Old/New Testament
God’s Message to Lebanon
23 The message about Tyre:
You ships of Tarshish, cry!
The houses and harbor of Tyre are destroyed.
This news came to the ships
from the land of Cyprus.
2 Be silent, you who live on the island of Tyre.
You merchants of Sidon, be silent.
Seamen have made you rich.
3 They traveled the sea to bring grain from Egypt.
The men of Tyre brought grain from the Nile Valley
and sold it to other nations.
4 Sidon, be ashamed.
Strong city of the sea, be ashamed. The sea says:
“I have not felt the pain of giving birth.
I have not reared young men or women.”
5 Egypt will hear the news about Tyre.
And it will make Egypt hurt with sorrow.
6 You ships should return to Tarshish.
You people living near the sea should be sad.
7 Look at your once happy city!
Look at your old, old city!
People from that city have traveled
far away to live.
8 Who planned Tyre’s destruction?
Tyre made others rich.
Her merchants were treated like princes.
Her traders were greatly respected.
9 It was the Lord of heaven’s armies who planned this!
He decided to make these proud men unimportant.
He decided to disgrace those who were greatly respected.
10 Go through your land,
Tarshish, like the Nile goes through Egypt.
There is no harbor for you now!
11 The Lord has stretched his hand over the sea.
He makes its kingdoms tremble.
He commands that Canaan’s
places of safety be destroyed.
12 The Lord said, “Sidon, you will not rejoice any longer.
You are destroyed.
Even if you cross the sea to Cyprus,
you will not find a place to rest.”
13 Look at the land of the Babylonians.
Babylonia is not a country now.
Assyria has made it a place for wild animals.
Assyria built towers to attack it.
The soldiers took all the treasures from its cities.
They turned it into ruins.
14 So be sad, you trading ships.
Your place of safety is destroyed.
15 At that time people will forget about Tyre for 70 years. That is the length of a king’s life. After 70 years, Tyre will be like the prostitute in this song:
16 “Oh woman, you are forgotten.
Take your harp and walk through the city.
Play your harp well. Sing your song often.
Then people will remember you.”
17 After 70 years the Lord will deal with Tyre. Tyre will again have trade. It will be like a prostitute for all the nations of the earth. 18 The profits will be saved for the Lord. Tyre will not keep the money she earns. It will give them to the people who serve the Lord. So they will have plenty of food and nice clothes.
God Will Punish the World
24 Look! The Lord will destroy the earth and leave it empty.
He will ruin the surface of the land and scatter its people.
2 At that time the same thing will happen to everyone:
to common people and priests,
to slaves and masters,
to women slaves and their women masters,
to buyers and sellers,
to those who borrow and those who lend,
and to bankers and those who owe the bank.
3 The earth will be completely empty.
The wealth will all be taken.
This will happen because the Lord commanded it.
4 The earth will dry up and die.
The world will grow weak and die.
The great leaders in this land will become weak.
5 The people of the earth have ruined it.
They do not follow God’s teachings.
They do not obey God’s laws.
They break their agreement with God that was to last forever.
6 A curse will destroy the earth.
The people of the world are guilty.
So they will be burned up.
Only a few will be left.
7 The new wine will be bad, and the grapevines will die.
People who were happy will be sad.
8 The happy music of the tambourines will end.
The happy sounds of wild parties will stop.
The joyful music from the harps will end.
9 People will no longer sing while they drink their wine.
The beer will taste bitter to those who drink it.
10 The ruined city will be empty.
People will hide behind closed doors.
11 People in the streets will ask for wine.
But joy will have turned to sadness.
All the happiness will have left.
12 The city will be left in ruins.
Its gates will be smashed to pieces.
13 This is what will happen all over the earth.
This will happen to all the nations.
The earth will be like an olive tree after the harvest.
It will be like the few grapes left on a vine after harvest.
14 The people shout for joy.
From the west they praise the greatness of the Lord.
15 People in the east, praise the Lord.
People in the islands of the sea,
praise the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
16 We hear songs from every part of the earth.
These songs praise God, the Righteous One.
But I said, “I am dying! I am dying!
How terrible it will be for me!
Traitors turn against people.
With their dishonesty, they turn against people.”
17 There are terrors, holes and traps
for the people of the earth.
18 Anyone who tries to escape from the sound of terror
will fall into a hole.
Anyone who climbs out of the hole
will be caught in a trap.
The clouds in the sky will pour out rain.
The foundations of the earth will shake.
19 The earth will be broken up.
And the earth will split open.
The earth will shake violently.
20 The earth will stumble around like a man who is drunk.
It will shake like a hut in a storm.
Its sin is like a heavy weight on its back.
The earth will fall and never rise again.
21 At that time the Lord will punish
the powers in the sky above
and the rulers on earth below.
22 They will be gathered together.
They will be thrown into a pit as prisoners.
They will be shut up in prison.
After much time they will be punished.
23 The moon will be embarrassed.
The sun will be ashamed.
This will happen because the Lord of heaven’s armies will rule as king
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem’s leaders will see his greatness.
A Song of Praise to God
25 Lord, you are my God.
I honor you and praise you.
You have done amazing things.
You have always done what you said you would.
You have done what you planned long ago.
2 You have made the city a pile of rocks.
You have destroyed her walls.
The city our enemies built with strong walls is gone.
It will never be built again.
3 People from powerful nations will honor you.
Cruel people from strong cities will fear you.
4 You help the poor people.
You help the helpless when they are in danger.
You are like a shelter from storms.
You are like shade that protects them from the heat.
The cruel people attack
like a rainstorm beating against the wall.
5 The cruel people burn like the heat in the desert.
But you, God, stop their violent attack.
As a cloud cools a hot day,
Lord, you silence the songs of those who have no mercy.
God’s Banquet for His Servants
6 The Lord of heaven’s armies will give a feast.
It will be on this mountain for all people.
It will be a feast with the best food and wine.
The meat and wine will be the finest.
7 On this mountain God will destroy
the veil that covers all nations.
This veil, called “death,” covers all peoples.
8 But God will destroy death forever.
The Lord God will wipe away every tear from every face.
God will take away the shame
of his people from the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
9 At that time people will say,
“Our God is doing this!
We have trusted in him, and he has come to save us.
We have been trusting our Lord.
So we will rejoice and be happy when he saves us.”
10 The Lord will protect Jerusalem.
But the Lord will crush our enemy Moab.
Moab will be like straw that is trampled down in the manure.
11 They will spread their arms in it
like a person who is swimming.
The Lord will bring down their pride.
All the clever things they have made will mean nothing.
12 Moab’s high walls protect them.
But the Lord will destroy these walls.
The Lord will throw them down on the ground.
The stones will lie in the dust.
Serve Others with Joy
1 From Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ.
To all of God’s holy people in Christ Jesus who live in Philippi. And to your overseers and deacons.
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul’s Prayer
3 I thank God every time I remember you. 4 And I always pray for all of you with joy. 5 I thank God for the help you gave me while I preached the Good News. You helped from the first day you believed until now. 6 God began doing a good work in you. And he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. I am sure of that.
7 And I know that I am right to think like this about all of you. I am sure because I have you in my heart. All of you share in God’s grace with me. You share in God’s grace with me while I am in prison, while I am defending the Good News, and while I am proving the truth of the Good News. 8 God knows that I want to see you very much. I love all of you with the love of Christ Jesus.
9 This is my prayer for you: that your love will grow more and more; that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love; 10 that you will see the difference between good and bad and choose the good; that you will be pure and without wrong for the coming of Christ; 11 that you will be filled with the good things produced in your life by Christ to bring glory and praise to God.
Paul’s Troubles Help the Work
12 Brothers, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the Good News. 13 I am in prison because I am a believer in Christ. All the palace guards and everyone else knows this. 14 I am still in prison, but most of the believers feel better about it now. And so they are much braver about telling the Good News about Christ.
15 It is true that some preach about Christ because they are jealous and bitter. But others preach about Christ because they want to help. 16 They preach because they have love, and they know that God gave me the work of defending the Good News. 17 But others preach about Christ because they are selfish. Their reason for preaching is wrong. They want to make trouble for me in prison.
18 But I do not care if they make trouble for me. The important thing is that they are preaching about Christ. They should do it for the right reasons. But I am happy even if they do it for wrong reasons. And I will continue to be happy. 19 You are praying for me, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me. So I know that this trouble will bring my freedom. 20 The thing I want and hope for is that I will not fail Christ in anything. I hope that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in my life here on earth. I want to do that if I die or if I live. 21 To me the only important thing about living is Christ. And even death would be profit for me. 22 If I continue living in the body, I will be able to work for the Lord. But what should I choose—living or dying? I do not know. 23 It is hard to choose between the two. I want to leave this life and be with Christ. That is much better. 24 But you need me here in my body. 25 I know that you need me, and so I know that I will stay with you. I will help you grow and have joy in your faith. 26 You will be very happy in Christ Jesus when I am with you again.
27 Be sure that you live in a way that brings honor to the Good News of Christ. Then whether I come and visit you or am away from you, I will hear good things about you. I will hear that you continue strong with one purpose and that you work together as a team for the faith of the Good News. 28 And you will not be afraid of those who are against you. All of these things are proof from God that you will be saved and that your enemies will be lost. 29 God gave you the honor both of believing in Christ and suffering for Christ. Both these things bring glory to Christ. 30 When I was with you, you saw the struggles I had. And you hear about the struggles I am having now. You yourselves are having the same kind of struggles.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.