Isaiah 30:12-33:9
Tree of Life Version
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise this word,
and trust in oppression
and rely on perversity,
13 therefore this sin will be to you
like a crack bulging in a high wall, about to fall—
its collapse comes suddenly,
in an instant!
14 Its collapse is like smashing a clay jar,
so ruthlessly shattered
that a shard will not be found among the pieces
to take fire from the hearth
or scoop water from the cistern.”
Longing to Be Gracious
15 For thus says Adonai Elohim, the Holy One of Israel:
“By repentance and rest you are saved,
in quietness and trust is your strength—
but you were not willing.”
16 But you said, “No, we will flee on horses!”
Therefore you will flee.
And, “We will ride on swift horses!”
Therefore your pursuers will be swift.
17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one,
at the threat of five you will flee,
until you are left
like a flag on the top of a mountain,
and like a banner on a hill.
18 Therefore Adonai is longing to be gracious to you.
Thus He will be exalted, so He may have mercy on you.
For Adonai is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for Him.
19 For the people of Zion who are dwelling in Jerusalem will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears you, He will answer. 20 Though Adonai gives you the bread of adversity and the water of oppression, your teachers will no longer be hidden, but your eyes will see your teachers. 21 Your ears will hear a word behind you saying:
“This is the way, walk in it.
When you turn to the right, or when you turn to the left.”
22 You will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your metal images covered with gold. You will throw them away like a menstrual cloth. You will say, “Be gone!”
23 Then He will give you rain for your seed, which you will sow in the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed in wide-open pasture. 24 The oxen and the young donkeys that till the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.
25 There will be, on every high mountain and on every lofty hill,
streams running with water—
on a day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—
like the light of seven days—
in the day Adonai binds up the brokenness of His people,
and heals the wounds He inflicted.
27 Look, Adonai’s Name comes from afar,
burning with His anger, in thick rising smoke,
His lips full of indignation,
His tongue like a consuming fire,
28 His Ruach like an overflowing torrent
rising up to the neck,
to sift the nations with the sieve of the worthless,
to put in the jaws of the peoples
a bridle that leads away.
29 You will have songs
as in the night when you keep a holy festival,
and gladness of heart
like one walking with the flute
to go to the mountain of Adonai,
to the Rock of Israel.
Punishing Rod
30 Adonai will make His glorious voice heard,
and reveal His arm descending
with fierce fury in a consuming fire,
in cloudburst, rainstorm and hailstones.
31 For at the voice of Adonai, Assyria will be terrified—
when He strikes with the rod.
32 Every stroke of His punishing rod
that Adonai brings down on him
—with tambourines and harps,
and battles brandishing His arm—
He will fight against them.
33 For Topheth[a] has long been ready,
prepared for the king,
its fire pit made deep and wide,
a pyre of fire with plenty of wood.
The breath of Adonai,
like a torrent of brimstone,
sets it aflame.
Egypt’s Horses Will Stumble
31 Oy, those going down to Egypt for help.
They are relying on horses,
trusting in chariots since they are many,
and in horsemen since they are very mighty,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
nor seek Adonai!
2 Yet He is also wise.
He brings disaster, and does not take back His words.
He rises against the house of evildoers,
against help for workers of iniquity.
3 Now Egyptians are men and not God,
and their horses are flesh, not spirit.
When Adonai stretches out His hand,
both he who helps will stumble
and he who is helped will fall,
and both will perish together.
A Lion Protects Zion
4 For thus says Adonai to me:
“As a lion or a young lion
growls over its prey,
though a company of shepherds
is called out against him
—their voice does not disturb him,
nor does their noise upset him—
so Adonai-Tzva’ot will come down
to fight on Mount Zion, on its hill.
5 Like hovering birds,
so Adonai-Tzva’ot will protect Jerusalem.
By protecting, He will deliver.
By passing over, He will save.”
6 Return to the One from whom rebellion is so deep, Bnei-Yisrael.
7 For in that day everyone will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which you made for yourselves with your hands of sin.
8 “Then Assyria will fall, not by a sword of man,
so a sword not of man will devour him
and he will flee from the sword.
His young men will be put to forced labor.
9 His rock will pass away because of fear.
His princes will be afraid of the banner”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
His fire is in Zion,
and His furnace is in Jerusalem.
Reign in Righteousness
32 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness
and princes will rule in justice.
2 Each will be like a refuge from the wind
and a shelter from the storm,
like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a massive rock in a weary land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will pay attention.
4 The heart of the hasty will understand knowledge,
and the tongue of stammerers will speak fluently, clearly.
5 No longer will a fool be called noble,
or a scoundrel said to be a gentleman.
6 For the fool speaks foolishness
and his heart works wickedness,
to practice ungodliness,
and speak error about Adonai,
to deprive the hungry of food
and withhold drink from the thirsty.
7 The scoundrel’s methods are evil—
he makes up wicked schemes
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy is just.
8 But the noble devises noble plans,
and for noble causes he stands.
9 Rise up, you women at ease,
And hear my voice.
You complacent daughters,
give ear to my words.
10 Within a year and a few days
you will shudder, complacent ones.
For the grape harvest will fail
and the gathering will not come.
11 Tremble, you women at ease!
Shudder, you complacent ones!
Strip and make yourselves bare,
and put sackcloth on your waist.
12 Beat your breasts lamenting for pleasant fields,
or fruitful vine,
13 for the land of my people,
where thorns and briars come up,
for all the joyful houses
of the jubilant city.
14 For the palace will be abandoned;
the bustling city will be deserted;
the citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever,
a delight of wild donkeys,
a pasture for flocks,
15 until the Ruach is poured out on us from on high,[b]
and the desert becomes a garden,
and a garden seems like a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the garden.
17 The result of righteousness will be shalom
and the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
18 My people will live in a peaceful place,
in secure dwellings,
quiet resting places.
19 Then hail will flatten the forest;
and the city will be utterly laid low.
20 Blessed are you, sowing by all waters,
letting the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
Ambassadors of Peace Weep Bitterly
33 Oy, you destroyer, never destroyed,
you traitor, never betrayed!
When you have stopped destroying,
you will be destroyed;
and when you finish betraying,
they will betray you.
2 Adonai, be gracious to us!
We long for You.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation in time of trouble.
3 From the noise of tumult people will flee;
When You lift Yourself up, the nations will be scattered.
4 Your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
like a swarm of locusts, they are rushing over it.
5 Adonai is exalted, for He dwells on high!
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 It will be your time of faithfulness,
a wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge—
the fear of Adonai is His treasure.
7 Behold, heroes cry outside.
Ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
8 Highways are desolate;
travel has ceased;
covenant is broken;
cities are despised;
there is no regard for humanity.
9 The land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is shamed and withers;
Sharon is like a wilderness;
Bashan and Carmel are shaken bare.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 30:33 Lit. high place for burning.
- Isaiah 32:15 cf. Acts 2:33; Rom. 5:5.
Galatians 5:1-12
Tree of Life Version
Freedom Based on Favor
5 For freedom, Messiah set us free—so stand firm, and do not be burdened by a yoke of slavery again. 2 Listen—I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Messiah will be of no benefit to you. 3 Again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Torah. 4 You who are trying to be justified by Torah[a] have been cut off from Messiah; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Ruach, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Messiah Yeshua, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any meaning—but only trust and faithfulness expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a great race! Who blocked you from following the truth? 8 This detour doesn’t come from the One who calls you. 9 A little hametz works its way through the whole batch of dough! 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But the one who is confusing you will pay the penalty, whoever he is. 11 As for me, brothers and sisters, if I still proclaim circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated. 12 I only wish those who are agitating you would castrate themselves![b]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Galatians 5:4 Or made right by Torah.
- Galatians 5:12 cf. Phil. 3:2.
Psalm 63:1-11
Tree of Life Version
You Are My God
Psalm 63
1 A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
2 O God, You are my God,
earnestly I seek You.
My soul thirsts for You.
My flesh longs for You
in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.
3 So, I looked for You in the Sanctuary,
to see Your power and Your glory.
4 Since Your lovingkindness is better than life,
my lips will praise You.
5 So I will bless You as long as I live.
In Your name I lift up my hands.[a]
6 My soul is satisfied as with fat and oil,
so my mouth praises You with joyful lips.
7 When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You through the night watches.
8 For You have been my help,
and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
9 My soul clings to You—
Your right hand upholds me.
10 But those who seek my soul to destroy it
will go down to the depths of the earth.
11 They will be gutted by the sword,
and become a prey for jackals.
Footnotes
- Psalm 63:5 cf. 1 Tim. 2:8.
Proverbs 23:22
Tree of Life Version
22 Listen to your father who begot you
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.