Old/New Testament
Judah’s Song of Praise
26 On that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
2 Open the gates so that[c] the righteous nation who keeps faithfulness may enter!
3 You will protect a firm inclination in peace,
in peace because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in Yahweh forever,
for in Yah, Yahweh you have an everlasting rock.
5 For he has thrown down the inhabitants of the height,
he lays low the lofty city.
He lays it low to the ground;
he throws her to the dust.
6 The foot tramples it,
the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.”
Yahweh’s People Vindicated
7 The way of the righteous is a straight path;
you clear the level path of the righteous.[d]
8 Surely we wait for you in the path of your judgments, Yahweh,
for your name and renown are the desire of the soul.
9 I desire you with all my soul in the night;
also I seek you with my spirit within me,
for when your judgments are upon[e] the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 Though the wicked person is shown compassion, he does not learn righteousness;
he acts unjustly in the land of uprightness,
and he does not see the majesty of Yahweh.
11 Yahweh, though your hand reaches high, they do not see it.
Let them see, and let them be ashamed of the zeal of people.
Indeed, let the fire of your enemies consume them.
12 Yahweh, you will establish peace for us,
for you have done even all of our works for us.
13 Yahweh, our God, lords besides you ruled over us,
but we praise your name alone.[f]
14 The dead do not live;
dead spirits do not rise
because you have punished and destroyed them,
and you have destroyed all memory of them.
15 You have added to the nation, Yahweh.
You have added to the nation; you are honored.
You have extended all the ends of the land.
16 Yahweh, in distress they have visited you;
they poured out an incantation;[g]
your discipline was on them.
17 Like a pregnant woman on the point of giving birth, she writhes;
she cries in her labor pains.
So we were because of your presence, Yahweh.
18 We became pregnant, we writhed;
we gave birth to wind.
We cannot bring about deliverance on the earth,
and no inhabitants of the world are born.
19 Your dead shall live; their corpses[h] shall rise.
Wake up and sing for joy, dwellers of the dust,
for your dew is celestial dew,[i]
and the earth will give birth to dead spirits.[j]
20 Go, my people, enter into your chambers
and shut your doors[k] behind you;
hide for a very little[l] while,
until the wrath has passed over.
21 For look! Yahweh is about to come out from his place
to punish the iniquity of the inhabitants[m] of the earth against him,
and the earth will disclose her blood
and will no longer cover her slain.
Israel Rescued
27 On that day, Yahweh will punish with his cruel, great and strong sword Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and Leviathan, the twisting serpent, and he will kill the sea monster that is in the sea.
2 On that day:
“A vineyard of beauty! Sing in praise of it!
3 I, Yahweh, am her keeper;
I water it again and again.[n]
Lest one afflict harm on it,
I guard it night and day;
4 I have no wrath.[o]
Whatever gives me thorns and briers,
I will step forth against in battle.
I will set it on fire altogether.
5 Or let it grasp at my protection;
let it make peace with me;
peace let it make with me.”
6 Days are coming,[p] let Jacob take root;
Israel will blossom and send out shoots,
and they will fill the face of the world with fruit.
7 Does he strike him as he struck down those who struck him?[q]
Or is he killed as those who killed him were killed?[r]
8 By expelling[s] her, by her sending away, you argue with her.
He removed them with his strong wind,
in the day of the east wind.
9 Therefore by this he will make atonement for the guilt of Jacob,
and this will be all of the fruit of the removal of his sin:
when he makes[t] all the stones of the altar like crushed stones of chalk,
no poles of Asherah worship or incense altars will stand.
10 For the fortified city is solitary,
a settlement deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
the calf grazes there,
lies down there and destroys its branches.
11 When its branches are dry,[u] they are broken;
women are coming and setting light to it.
For it is not a people of understanding;
therefore his maker will not have compassion on him,
and his creator will not show him favor.
12 And this shall happen:
on that day, Yahweh will thresh from the floodwaters of the Euphrates to the wadi[v] of Egypt, and as for you, you will be gathered one by one, sons of Israel.
13 And this shall happen:
on that day, a great trumpet will be blown,
and those who were lost in the land of Assyria will come,
and those who were scattered in the land of Egypt,
and they will bow down to Yahweh on the holy mountain[w] at Jerusalem.
Humility and Unity
2 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 complete my joy, so that you are in agreement[a], having the same love, united in spirit, having one purpose[b]. 3 Do nothing according to selfish ambition or according to empty conceit, but in humility considering one another better than yourselves, 4 each of you[c] not looking out for your own interests[d], but also each of you for the interests[e] of others.
Christ’s Humiliation and Exaltation
5 Think this in[f] yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider being equal with God something to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself
by[g] taking the form of a slave,
by[h] becoming in the likeness of people.
And being found in appearance like a man,
8 he humbled himself
by[i] becoming obedient to the point of death,
that is, death on a cross.
9 Therefore also God exalted him
and graciously granted him the name above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Holding Fast to the Word of Life
12 Therefore my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is God. 14 Do all things without grumbling and disputing, 15 in order that you may become blameless and innocent, children of God without fault[j] in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as stars in the world,[k] 16 holding fast to the word of life, for a source of pride[l] to me in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and rejoice with all of you. 18 And in the same way also you rejoice and rejoice with me.
Timothy’s Proven Character
19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I also may be encouraged when I[m] know your circumstances[n]. 20 For I have no one like-minded who will sincerely be concerned about your circumstances[o]. 21 For they all seek their own interests[p], not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know his proven character, that like a child with a father he served with me for the gospel. 23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see my circumstances[q]. 24 And I am convinced in the Lord that I myself will arrive shortly also.
Epaphroditus’ Mission
25 But I considered it[r] necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, but your messenger and servant of my need, 26 because he was longing for all of you and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick, coming near to death, but God had mercy on him and not on him only, but also on me, so that I would not have grief upon grief. 28 Therefore I am sending him with special urgency, in order that when[s] you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less anxious. 29 Therefore welcome him in the Lord with all joy, and consider such people highly honored, 30 because on account of the work of Christ he came near to the point of death, risking his life in order that he might make up for your inability to serve me[t].
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