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A Deal with Death
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord,(A) you mockers(B)
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 For you said, “We have cut a deal with Death,
and we have made an agreement with Sheol;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,(C)
it will not touch us,
because we have made falsehood our refuge
and have hidden behind treachery.”
16 Therefore the Lord God said:
“Look, I have laid a stone(D) in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;(E)
the one who believes will be unshakable.[a](F)
17 And I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the mason’s level.”(G)
Hail will sweep away the false refuge,
and water will flood your hiding place.
18 Your deal with Death will be dissolved,
and your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be trampled.
19 Every time it passes through,
it will carry you away;
it will pass through every morning—
every day and every night.
Only terror(H) will cause you
to understand the message.[b]
20 Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and its cover too small to wrap up in.
21 For the Lord will rise up as He did at Mount Perazim.(I)
He will rise in wrath, as at the Valley of Gibeon,(J)
to do His work, His strange work,
and to perform His task, His disturbing task.
22 So now, do not mock,
or your shackles will become stronger.
Indeed, I have heard from the Lord God of Hosts
a decree of destruction for the whole land.(K)
God’s Wonderful Advice
23 Listen and hear my voice.
Pay attention and hear what I say.
24 Does the plowman plow every day to plant seed?
Does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
does he not then scatter black cumin and sow cumin?
He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots,
with spelt as their border.
26 His God teaches him order;
He instructs him.
27 Certainly black cumin is not threshed
with a threshing board,
and a cart wheel is not rolled over the cumin.
But black cumin is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Bread grain is crushed,
but is not threshed endlessly.
Though the wheel of the farmer’s cart rumbles,
his horses do not crush it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of Hosts.
He gives wonderful advice;
He gives great wisdom.(L)
Woe to Jerusalem
29 Woe to Ariel,[c] Ariel,
the city where David camped!(M)
Continue year after year;
let the festivals recur.
2 I will oppress Ariel,
and there will be mourning and crying,
and she will be to Me like an Ariel.[d]
3 I will camp in a circle around you;
I will besiege you with earth ramps,
and I will set up my siege towers against you.
4 You will be brought down;
you will speak from the ground,
and your words will come from low in the dust.
Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground;(N)
your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 Your many foes[e] will be like fine dust,(O)
and many of the ruthless, like blowing chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,(P)
6 you will be visited by the Lord of Hosts
with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise,
storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire.(Q)
7 All the many nations(R)
going out to battle against Ariel—
all the attackers, the siege works against her,
and those who oppress her—
will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.(S)
8 It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating,
then wakes and is still hungry;
and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking,
then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water.
So it will be for all the many nations
who go to battle against Mount Zion.
9 Stop and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
They are drunk,[f] but not with wine;
they stagger,[g] but not with beer.(T)
10 For the Lord has poured out on you
an overwhelming urge to[h] sleep;(U)
He has shut your eyes—the prophets,
and covered your heads—the seers.(V)
11 For you the entire vision will be like the words of a sealed document.(W) If it is given to one who can read and he is asked to read it,[i] he will say, “I can’t read it, because it is sealed.” 12 And if the document is given to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it,[j] he will say, “I can’t read.”
13 The Lord said:
Because these people approach Me with their mouths(X)
to honor Me with lip-service[k]—
yet their hearts are far from Me,
and their worship consists of man-made rules
learned by rote—
14 therefore I will again confound these people
with wonder after wonder.(Y)
The wisdom of their wise men will vanish,(Z)
and the understanding of the perceptive will be hidden.
15 Woe to those who go to great lengths
to hide their plans from the Lord.(AA)
They do their works in darkness,
and say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”(AB)
16 You have turned things around,
as if the potter were the same as the clay.
How can what is made say about its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?(AC)
How can what is formed
say about the one who formed it,
“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?
17 Isn’t it true that in just a little while
Lebanon will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest?(AD)
18 On that day the deaf will hear(AE)
the words of a document,
and out of a deep darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The humble will have joy
after joy in the Lord,
and the poor people will rejoice(AF)
in the Holy One of Israel.(AG)
20 For the ruthless one will vanish,
the scorner will disappear,(AH)
and all those who lie in wait with evil intent
will be killed—
21 those who, with their speech,
accuse a person of wrongdoing,
who set a trap at the gate for the mediator,
and without cause deprive the righteous of justice.(AI)
22 Therefore, the Lord who redeemed Abraham(AJ) says this about the house of Jacob:
Jacob will no longer be ashamed
and his face will no longer be pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
the work of My hands within his nation,
they will honor My name,
they will honor the Holy One of Jacob(AK)
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.(AL)
24 Those who are confused will gain understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.
Condemnation of the Egyptian Alliance
30 Woe to the rebellious children!(AM)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
They carry out a plan,(AN) but not Mine;
they make an alliance,
but against My will,
piling sin on top of sin.
2 They set out to go down to Egypt(AO)
without asking My advice,
in order to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection
and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow.(AP)
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame,
and refuge in Egypt’s shadow your disgrace.(AQ)
4 For though his[l] princes are at Zoan(AR)
and his messengers reach as far as Hanes,
5 everyone will be ashamed
because of a people who can’t help.
They are of no benefit, they are no help;
they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.(AS)
6 An oracle(AT) about the animals of the Negev:[m]
Through a land of trouble and distress,
of lioness and lion,
of viper and flying serpent,(AU)
they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people who will not help them.
7 Egypt’s help is completely worthless;
therefore, I call her:
Rahab Who Just Sits.(AV)
8 Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence
and inscribe it on a scroll;
it will be for the future,
forever and ever.
9 They are a rebellious people,
deceptive children,(AW)
children who do not want to obey the Lord’s instruction.
10 They say to the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets,
“Do not prophesy the truth to us.
Tell us flattering things.(AX)
Prophesy illusions.
11 Get out of the way!
Leave the pathway.
Rid us of the Holy One of Israel.”(AY)
23 Before this faith(A) came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.(B) 24 The law, then, was our guardian[a] until Christ,(C) so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith(D) has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Sons and Heirs
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment.(E) 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free,(F) male or female;(G) for you are all one(H) in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs(I) according to the promise.(J) 4 1 Now I say that as long as the heir(K) is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner(L) of everything. 2 Instead, he is under guardians and stewards until the time set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elemental forces[b] of the world.(M) 4 When the time came to completion, God sent His Son,(N) born of a woman,(O) born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.(P) 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son(Q) into our[c] hearts, crying, “Abba,(R) Father!”(S) 7 So you are no longer a slave(T) but a son,(U) and if a son, then an heir(V) through God.
Paul’s Concern for the Galatians
8 But in the past, when you didn’t know God,(W) you were enslaved to things[d] that by nature are not gods. 9 But now, since you know God,(X) or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt(Y) elemental forces?(Z) Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? 10 You observe special days, months, seasons, and years.(AA) 11 I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.
12 I beg you, brothers: Become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me; 13 you know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a physical illness. 14 You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you.[e] On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.
15 What happened to this sense of being blessed you had? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?(AB) 17 They[f] are enthusiastic about you, but not for any good. Instead, they want to isolate you so you will be enthusiastic about them. 18 Now it is always good to be enthusiastic about good—and not just when I am with you. 19 My children,(AC) I am again suffering labor pains(AD) for you until Christ is formed in you. 20 I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don’t know what to do about you.
Sarah and Hagar: Two Covenants
21 Tell me, those of you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham(AE) had two sons, one by a slave(AF) and the other by a free woman. 23 But the one by the slave was born according to the impulse of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. 24 These things are illustrations,[g] for the women represent the two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai(AG) and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar.(AH) 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia(AI) and corresponds to the present Jerusalem,(AJ) for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above(AK) is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:(AL)
Rejoice, childless woman,(AM)
who does not give birth.
Burst into song and shout,
you who are not in labor,
for the children of the desolate are many,
more numerous than those
of the woman who has a husband.(AN)[h]
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac,(AO) are children of promise.(AP) 29 But just as then the child born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit,(AQ) so also now.(AR) 30 But what does the Scripture say?
Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman.(AS)[i]
31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.(AT)
Psalm 62
Trust in God Alone
For the choir director: according to Jeduthun.(A) A Davidic psalm.
1 I am at rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from Him.(B)
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,(C)
my stronghold; I will never be shaken.(D)
3 How long will you threaten a man?
Will all of you attack[a]
as if he were a leaning wall
or a tottering stone fence?(E)
4 They only plan to bring him down
from his high position.
They take pleasure in lying;
they bless with their mouths,
but they curse inwardly.(F)
5 Rest in God alone, my soul,
for my hope comes from Him.(G)
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,(H)
my stronghold; I will not be shaken.(I)
7 My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock.
My refuge is in God.(J)
8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts before Him.
God is our refuge.(K)
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