Old/New Testament
An honest king
32 Look! A king is coming who will rule in a right and fair way.
Honest leaders will rule under his authority.
2 Each leader will be like a safe place to hide
from strong winds and storms.
He will be like streams of water in a desert.
And he will be like the shadow of a great rock in a hot, dry land.
3 At that time, everyone who has eyes will be able to see clearly.
Everyone who has ears will be able to listen well.
4 People who do things too quickly will stop and think first.
Those who cannot speak well will be able to talk clearly.
5 Nobody will praise a stupid person.
Nobody will respect people who cheat others.
6 Stupid people say silly things.
They think of evil things that they can do.
They live in a way that does not respect God.
The things that they teach about the Lord are false.
They keep food away from hungry people.
They give no drink to thirsty people.
7 Cruel people do evil things to deceive others.
They think of ways that they can cheat their friends.
They tell lies to give trouble to poor people.
So poor people do not receive the justice that they deserve.
8 But good people think of ways that they can be kind to others.
They do the good things that they have decided to do.
A message about Jerusalem's women[a]
9 You women, listen carefully to what I say to you!
You think that you have no problems.
You feel very safe.
But listen to me!
10 Now, you think that you are safe,
but in one year's time, you will shake with fear.
There will be no grapes at harvest time.
You will pick no fruit from your trees.
11 You think that you have no problems,
but you should be afraid.
Yes, shake with fear!
Take off all your beautiful clothes.
Tie rough cloth round your legs instead.
12 Weep and hit your breasts,
because your good fields have no crops,
and your vines have no grapes.
13 Weep because of what has happened to my people's land.
Only thorn bushes and weeds grow there.
Weep because there are no longer any happy homes.
There are no more parties in the city.
14 Nobody will remain in the king's great palace.
The city that is now full of people will be empty.
The city's hill and its strong buildings
will become heaps of stones for ever.
Wild donkeys will play in those places,
and sheep will find grass to eat.
15 It will be like that until God pours a new spirit on us from heaven.
Then, deserts will become fields of fruit trees.
And fields of fruit trees will seem like forests.
16 Everywhere, people will be honest and fair,
in the deserts as well as in the fields.
17 People will do things that are right,
so there will be peace.
People will always be safe.
18 My people will live safely and quietly in their homes.
They will not be afraid of trouble.
19 A storm of hail may destroy the forest.
The buildings in the city may all fall down too.
20 But still the Lord will bless you.
You will plant your seeds beside streams of water.
You will send your cows and donkeys into the fields,
and they will have plenty of grass to eat.
Trouble and hope
33 It will be very bad for you who destroy other nations.
No other nation has destroyed you yet.
It will be very bad for you who deceive other nations.
No other nation has deceived you yet.
But in the end, when you stop destroying,
others will destroy you.
When you stop deceiving,
other nations will deceive you.[b]
2 Lord, please be kind to us.
We wait for you to help us.
Make us strong every day.
Rescue us when trouble happens.
3 When they hear the noise of battle,
the nations run away.
When you go to war,
they run in every direction!
4 You nations, after the battle your valuable things will quickly disappear!
It will seem like locusts have eaten them all.
Yes, we will take it all,
like a hungry crowd of locusts.
5 The Lord is greater than all others.
He lives high above the earth.
He will cause Zion's people to do what is right and fair.
6 Whatever happens, he will cause you to be strong.
He will always keep you safe,
and he will make you wise,
so that you understand things.
Respect the Lord with fear,
and he will do all this for you.
7 Look! Our brave soldiers are calling out in the streets.
The people that we sent to make peace with our enemies are weeping.
8 The big roads are empty.
Nobody is travelling anywhere.
People spoil agreements that they have made.
They do not believe what people promise.
They do not respect anyone.
9 The land itself is dry and useless.
Lebanon's forest is dying.
Sharon has become like a desert.
The trees in Bashan and Carmel have no leaves.[c]
10 The Lord says, ‘Now I will stand up to do something.
I will show that I am great and powerful.
11 My enemies, everything that you want to do will be useless.
Your thoughts are like dry grass and straw.
Your own breath will destroy you,
like a fire that burns dry grass.
12 Your people will be like wood for the fire,
and only ashes will remain.
They will burn as easily as thorn bushes
that people cut down and throw on the fire.
13 You people who live far away,
listen to what I have done!
You people who are near,
understand that I am very strong.’
14 The sinners who live in Zion are afraid.
The people who do not respect God shake with fear.
They ask, ‘Who among us can stay alive?
This is a fire that burns everything.
Nobody can stop it from burning!’
15 But some people can still live!
Those who are honest in what they do
and fair in what they say.
Those who refuse to cheat other people
so that they can become rich.
Those who refuse to accept bribes.
Those who will not listen to murderers,
and who will not think about evil things.
16 People who are like that will live in a safe place.
Danger will not reach them among the high rocks.
They will always have food to eat,
and plenty of water to drink.
17 With your own eyes, you will see the king.
He will be great and beautiful.
You will see the land that he rules.
It will reach far and wide.
18 Then you will think about the time when you were afraid.
You will say, ‘Where is the enemy's important officer?
Where is the officer that we paid taxes to?
Where is the officer who counted our strong buildings?
They are no longer here to give us trouble!’
19 You will never see those cruel people again.
You could not understand their language.
They laughed at you with strange words.
20 Now, look at Zion, the city where we have our festivals.
Yes, you will see Jerusalem.
It will be a place that is quiet and safe.
It will be like a tent that people will never move.
They will never pull up its pegs.
They will never break its ropes.
21 The Lord will rule there as our powerful God.
Rivers and wide streams will run through it.
Our enemies will not be able to bring their ships there to attack us.
22 The Lord will keep us safe.
He is our judge, our ruler and our king.
23 At this time, your ship is not ready to go anywhere.
You have not tied the ropes.
There is nowhere to hang the sails.
But then, you will take many valuable things from your enemies.
You will share them after the battle.
Even people who cannot walk well
will carry away what they want!
24 Nobody who lives in Zion will say, ‘I am ill.’
And God will forgive their sins.
Paul and Timothy say ‘Hello’
1 This letter is from me, Paul. God chose me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. Our friend Timothy is here with me while I write.
2 We are writing to you, God's own people who live in Colossae. You are like brothers and sisters to us because you continue to believe in Christ.
I pray that God, our Father, will continue to help you. I pray that he will give you peace in your minds.
Paul thanks God for the believers
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. 4 We thank God because people have told us good things about you. You continue to trust Christ Jesus. You also love all God's people. 5 You live like that because you hope to receive good things from God.[a] You know that God has prepared those good things for you. He is keeping them safe in heaven. You learned that when people first told you God's true message, his good news.
6 You have heard this good news, like people all over the world have heard it. It has caused good results among you since the time when you heard it first. At that time, you understood the true message about how kind God really is. As a result, God is blessing you more and more, like he blesses his people everywhere. 7 It was our good friend Epaphras who first told you this good news. Like us, he is Christ's servant. He serves Christ on our behalf. 8 He has told us about the love that God's Spirit has given to you.
Paul prays that they will know God more and more
9 Because of all that, we have not stopped praying for you, ever since the day that we heard about you. We ask God that his Spirit will make you truly wise. He will help you to know clearly what he wants you to do. You will understand his true message. 10 Then you will be able to live in a way that the Lord wants you to live. Everything that you do will please him. We pray that all these good things will have good results. We pray that you will know God better and better. 11 God rules from heaven with great power. We pray that he will make you strong with every kind of strength. Then, when troubles come, you can still be patient and strong. 12 You will be able to thank God, our Father, and be happy. God has prepared good things for his people to receive in heaven. Because God has included you among his people, you will also share those good things in the kingdom of light. 13 God has saved us from the dark kingdom where Satan rules.[b] He has brought us into the kingdom of his Son, whom he loves. 14 God's Son, Jesus, paid the price for our sins and made us free. Yes, God has forgiven us.[c]
Who God's Son, Jesus Christ, is
15 We cannot see God. But Jesus Christ shows us completely who God is. Even before God made anything, Jesus was already there as God's Son who rules everything. 16 When God created everything, it was his Son who did it. His Son made everything that is on earth and in heaven. He created everything that we can see, as well as the things that we cannot see. He made rulers and leaders. He made everything that has power and authority. God gave his Son the authority to create everything, so that his Son would receive praise. 17 God's Son was there before anything else was there. And now he causes everything to continue in its proper place. 18 The church is like Christ's body and he is its head.[d] He is where it all begins. As God's special Son, he was the first person who became alive again after death.[e] As a result, Christ is first and most important in all things.
19 God chose to put his nature in Christ completely. 20 He decided that Christ would die on the cross as a sacrifice. In that way, God would bring all things back to himself. Then everything could live in peace with God. That includes everything on the earth and everything in heaven.
21 As for you, you were far away from God at one time. You thought bad things and you did bad things. As a result, you were God's enemies. 22 But now you have become God's friends. This happened because Christ's human body died on the cross. As a result, God has brought you to himself. As you stand in front of him, you are completely good and clean inside. He sees nothing in you that is bad.
23 But you must continue to believe God's true message. Do not turn away from it. Continue to trust God, as you did when you first heard the good news. People have told this good news to everyone all over the world. And God has chosen me, Paul, as his servant to tell this good news.
Paul's work for Christ's people
24 At this time, I am suffering on your behalf, but I am still happy. Christ himself suffered on behalf of his people, the church. Now, while I live in my human body, I also suffer. I continue to receive the pain that Christ received, so that it may be complete.[f] In that way, I help the church, which is like Christ's own body.
25 I have become God's servant, so that I can help the church. God chose me to do that. He chose me to explain his message to you completely. 26 That message is a secret that God hid from everyone before now. He hid it from all the people who lived in past times. But now he has shown this secret to his people. 27 God wanted them to understand how great this secret is. It shows that God will bless people who live in all countries of the world. This secret message is that Christ lives in you. And because of that, you know that you will live with God in heaven one day.
28 That is why we tell everyone the message about Christ. God helps us to be very wise as we warn people and we teach them. We want every person who belongs to Christ to become complete, as God sees them. 29 That is why I work very hard. Christ works powerfully in me to make me strong for this difficult work.
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