Isaiah 11-13

Contemporary English Version

Peace at Last

11 ^(A) Like a branch that sprouts
    from a stump,
someone from David's family^[a]
    will someday be king.
²The Spirit of the Lord
    will be with him
to give him understanding,
    wisdom, and insight.
He will be powerful,
and he will know
    and honor the Lord.
³His greatest joy will be
    to obey the Lord.

This king won't judge
by appearances
    or listen to rumors.
⁴The poor and the needy
will be treated with fairness
    and with justice.
His word will be law
    everywhere in the land,
and criminals
    will be put to death.
⁵^(B) Honesty and fairness
    will be his royal robes.

⁶^(C) Leopards will lie down
    with young goats,
and wolves will rest
    with lambs.
Calves and lions
    will eat together
and be cared for
    by little children.
⁷Cows and bears will share
    the same pasture;
their young will rest
    side by side.
Lions and oxen
    will both eat straw.

⁸Little children will play
near snake holes.
They will stick their hands
into dens of poisonous snakes
and never be hurt.

⁹^(D) Nothing harmful will take place
    on the Lord's holy mountain.
Just as water fills the sea,
    the land will be filled
with people who know
    and honor the Lord.

God's People Will Come Back Home

¹⁰^(E) The time is coming when one of David's descendants^[b] will be the signal for the people of all nations to come together. They will follow his advice, and his own nation will become famous.

¹¹When that day comes, the Lord will again reach out his mighty arm and bring home his people who have survived in Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Ethiopia,^[c] Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the land along the coast.^[d] ¹²He will give a signal to the nations, and he will bring together the refugees from Judah and Israel, who have been scattered all over the earth. ¹³Israel will stop being jealous of Judah, and Judah will no longer be the enemy of Israel. ¹⁴Instead, they will get together and attack the Philistines in the west. Then they will defeat the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites in the east. They will rule those people and take from them whatever they want.

¹⁵^(F) The Lord will dry up the arm of the Red Sea near Egypt,^[e] and he will send a scorching wind to divide the Euphrates River into seven streams that anyone can step across. ¹⁶Then for his people who survive, there will be a good road from Assyria, just as there was a good road for their ancestors when they left Egypt.

A Song of Praise

12 At that time you will say,
“I thank you, Lord!
    You were angry with me,
but you stopped being angry
    and gave me comfort.
²^(G) I trust you to save me,
Lord God,
    and I won't be afraid.
My power and my strength^[f]
come from you,
    and you have saved me.”

³With great joy, you people
will get water
    from the well of victory.
⁴At that time you will say,
“Our Lord, we are thankful,
    and we worship only you.
We will tell the nations
how glorious you are
    and what you have done.
⁵Because of your wonderful deeds
we will sing your praises
    everywhere on earth.”

⁶Sing, people of Zion!
Celebrate the greatness
of the holy Lord of Israel.
God is here to help you.

Babylon Will Be Punished

13 ^(H) This is the message^[g] that I was given about Babylon:

²From high on a barren hill
give a signal, shout the orders,
    and point the way
to enter the gates
    of Babylon's proud rulers.
³The Lord has commanded
    his very best warriors
and his proud heroes
    to show how angry he is.

⁴Listen to the noisy crowds
    on the mountains!
Kingdoms and nations
    are joining forces.
The Lord All-Powerful
is bringing together
    an army for battle.
⁵From a distant land
the Lord is coming
    fierce and furious—
he brings his weapons
    to destroy the whole earth.

⁶^(I) Cry and weep!
    The day is coming
when the mighty Lord
    will bring destruction.
* ⁷All people will be terrified.
Hands will grow limp;
    courage will melt away.
⁸Everyone will tremble with pain
    like a woman giving birth;
they will stare at each other
    with horror on their faces.

There Will Be No Mercy

⁹I, the Lord,
will show no mercy or pity
    when that time comes.
In my anger I will destroy
the earth and every sinner
    who lives on it.
¹⁰^(J) Light will disappear
    from the stars in the sky;
the dawning sun will turn dark,
and the moon
    will lose its brightness.

¹¹I will punish this evil world
and its people
    because of their sins.
I will crush the horrible pride
    of those who are cruel.
¹²Survivors will be harder to find
    than the purest gold.
¹³I, the Lord All-Powerful,
    am terribly angry—
I will make the sky tremble
    and the earth shake loose.

¹⁴Everyone will run
    to their homelands,
just as hunted deer run,
and sheep scatter
    when they have no shepherd.
¹⁵Those men who are captured
    will be killed by a sword.
¹⁶They will see their children
    beaten against rocks,
their homes robbed,
    and their wives abused.

¹⁷The Medes^[h] can't be bought off
    with silver or gold,
and I'm sending them
    to attack Babylonia.
¹⁸Their arrows will slaughter
    the young men;
no pity will be shown
    to babies and children.

The Lord Will Destroy Babylon

¹⁹^(K) The city of Babylon
is glorious and powerful,
    the pride of the nation.
But it will be like the cities
    of Sodom and Gomorrah
after I, the Lord,
    destroyed them.
²⁰No one will live in Babylon.
Even nomads won't camp nearby,
    and shepherds won't let
    their sheep rest there.
²¹^(L) Only desert creatures,
    hoot owls, and ostriches
will live in its ruins,
    and goats^[i] will leap about.
²²Hyenas and wolves will howl
from Babylon's fortresses
    and beautiful palaces.
Its time is almost up!

Footnotes

11.1 David's family: Hebrew “Jesse's family.” Jesse was the father of King David.
11.10 David's descendants: Hebrew “Jesse's descendants” (see the note at 11.1).
11.11 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has “Cush,” which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.
11.11 land along the coast: Or “islands.”
11.15 arm of the Red Sea near Egypt: Gulf of Suez.
12.2 strength: Or “song.”
13.1 message: See the note at 1.1.
13.17 Medes: People of a nation northeast of Babylonia, which became part of the Persian Empire.
13.21 goats: Or “demons.”

Ephesians 4

Contemporary English Version

Unity with Christ

4 As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. ²^(A) Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. ³Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. ⁴All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God's people. ⁵We have only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. ⁶There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.

⁷Christ has generously divided out his gifts to us. ⁸^(B) As the Scriptures say,

“When he went up
to the highest place,
he led away many prisoners
and gave gifts to people.”

⁹When it says, “he went up,” it means that Christ had been deep in the earth. ¹⁰This also means that the one who went deep into the earth is the same one who went into the highest heaven, so he would fill the whole universe.

¹¹Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, ¹²so his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. ¹³This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him.^[a]

¹⁴We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. ¹⁵Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head ¹⁶^(C) of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.

The Old Life and the New Life

¹⁷As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people. ¹⁸Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right, ¹⁹and they are so greedy they do all kinds of indecent things.

^20-21But this isn't what you were taught about Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and you heard about him and learned about him. ²²^(D) You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. ²³Let the Spirit change your way of thinking ²⁴^(E) and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.

Rules for the New Life

²⁵^(F) We are part of the same body. Stop lying and start telling each other the truth. ²⁶^(G) Don't get so angry that you sin. Don't go to bed angry ²⁷and don't give the devil a chance.

²⁸If you are a thief, quit stealing. Be honest and work hard, so you will have something to give to people in need.

²⁹Stop all your dirty talk. Say the right thing at the right time and help others by what you say.

³⁰Don't make God's Spirit sad. The Spirit makes you sure that someday you will be free from your sins.

³¹Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. ³²^(H) Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.