

28 He has come to Aiath;
he has passed through (BA)Migron;
    at Michmash he stores (BB)his baggage;
29 they have crossed over (BC)the pass;
    at (BD)Geba they lodge for the night;
(BE)Ramah trembles;
    (BF)Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, O daughter of (BG)Gallim!
    Give attention, O Laishah!
    O poor (BH)Anathoth!
31 Madmenah is in flight;
    the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
32 This very day he will halt at (BI)Nob;
    he will shake his fist
    at the mount of (BJ)the daughter of Zion,
    the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord God of hosts
    (BK)will lop (BL)the boughs with terrifying power;
the great in height will be hewn down,
    and the lofty will be brought low.
34 He will cut down (BM)the thickets of the forest with an axe,
    and (BN)Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of (BO)Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And (BP)the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
(BQ)He shall not judge by (BR)what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by (BS)what his ears hear,
but (BT)with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall (BU)strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and (BV)with the breath of his lips (BW)he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and (BX)faithfulness the belt of his loins.

(BY)The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
(BZ)They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all (CA)my holy mountain;
(CB)for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day (CC)the root of (CD)Jesse, who shall stand as (CE)a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

11 (CF)In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, (CG)from Assyria, (CH)from Egypt, from (CI)Pathros, from (CJ)Cush,[d] from (CK)Elam, from (CL)Shinar, from (CM)Hamath, and from (CN)the coastlands of the sea.

12 He will raise (CO)a signal for the nations
    and will assemble (CP)the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
    from the four corners of the earth.
13 (CQ)The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
    and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
    and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 (CR)But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
    and together they shall plunder (CS)the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand (CT)against (CU)Edom and (CV)Moab,
    and (CW)the Ammonites shall obey them.
15 And the Lord will utterly destroy[e]
    (CX)the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over (CY)the River[f]
    with his scorching breath,[g]
and strike it into seven channels,
    and he will lead people across in sandals.
16 And there will be (CZ)a highway from Assyria
    for the remnant that remains of his people,
(DA)as there was for Israel
    when they came up from the land of Egypt.

The Lord Is My Strength and My Song

12 You[h] will say (DB)in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
    for though you were angry with me,
(DC)your anger turned away,
    that you might comfort me.

“Behold, God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for (DD)the Lord God[i] is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.”

(DE)With joy you[j] will draw water from the wells of salvation. (DF)And you will say in that day:

(DG)“Give thanks to the Lord,
    call upon his name,
(DH)make known his deeds among the peoples,
    proclaim (DI)that his name is exalted.

(DJ)“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
    let this be made known[k] in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
    for great (DK)in your[l] midst is (DL)the Holy One of Israel.”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 10:12 Hebrew I
  2. Isaiah 10:12 Hebrew fruit
  3. Isaiah 10:27 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  4. Isaiah 11:11 Probably Nubia
  5. Isaiah 11:15 Hebrew devote to destruction
  6. Isaiah 11:15 That is, the Euphrates
  7. Isaiah 11:15 Or wind
  8. Isaiah 12:1 The Hebrew for you is singular in verse 1
  9. Isaiah 12:2 Hebrew for Yah, the Lord
  10. Isaiah 12:3 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 3, 4
  11. Isaiah 12:5 Or this is made known
  12. Isaiah 12:6 The Hebrew for your in verse 6 is singular, referring to the inhabitant of Zion

The Supremacy of God's Son

Long ago, at many times and (A)in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but (B)in these last days (C)he has spoken to us by (D)his Son, whom he appointed (E)the heir of all things, (F)through whom also he created (G)the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and (H)the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. (I)After making purification for sins, (J)he sat down (K)at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name (L)he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

(M)“You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

(N)“I will be to him a father,
    and he shall be to me a son”?

And again, when he brings (O)the firstborn into the world, he says,

(P)“Let all God's angels worship him.”

Of the angels he says,

(Q)“He makes his angels winds,
    and his ministers a flame of fire.”

But of the Son he says,

(R)“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
    the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, (S)has anointed you
    with (T)the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

10 And,

(U)“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11 they will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment,
12 like a robe you will roll them up,
    like a garment they will be changed.[a]
But you are (V)the same,
    and your years will have no end.”

13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,

(W)“Sit at my right hand
    (X)until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits (Y)sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to (Z)inherit salvation?

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 1:12 Some manuscripts omit like a garment

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