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22 A message about the valley of Vision[a]:
What in the world is wrong with you?
Why have you climbed on your housetops and started celebrating?
2 What noise! The whole city is in an uproar.
Don’t you realize that your fallen comrades didn’t actually die fighting,
3 That your leaders turned tail together and ran,
only to be captured without a fight, without even drawing their weapons?
The rest of you tried to run far away
but were still captured.
4 This is why I said, “Just leave me alone;
let me weep bitterly over this travesty.
Don’t tell me it’s not that bad, or that everything will be all right.
We’re talking about the destruction of my cherished people!”
5 The Lord, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
determined that this would be the time for destruction—
Smashing and crashing, wreaking havoc and chaos in the valley of Vision,
battering down walls and crying out to the mountains.
6 You tried, but how could you hold off Elam’s skilled archers
with chariots and horsemen and Kir’s soldiers—shields held high.
7 The invader’s chariots overran your pristine valleys,
and their horsemen made their stand at the city gates.
8 But God simply did away with Judah’s defenses.
In that day you put your trust in weapons stored in the armory.
9 You began to fix the many breaks in the walls of the city of David.
You stocked up on water from the lower pool.
10 You took stock of the houses in Jerusalem,
and began to dismantle them stone-by-stone to shore up the city wall.
11 You built a reservoir between two walls to hold the water of the old pool.
But in all this you neglected the One who could really save you;
You failed to consider the One who actually made this place
and established it so long ago.
12 Consequently, the Lord, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
determined that day would be a time of weeping and regret,
A time of shaved heads and donning sackcloth
and a time for mourning.
13 Yet you missed the point and made merry,
slaughtering cattle and sheep for a giant celebration,
Eating and drinking your fill of wine!
People (to each other): Eat up, drink up, for tomorrow we die.[b]
14 Eternal One (to Isaiah): This sin will not be forgiven.
It will stay with you until your dying day.
That’s what the Lord, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, said.
This message beginning with verse 15 is laid on the people of God living in and around Jerusalem. The prophet’s word is a corrective to those who proudly and confidently presume that they enjoy a privileged status with God by virtue of where they live and who their ancestors are. After all, God has pledged to King David that his dynasty will continue. The Judeans assume this means they will not have to worry about their enemies, regardless of how faithful or faithless they are to God. So when the enemy threat materializes on their border and moves right into bowshot, they do what most people do: they make reasonable, defensive preparations. But what they forget to do is key: they forget to turn to God. They put their trust in their weapons and their engineering skills. They ignore the One who established the city and made them a nation in the first place. So God tells Isaiah to have a talk with Shebna, the caretaker of the royal palace. God is about to make a change.
Eternal One:[c] 15 Come on. Go to Shebna, the caretaker of the royal household,
and confront him saying,
16 “Why are you here, anyway? Do you really belong here?
What right do you have to build yourself an elegant tomb
And stone monument here out of the rock on this hill?
17 Look, strong man! The Eternal is about to throw you out,
wildly, violently. With a firm grasp
18 He will crush you like a ball—hurl you deep into a land
far, far away where you go to die.
You will be known as the shame of your master’s house
and your splendid chariots will lie empty.
19 I will see to it that you’re driven from your post, toppled from your position,
with all the disgrace and shame that you deserve.
20 When that day comes, I will summon My faithful servant;
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah will be called
21 To take over and assume your authority and office.
I will clothe him in your royal robes and fasten your sash securely around him.
He will be a father to the people:
He will have authority over Jerusalem and Judah.
22 I will grant him the key to David’s royal house and
no one can shut what he opens;
no one can open what he shuts.
23 I will attach him securely like a peg to that house,
and he will bring honor to his father and his family.
24 On him will hang all the riches,
all the honor, of his family’s future.
25 On the appointed day, the peg that was attached so securely to that house
will become weak, break off, and fall to the ground.
And everything that had been hung on it will fall down and shatter.
The Eternal One, Commander of heavenly armies, has declared it to be so.
23 A message about Tyre:
For a period under David and Solomon, the Israelites live in harmony with their neighbors. But jealousy and envy are frequently under the surface. The people of Israel occupy a key location that becomes a battleground for domination by world powers because of its important trade routes. At some point, every single one of Israel’s neighbors attacks and abuses this little nation. This oracle has to do primarily with the city of Tyre, a port on the Phoenician coast famous for the people’s advanced technologies and skills in shipbuilding, sailing, and trading. But those who sail across the Mediterranean so easily are getting ready to face hard times.
Cry out in anguish, you who travel the Mediterranean from east to west!
Cry out, Tarshishian ships, because Tyre is no more.
It is devastated—no houses, no harbor—nothing is left.
The people from Cyprus have witnessed it.
2 Grieve quietly, you people along the coast,
you merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea.
3 You go through great waters in boats filled with the grain of Shihor;
the harvest of the Nile was Tyre’s revenue;
She was the marketplace of the nations.
4 Shame runs deep for Sidon since the sea has said,
“I bore and raised no sons or daughters as my own.”
5 Egypt will be terribly upset, too,
when they learn about Tyre’s destruction.
6 So you who live along the coast,
make for Tarshish, and bewail your fate.
7 One wonders: could this really be the same city?
It was so jubilant, so magnificent, so commanding for its trade.
Is this the city that’s been around longer than memory
and her citizens have traveled to exotic, faraway places?
8 Tyre’s merchants and traders were princes and nobles,
respected everywhere around the world.
Who did this to Tyre,
a city that awards honor with crowns?
9 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has determined,
Tyre should be destroyed, wrecked, and disgraced
To spoil the foolish arrogance of all glory and
to show how insignificant earthly honors are.
10 People of Tarshish, you should traverse your land as if it were the Nile.
With Tyre out of the way, there’s nothing to stop you anymore.
11 God’s power extends across the sea;
He has terrified the nations,
turning Canaan loose against them to demolish their fortresses.
12 Eternal One: The celebration is over, downtrodden virgin daughter of Sidon.
There’s nothing left of you to take pride in.
Go ahead, pack up and move to Cyprus.
But you still won’t find rest.
13 Just look at the land of the Chaldeans in southern Mesopotamia. There are no such people anymore. The Assyrians came along, took it over, and left it for the desert animals; they built their siege machines, stripped its palaces, and determined that it should be ruined.
14 Cry out in anguish, ships of Tarshish
because your fortress is no more.
15 Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years—the lifespan of a king. After that Tyre’s fate will be like the song of the prostitute:
16 “O forgotten woman, yesterday’s prostitute,
take up a harp, and walk about the city.
Play it well, and sing your melodies,
so you will be remembered.”
17 When 70 years have passed, the Eternal will visit Tyre, and she’ll return to her wicked ways—selling herself to all the countries of the world. 18 But everything Tyre earns—her profit, her goods—won’t be stored or saved: all will be devoted to the Eternal; her stocks will supply all the food and fine clothing needed by those who serve in the presence of the Eternal One.
24 See here, the Eternal One will empty the earth.
He will lay it waste, contort the mountains and plains,
And scatter its inhabitants all over the place.
2 Things will be topsy-turvy, hierarchies upended. No one will be safe,
not laypeople or priests, not servants or masters,
not maids or mistresses, not buyers or sellers,
not lenders or borrowers, not debtors or creditors.
3 The earth will be emptied, all emptied, despoiled, utterly despoiled.
The Eternal said that it should be so.
4 So the earth mourns, droops wearily down;
the world languishes and droops; the high and mighty languish in grief.
5 The earth is polluted by those who live on it;
they pay no attention to God’s teaching.
They violate His directives and break the everlasting covenant.
6 Consequently, a nasty curse consumes the earth,
and those who inhabit it are to blame for it.
They’ll be burned up,
leaving very few people to survive.
7 Luscious wine grapes shrivel to nothing.
The vines rot, and everyone who had taken
joy from their nectar sighs in deep depression.
8 No more music, no more songs, no more dancing to tambourines,
laughing with revelers, or playing the harps.
9 People don’t drink wine and sing with pleasure anymore;
the stronger stuff is mostly bitter to those who drink it.
10 The chaotic city is in shambles,
and every house is boarded up so no one can go in.
11 People rebel in the streets, demanding wine.
All joy turns to gloom; happiness has been banished from the land.
12 In the city nothing is left but desolation,
and the gate is battered and ruined.
13 This is how it will be on the earth for the nations—
only a few survivors will be left—
as when an olive tree is shaken and a few olives hold on
or when the grape harvest is in and a few grapes remain for gleaning.
14 But people will take joy again.
They will shout out and sing
of the Eternal One’s majesty across the ocean.
15 Join in the song and praise the Eternal from the east.
Praise the Eternal, the God of Israel, all along the coast of the sea.
16 Listen and you can hear the merry voices from the corners of the earth
singing, “Honor to the Righteous One.” But as for me,
I say, “I am wasting away, wasting away.
Woe is me!
I can see treachery, treachery, and it wears me down.
Traitors deal in treachery.”
17 Terror, pit, and trap face you,
you people of the earth.
18 And whoever runs from the sound of terror will only fall into a pit;
when he climbs out of the pit, he’ll run and be caught in a trap.
The sky above will open up
and the ground below will quake—nothing will be safe.
19 The earth is broken and shattered and splits apart.
It shakes and quakes violently.
20 Like a drunk, the earth staggers and reels;
it shudders and shakes, like a shack in the wind.
For its rebellion weighs so heavily on it, that it will fall
and have no chance for repair.
21 On that day, even the heavenly powers and earthly rulers
will feel the Eternal’s punishing wrath.
22 They’ll be gathered up like prisoners, thrown in a dungeon,
and suffer the punishment of God after many days.
23 A shadow of shame will settle over the full moon and bright sun,
and their brilliance will begin to fade;
for the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
Will rule from His chosen place on earth—Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
and His glory will shine out with brilliance for the elders to see.
17 Even though we are seeking a right relationship with God through the Anointed, the fact is we have been found out. We are sinners. But does that mean the Anointed is the one responsible for our sins? Absolutely not! 18 If I reconstruct something I have worked so hard to destroy, then I prove myself a sinner.
So why all this personal history? Paul thinks it is useful because the people preaching the false gospel in Galatia claim to be operating under the authority of some of the followers of Jesus from Jerusalem, the mother church. Paul doesn’t have their pedigree and, according to them, doesn’t deserve the rank he claims as the emissary to the nations. They say that not only is Paul deficient, but his message is, too, because it doesn’t bring outsiders to follow the law. So Paul goes toe-to-toe with them, defending not only his call but also his message. The good news he preaches comes directly from the risen Jesus and is confirmed by the Jerusalem leaders.
19 The law has provided the means to end my dependence on it for righteousness, and so I died to the law. Now I have found the freedom to truly live for God. 20 I have been crucified with the Anointed One—I am no longer alive—but the Anointed is living in me; and whatever life I have left in this failing body I live by the faithfulness of God’s Son, the One who loves me and gave His body on the cross for me. 21 I can’t dismiss God’s grace, and I won’t. If being right with God depends on how we measure up to the law, then the Anointed’s sacrifice on the cross was the most tragic waste in all of history!
3 Galatians, don’t act like fools! Has someone cast a spell over you? Did you miss the crucifixion of Jesus the Anointed that was reenacted right in front of your eyes? 2 Tell me this: Did the Holy Spirit come upon you because you lived according to the law? Or was it because you heard His message of grace through faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Do you think you can perfect something God’s Spirit started with any human effort? 4 Have you suffered so greatly for nothing—if it was indeed for nothing? 5 You have experienced the Spirit He gave you in powerful ways. Miracle after miracle has occurred right before your eyes in this community, so tell me: did all this happen because you have kept certain provisions of God’s law, or was it because you heard the gospel and accepted it by faith?
Paul primarily focuses on the efficacy of the death and resurrection of Jesus as the foundation of the church and of a right relationship with God, but he also correlates this with the presence of the Spirit. If the Spirit is working among the outsiders, it shows that they aren’t really “outsiders” when it comes to membership in the people of God. Paul supports this by showing how the presence of the Spirit is none other than the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham. However, the Spirit only came through Abraham’s descendant, that is, the new covenant with God is mediated by Jesus and the Spirit, not the law.
6 You remember Abraham. Scripture tells us, “Abraham believed God and trusted in His promises, so God counted it to his favor as righteousness.”[a] 7 Know this: people who trust in God are the true sons and daughters of Abraham. 8 For it was foretold to us in the Scriptures that God would set the Gentile nations right by faith when He told Abraham, “I will bless all nations through you.”[b] 9 So those who have faith in Him are blessed along with Abraham, our faithful ancestor.
Psalm 60
For the worship leader. A prayer[a] of David after his victory over the Arameans, Joab’s return, and the striking down of 12,000 Edomites in the valley of Salt. A song for instruction to the tune “A Lily Reminds Us.”[b]
This is a communal lament recalling David’s battles with Zobah and Naharaim from Aram (Syria) and Joab’s victory over the Edomites (2 Samuel 8).
1 God, You have turned away from us;
You have shattered us into a million tiny pieces;
You have boiled with anger.
Now put us back together, and refresh us with Your mercy.
2 You have made the earth shake; You have cracked it open effortlessly.
Heal the fissures in the earth, for it is unsteady.
3 You have caused Your people to suffer;
You have provided us with wine that makes us stagger.
4 You have unfurled a banner for those who revere You,
a signal to gather in safety out of the enemy’s reach.
[pause][c]
5 So that Your treasured ones may be saved,
rescue us with Your right hand, and answer our pleas!
6 God’s voice has been heard in His holy sanctuary:
“I will celebrate; I will allocate Shechem
and the Succoth Valley to My people.
7 Gilead belongs to Me, and so does Manasseh;
Ephraim is the helmet that protects My head;
Judah is the scepter through which I rule;
8 Moab is the washpot in which I rinse My feet.
I will throw My shoe over Edom in conquest;
prepare for My victory, Philistia. Cry out because of Me!”
9 But who will take me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me into Edom?
10 Have You not turned Your back on us, O God?
Will You stay away and not accompany our armies, O God?
11 Help us against our enemy; we need Your help!
It’s useless to trust in the hand of man for liberation.
12 Only through God can we be successful.
It is God alone who will defeat our enemies and bring us victory!
15 My son, if you live wisely,
then my life will be fulfilled.
16 My very soul will jump for joy
when you speak what is true and right.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.