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A Coming Leadership Crisis
3 Look, the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies[a]
is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah
every source of security, including[b]
all the food and water,[c]
2 the mighty men and warriors,
judges and prophets,
omen readers and leaders,[d]
3 captains of groups of fifty,
the respected citizens,[e]
advisers and those skilled in magical arts,[f]
and those who know incantations.
4 The Lord says,[g] “I will make youths their officials;
malicious young men[h] will rule over them.
5 The people will treat each other harshly;
men will oppose each other;
neighbors will fight.[i]
Youths will proudly defy the elderly
and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected.[j]
6 Indeed, a man will grab his brother
right in his father’s house[k] and say,[l]
‘You own a coat—
you be our leader!
This heap of ruins will be under your control.’[m]
7 At that time[n] the brother will shout,[o]
‘I am no doctor,[p]
I have no food or coat in my house;
don’t make me a leader of the people!’”
8 Jerusalem certainly stumbles,
Judah falls,
for their words and their actions offend the Lord;[q]
they rebel against his royal authority.[r]
9 The look on their faces[s] testifies to their guilt;[t]
like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin.[u]
Woe to them![v]
For they bring disaster on themselves.
10 Tell the innocent[w] it will go well with them,[x]
for they will be rewarded for what they have done.[y]
11 Woe to the wicked sinners!
For they will get exactly what they deserve.[z]
12 Oppressors treat my[aa] people cruelly;
creditors rule over them.[ab]
My people, your leaders mislead you;
they give you confusing directions.[ac]
13 The Lord takes his position to judge;
he stands up to pass sentence on his people.[ad]
14 The Lord comes to pronounce judgment
on the leaders of his people and their officials.
He says,[ae] “It is you[af] who have ruined[ag] the vineyard![ah]
You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor.[ai]
15 Why do you crush my people
and grind the faces of the poor?”[aj]
The Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies[ak] has spoken.
Washing Away Impurity
16 The Lord says,
“The women[al] of Zion are proud.
They walk with their heads high[am]
and flirt with their eyes.
They skip along[an]
and the jewelry on their ankles jingles.[ao]
17 So[ap] the Lord[aq] will afflict the foreheads of Zion’s women[ar] with skin diseases;[as]
the Lord will make the front of their heads bald.”[at]
18 [au] At that time[av] the Lord will remove their beautiful ankle jewelry,[aw] neck ornaments, crescent-shaped ornaments, 19 earrings, bracelets, veils, 20 headdresses, ankle ornaments, sashes, sachets,[ax] amulets, 21 rings, nose rings, 22 festive dresses, robes, shawls, purses, 23 garments, vests, head coverings, and gowns.[ay]
24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices,[az]
a rope will replace a belt,
baldness will replace braided locks of hair,
a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe,
and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.
25 Your[ba] men will fall by the sword,
your strong men will die in battle.[bb]
26 Her gates will mourn and lament;
deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground.[bc]
4 Seven women will grab hold of
one man at that time.[bd]
They will say, “We will provide[be] our own food,
we will provide[bf] our own clothes;
but let us belong to you[bg]—
take away our shame!”[bh]
The Branch of the Lord
2 At that time[bi]
the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor;[bj]
the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight
to those who remain in Israel.[bk]
3 Those remaining in Zion,[bl] those left in Jerusalem,
will be called “holy,”[bm]
all in Jerusalem who are destined to live.[bn]
4 At that time[bo] the Lord will wash the excrement[bp] from Zion’s women,
he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst,[bq]
as he comes to judge
and to bring devastation.[br]
5 Then the Lord will create
over all Mount Zion[bs]
and over its convocations
a cloud and smoke by day
and a bright flame of fire by night;[bt]
indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence.[bu]
6 By day it will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat,
as well as safety and protection from the heavy downpour.[bv]
A Love Song Gone Sour
5 I[bw] will sing to my love—
a song to my lover about his vineyard.[bx]
My love had a vineyard
on a fertile hill.[by]
2 He built a hedge around it,[bz] removed its stones,
and planted a vine.
He built a tower in the middle of it,
and constructed a winepress.
He waited for it to produce edible grapes,
but it produced sour ones instead.[ca]
3 So now, residents of Jerusalem,
people[cb] of Judah,
you decide between me and my vineyard!
4 What more can I do for my vineyard
beyond what I have already done?
When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,
why did it produce sour ones instead?
5 Now I will inform you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture,[cc]
I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there.[cd]
6 I will make it a wasteland;
no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground,[ce]
and thorns and briers will grow there.
I will order the clouds
not to drop any rain on it.
7 Indeed,[cf] Israel[cg] is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the people[ch] of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.
He waited for justice, but look what he got—disobedience![ci]
He waited for fairness, but look what he got—cries for help![cj]
Disaster is Coming
8 Beware, those who accumulate houses,[ck]
who also accumulate field after field[cl]
until there is no land left,[cm]
and you are the only landowners remaining within the land.[cn]
9 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies told me this:[co]
“Many houses will certainly become desolate,
large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.[cp]
10 Indeed, a large vineyard[cq] will produce just a few gallons,[cr]
and enough seed to yield several bushels[cs] will produce less than a bushel.”[ct]
11 Beware, those who get up early to drink beer,[cu]
those who keep drinking long after dark
until they are intoxicated with wine.[cv]
12 They have stringed instruments,[cw] tambourines, flutes,
and wine at their parties.
So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,
they do not perceive what he is bringing about.[cx]
13 Therefore my[cy] people will be deported[cz]
because of their lack of understanding.
Their[da] leaders will have nothing to eat,[db]
their[dc] masses will have nothing to drink.[dd]
14 So Death[de] will open up its throat,
and open wide its mouth;[df]
Zion’s dignitaries and masses will descend into it,
including those who revel and celebrate within her.[dg]
15 Men will be humiliated,
they will be brought low;
the proud will be brought low.[dh]
16 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will be exalted[di] when he punishes,[dj]
the holy God’s authority will be recognized when he judges.[dk]
17 Lambs[dl] will graze as if in their pastures,
amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze.[dm]
18 Beware, those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead,[dn]
who pull sin as with cart ropes.[do]
19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly,[dp]
so we can see;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel[dq] take shape[dr] and come to pass,
then we will know it!”
20 Beware, those who call evil good and good evil,[ds]
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness,
who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter.[dt]
21 Beware, those who think they are wise,[du]
those who think they possess understanding.[dv]
22 Beware, those who are champions[dw] at drinking,
who display great courage when mixing strong drinks.
23 They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff,
they ignore the just cause of the innocent.[dx]
24 Therefore, as flaming fire[dy] devours straw,
and dry grass disintegrates in the flames,
so their root will rot,
and their flower will blow away like dust.[dz]
For they have rejected the law of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
they have spurned the commands[ea] of the Holy One of Israel.[eb]
25 So the Lord is furious[ec] with his people;
he lifts[ed] his hand and strikes them.
The mountains shake,
and corpses lie like manure[ee] in the middle of the streets.
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again.[ef]
26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation,[eg]
he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth.
Look, they[eh] come quickly and swiftly.
27 None tire or stumble,
they don’t stop to nap or sleep.
They don’t loosen their belts,
or unstrap their sandals to rest.[ei]
28 Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows are prepared.[ej]
The hooves of their horses are hard as flint,[ek]
and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm.[el]
29 Their roar is like a lion’s;
they roar like young lions.
They growl and seize their prey;
they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue.
30 At that time[em] they will growl over their prey,[en]
it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks.[eo]
One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster,
clouds will turn the light into darkness.[ep]
Paul and His Opponents
11 I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me! 2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband,[a] to present you as a pure[b] virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that[c] just as the serpent[d] deceived Eve by his treachery,[e] your minds may be led astray[f] from a sincere and pure[g] devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims[h] another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed,[i] or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received,[j] or a different gospel than the one you accepted,[k] you put up with it well enough![l] 5 For I consider myself not at all inferior to those “super-apostles.”[m] 6 And even if I am unskilled[n] in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way. 7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself[o] so that you could be exalted, because I proclaimed[p] the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so that I could serve you![q] 9 When[r] I was with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia fully supplied my needs.[s] I[t] kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine[u] will not be stopped[v] in the regions of Achaia. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do![w] 12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals[x] in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful[y] workers, disguising themselves[z] as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself[aa] as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves[ab] as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions.[ac]
Psalm 53[a]
For the music director, according to the machalath style;[b] a well-written song[c] by David.
53 Fools say to themselves,[d] “There is no God.”[e]
They sin and commit evil deeds;[f]
none of them does what is right.[g]
2 God looks down from heaven[h] at the human race,[i]
to see if there is anyone who is wise[j] and seeks God.[k]
3 Everyone rejects God;[l]
they are all morally corrupt.[m]
None of them does what is right,[n]
not even one!
4 All those who behave wickedly[o] do not understand[p]—
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,
and do not call out to God.
5 They are absolutely terrified,[q]
even by things that do not normally cause fear.[r]
For God annihilates[s] those who attack you.[t]
You are able to humiliate them because God has rejected them.[u]
6 I wish the deliverance[v] of Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the well-being of his people,[w]
may Jacob rejoice,[x]
may Israel be happy![y]
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