My Refuge and My Fortress

Prophecy Against Ammon

25 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)set your face toward ^(C)the Ammonites and prophesy against them. ³ Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: ^(D)Thus says the Lord God, Because you said, ^(E)‘Aha!’ over my ^(F)sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, ⁴ therefore behold, I am handing you over to ^(G)the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. ⁵ I will make ^(H)Rabbah a ^(I)pasture for camels and Ammon^{[a] (J)}a fold for flocks. ^(K)Then you will know that I am the Lord. ⁶ For thus says the Lord God: Because ^(L)you have clapped your hands ^(M)and stamped your feet and ^(N)rejoiced with all the ^(O)malice within your soul against the land of Israel, ⁷ therefore, behold, ^(P)I have stretched out my hand against you, and ^(Q)will hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Prophecy Against Moab and Seir

⁸ “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^(R)Moab and ^(S)Seir^[b] said, ‘Behold, the ^(T)house of Judah is like all the other nations,’ ⁹ therefore ^(U)I will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, ^(V)Beth-jeshimoth, ^(W)Baal-meon, and ^(X)Kiriathaim. ¹⁰ I will give it ^(Y)along with the Ammonites ^(Z)to the people of the East as a possession, ^(AA)that the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, ^11 (AB)and I will execute judgments upon Moab. ^(AC)Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Prophecy Against Edom

¹² “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^(AD)Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended ^(AE)in taking vengeance on them, ¹³ therefore thus says the Lord God, ^(AF)I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from ^(AG)Teman even to ^(AH)Dedan they shall fall by the sword. ¹⁴ And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom ^(AI)by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and ^(AJ)they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God.

Prophecy Against Philistia

¹⁵ “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^(AK)the Philistines ^(AL)acted revengefully and took vengeance ^(AM)with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, ¹⁶ therefore thus says the Lord God, ^(AN)Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off ^(AO)the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. ¹⁷ I will execute great vengeance on them ^(AP)with wrathful rebukes. ^(AQ)Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”

Prophecy Against Tyre

26 ^(AR)In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (AS)“Son of man, because ^(AT)Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, ^(AU)‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,’ ³ therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(AV)Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up ^(AW)many nations against you, ^(AX)as the sea brings up its waves. ⁴ They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and ^(AY)make her a bare rock. ⁵ She ^(AZ)shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, ^(BA)for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. And she shall become plunder for the nations, ⁶ and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword. ^(BB)Then they will know that I am the Lord.

⁷ “For thus says the Lord God: ^(BC)Behold, I will bring against Tyre ^(BD)from the north Nebuchadnezzar^[c] king of Babylon, ^(BE)king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers. ⁸ He will kill with the sword ^(BF)your daughters on the mainland. ^(BG)He will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise ^(BH)a roof of shields against you. ^9 (BI)He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. ¹⁰ His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as men enter a city that has been breached. ¹¹ With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. ¹² They will plunder ^(BJ)your riches and loot ^(BK)your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. Your stones and timber and ^(BL)soil they will cast into the midst of the waters. ^13 (BM)And I will stop the music of your songs, and ^(BN)the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more. ^14 (BO)I will make you a bare rock. ^(BP)You shall be a place for the spreading of nets. You shall never be rebuilt, ^(BQ)for I am the Lord; I have spoken, declares the Lord God.

¹⁵ “Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: Will not ^(BR)the coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, ^(BS)when the wounded groan, when slaughter is made in your midst? ¹⁶ Then all ^(BT)the princes of the sea will step down from their thrones and ^(BU)remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; ^(BV)they will sit on the ground and ^(BW)tremble every moment and ^(BX)be appalled at you. ¹⁷ And they will ^(BY)raise a lamentation over you and say to you,

¹⁹ “For thus says the Lord God: When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, ^(CB)when I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, ²⁰ then ^(CC)I will make you go down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the world below, among ruins from of old, ^(CD)with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set beauty ^(CE)in the land of the living. ²¹ I will bring you ^(CF)to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. ^(CG)Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord God.”

³ If anyone ^(A)teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with ^(B)the sound^[a] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching ^(C)that accords with godliness, ^4 (D)he is puffed up with conceit and ^(E)understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for ^(F)controversy and for ^(G)quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant friction among people ^(H)who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, ^(I)imagining that godliness is a means of gain. ⁶ But ^(J)godliness ^(K)with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for ^(L)we brought nothing into the world, and^[b] we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But ^(M)if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹ But ^(N)those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, ^(O)into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that ^(P)plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of ^(Q)all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

¹¹ But as for you, ^(R)O man of God, ^(S)flee these things. ^(T)Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ^12 (U)Fight the good fight of the faith. ^(V)Take hold of the eternal life ^(W)to which you were called and about which you made ^(X)the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ^13 (Y)I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, ^(Z)who in his testimony before^[c] Pontius Pilate made ^(AA)the good confession, ¹⁴ to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until ^(AB)the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will display ^(AC)at the proper time—he who is ^(AD)the blessed and only Sovereign, ^(AE)the King of kings and Lord of lords, ^16 (AF)who alone has immortality, ^(AG)who dwells in ^(AH)unapproachable light, ^(AI)whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

¹⁷ As for the rich in ^(AJ)this present age, charge them ^(AK)not to be haughty, nor ^(AL)to set their hopes on ^(AM)the uncertainty of riches, but on God, ^(AN)who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. ¹⁸ They are to do good, ^(AO)to be rich in good works, to be generous and ^(AP)ready to share, ¹⁹ thus ^(AQ)storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may ^(AR)take hold of ^(AS)that which is truly life.

²⁰ O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. ^(AT)Avoid the ^(AU)irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” ²¹ for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

^(AV)Grace be with you.^[d]