I Love the Lord

The Lord's Faithfulness Endures Forever

Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

36 “And you, ^(A)son of man, prophesy to ^(B)the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. ² Thus says the Lord God: Because ^(C)the enemy said of you, ^(D)‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient ^(E)heights have become our possession,’ ³ therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because ^(F)they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and ^(G)you became the talk and evil gossip of the people, ⁴ therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to ^(H)the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, ^(I)the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become ^(J)a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, ⁵ therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in ^(K)my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and ^(L)against all Edom, who ^(M)gave my land to themselves as a possession ^(N)with wholehearted joy and ^(O)utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. ⁶ Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to ^(P)the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord God: ^(Q)Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered ^(R)the reproach of the nations. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(S)I swear that the nations that are all around you ^(T)shall themselves suffer reproach.

⁸ “But you, O mountains of Israel, ^(U)shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for ^(V)they will soon come home. ⁹ For ^(W)behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and ^(X)you shall be tilled and sown. ¹⁰ And ^(Y)I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. ^(Z)The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. ¹¹ And I will multiply on you ^(AA)man and beast, and ^(AB)they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in ^(AC)your former times, and ^(AD)will do more good to you than ever before. ^(AE)Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. ^(AF)And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer ^(AG)bereave them of children. ¹³ Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, ^(AH)‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ ¹⁴ therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ And I will not let you hear anymore ^(AI)the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.”

The Lord's Concern for His Holy Name

¹⁶ The word of the Lord came to me: ^17 (AJ)“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, ^(AK)they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were ^(AL)like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. ¹⁸ So ^(AM)I poured out my wrath upon them ^(AN)for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols ^(AO)with which they had defiled it. ^19 (AP)I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. ^(AQ)In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. ²⁰ But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, ^(AR)they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ ²¹ But I had concern ^(AS)for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^(AT)It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, ^(AU)which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. ^23 (AV)And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. ^(AW)And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. ^24 (AX)I will take you ^(AY)from the nations and gather you from all the countries and ^(AZ)bring you into your own land. ^25 (BA)I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from ^(BB)all your uncleannesses, and ^(BC)from all your idols ^(BD)I will cleanse you. ²⁶ And I will give you ^(BE)a new heart, and ^(BF)a new spirit I will put within you. ^(BG)And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ^27 (BH)And I will put my Spirit within you, ^(BI)and cause you to walk in my statutes and ^(BJ)be careful to obey my rules.^{[a] 28 (BK)}You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ^(BL)you shall be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ And ^(BM)I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And ^(BN)I will summon the grain and make it abundant and ^(BO)lay no famine upon you. ^30 (BP)I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, ^(BQ)that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. ³¹ Then ^(BR)you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. ^32 (BS)It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

³³ “Thus says the Lord God: On the day that ^(BT)I cleanse you from all your iniquities, ^(BU)I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. ³⁴ And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. ³⁵ And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like ^(BV)the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then ^(BW)the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and ^(BX)replanted that which was desolate. ^(BY)I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.

³⁷ “Thus says the Lord God: This also ^(BZ)I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: ^(CA)to increase their people like ^(CB)a flock. ³⁸ Like the flock for sacrifices,^{[b] (CC)}like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so ^(CD)shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people. ^(CE)Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

The Macedonian Call

⁶ And ^(A)they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷ And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but ^(B)the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸ So, passing by Mysia, they went down ^(C)to Troas. ⁹ And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ And when Paul^[a] had seen the vision, immediately ^(D)we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ So, setting sail from Troas, we ^(E)made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to ^(F)Philippi, which is a leading city of the^[b] district of Macedonia and ^(G)a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. ¹³ And ^(H)on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate ^(I)to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we ^(J)sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. ¹⁴ One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, ^(K)who was a worshiper of God. The Lord ^(L)opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ And after she was baptized, ^(M)and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she ^(N)prevailed upon us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ As we were going to ^(O)the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had ^(P)a spirit of ^(Q)divination and ^(R)brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us, ^(S)crying out, “These men are ^(T)servants of ^(U)the Most High God, who proclaim to you ^(V)the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ^(W)“I command you ^(X)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And ^(Y)it came out that very hour.

¹⁹ But ^(Z)when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^(AA)dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. ²⁰ And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹ They ^(AB)advocate customs that are not lawful for us ^(AC)as Romans to accept or practice.” ²² The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders ^(AD)to beat them with rods. ²³ And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. ²⁴ Having received this order, he put them into the inner ^(AE)prison and fastened their feet in ^(AF)the stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Converted

^25 (AG)About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, ²⁶ and suddenly ^(AH)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately ^(AI)all the doors were opened, and ^(AJ)everyone's bonds were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and ^(AK)was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹ And the jailer^[c] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he ^(AL)fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, ^(AM)what must I do to be ^(AN)saved?” ³¹ And they said, ^(AO)“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you ^(AP)and your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them ^(AQ)the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he ^(AR)was baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴ Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he ^(AS)rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

³⁵ But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶ And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, ^(AT)uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” ³⁸ The police reported these words to the magistrates, and ^(AU)they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. ³⁹ So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and ^(AV)asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ So they went out of the prison and visited ^(AW)Lydia. And when they had seen ^(AX)the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.