Old/New Testament

Good news for God's people

9 But the darkness will not continue for ever. Those who had no hope will no longer be afraid. In past times, God let trouble happen to the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.^[a] But in future years, he will cause the people of that region to be great. Those are the places near the sea, and those beyond the Jordan River, and Galilee region where people from other nations live.

² The people who walk in the dark now see a bright light! Light is shining on those people who live in a land of complete darkness.

³ You, Lord, will make your nation stronger. You will cause your people to be very happy. They will be happy because you are with them. They will be like people who are happy at the time of harvest. They will be happy like soldiers who have won a battle, and who share their enemy's valuable things among themselves.

⁴ They are happy because you have removed the power of their cruel enemies. They no longer have to carry a heavy load, as slaves. You have rescued them from their enemies, in the same way that you won against Midian's army.^[b]

⁵ Fire will destroy every shoe that the soldiers wore to march into the battle. Their clothes which have the blood of war on them will also go into the fire.

⁶ Yes, your people are happy! A child has been born for us. We now have a son with the authority to rule. His names will be:

⁷ His authority to rule will be very great. The peace that he brings will never have an end. He will rule as king over David's kingdom. He will make it strong and safe, because he will do what is right and fair. He will rule like that now and for ever. The Lord Almighty will make those things happen, because he loves his people.

The Lord punishes Israel

⁸ The Lord God has spoken a message to warn Jacob's descendants, the kingdom of Israel. ⁹ All the people who live in Ephraim and in the city of Samaria know about it. But they are proud and they boast, ¹⁰ ‘We built houses with bricks and they fell down. But we will build them again with strong stones. People have cut down our fig trees, but we will plant great cedar trees instead.’

¹¹ But the Lord caused Rezin's enemies, and other nations to attack Israel. ¹² Syria's army came from the east. The Philistines' army came from the west. They destroyed Israel's land, like a hungry animal.

But the Lord is still angry. His hand is ready to hit them again.^[c]

¹³ The people did not turn back to the Lord Almighty, who had punished them. They did not ask for his help. ¹⁴ So, in one day, the Lord will destroy Israel, both its head and its tail. He will cut down both palm branch and reed. ¹⁵ The head is their leaders and important people. The tail is the prophets who teach lies.

¹⁶ The leaders of this nation lead them away from what is true. They confuse the people that they are leading. ¹⁷ So the Lord God is not pleased with their young men. He will not help their widows or their children who have no family. Nobody respects God and they all do evil things. They only speak about foolish things.

But the Lord is still angry. His hand is ready to hit them again.

¹⁸ The evil things that the people do destroy everything. They are like a fire that destroys thorn bushes. They burn up all the bushes in the forest. Clouds of smoke rise up from a great fire. ¹⁹ The Lord Almighty is very angry. He punishes the land of Israel, like a fire that burns everything. The people are like wood that makes the fire burn well. None of them try to help each other. ²⁰ People eat whatever food they can get, on their right side or their left side. But they are still hungry. They even eat their own family!

²¹ Manasseh's tribe and Ephraim's tribe fight against each other. Then they join together to attack Judah.

But the Lord is still angry. His hand is ready to hit them again.

10 It will be very bad for people who make cruel laws that are not fair.

³ It will be bad for you on the day when God comes to judge people. You will not escape the punishment that he will bring from far away. There will be nobody to help you. There will be no safe place to hide your valuable things. ⁴ You will have to join the people who are in prison. Or you will die with those that the enemy kills in war.

But the Lord is still angry. His hand is ready to hit his people again.

Then God will punish Assyria

⁵ It will be very bad for Assyria! I will use its army to punish my people, because I am angry with them. Assyria will be like a stick that I use to beat my people. That is how I will show them my anger.

⁶ I send Assyria's army against a nation that does not serve God. I command them to attack the people with whom I am angry. I tell them to take that nation's valuable things for themselves. I tell them to walk all over them, as if they were walking on dirt in the streets.

⁷ But Assyria's ruler has other ideas. He does not understand that he is my weapon. He wants his army to destroy many nations, so that they have no power. ⁸ He boasts, ‘All my army's officers are like kings! ⁹ We destroyed Calno as we destroyed Carchemish. We destroyed Hamath as well as Arpad. We destroyed Samaria as well as Damascus.

¹⁰ The idols of those cities were greater than those in Jerusalem or Samaria. But we won against them all! ¹¹ So I will destroy Jerusalem and its idols, in the same way that I did to Samaria and its idols.’

¹² The Lord God will come to punish Mount Zion and Jerusalem. But when he has done that, he says, ‘Now I will punish the king of Assyria. He boasts in his mind and his eyes show how proud he is.’

¹³ The king of Assyria says this:

¹⁵ The Lord says this:

¹⁶ So the Lord, the Almighty Lord, will punish Assyria's soldiers. They are now fat and healthy, but they will become thin! It will be like a fire that burns them, with all their proud strength. ¹⁷ The holy God, who is the Light of Israel, will become like a fire. Assyria's soldiers will be like weeds and thorn bushes and the fire will destroy them in one day.

¹⁸ The Lord will completely destroy Assyria's great forests and its good fields. It will seem like a bad disease is taking away their life. ¹⁹ Only a few trees will remain in the forests. Even a child will be able to count them!

Some people will return

²⁰ At that time, only a few people will remain in Israel. Only a few descendants of Jacob will still be alive. They will no longer expect to receive help from a foreign ruler who is cruel to them. Instead, they will trust the Lord, the Holy God of Israel, to help them.

²¹ A few of Jacob's descendants will remain, and they will return to serve the mighty God. ²² Israel's people are now very many, as many as the sand on the shore of the sea. But only a few will remain to return. The Lord has decided to destroy you, people of Israel. His punishment is fair and right. ²³ The Lord Almighty will destroy the whole land. He is ready to do that, as he has promised.

²⁴ So this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian army. They will hurt you, like someone who hits you with a heavy stick. They will be cruel to you like the people in Egypt were long ago. ²⁵ But soon I will be angry with you no longer. Instead, I will be angry with the Assyrians, and I will be ready to destroy them.’

²⁶ Yes, the Lord Almighty will punish the Assyrians, like someone who uses a whip to beat them. That is how he destroyed the Midianites at the Rock of Oreb.^[d] He will hold his stick over the sea. He will lift it up as he did in Egypt.

²⁷ At that time, the Lord will remove the heavy load that is on your shoulders. He will destroy the yoke that is on your neck. You will no longer be their slaves. The Lord will bless you and make you fat.

²⁸ Assyria's army attacks Aiath! It marches through Migron. They store their things at Michmash. ²⁹ They go across the hills. They stay at Geba for a night. The people in Ramah are afraid! The people in Gibeah of Saul run away.

³⁰ People in Gallim, shout for help! Listen carefully, people in Laishah. Answer them, people in Anathoth. ³¹ The people in Madmenah run away. Those who live in Gebim run to a safe place.

³² Today, the enemy has reached Nob and it stops there. He shakes his fist angrily at the people who live on Mount Zion in the city of Jerusalem.

³³ But look! The Lord Almighty is ready to use his great power to destroy Assyria's strong army. He will cut it down, like a tall tree. He will cut off all the branches and knock all the trees down to the ground. ³⁴ The Lord will take his axe and he will cut down the trees of that great forest. Even the best trees of Lebanon must fall down!^[e]

God has chosen Paul to help the Gentiles

3 That is why I pray for you. I, Paul, am in prison because I serve Christ Jesus. He has sent me to help you Gentiles. ² You must have heard that God has chosen me to do that. He has been very kind to give me this work to help you. ³ God has clearly shown to me his true purpose. That was a secret before, but God has helped me to know it. I have written a few words about this already.^{[a] 4} When you read those words, you will be able to understand. I have come to know God's true message about Christ. ⁵ God did not tell this secret message to the people who lived before us. But now the Holy Spirit has shown it to God's apostles and prophets. ⁶ This is the message of God's good news: Gentiles, as well as Jews, may receive the good things that God has prepared for his children. We may all belong to the same group of God's people, like we are his body. Everyone who is united with Christ Jesus receives the good things that God has promised.

⁷ I tell that good news to other people, because God chose me to serve him in that way. That was God's gift to me, because he is so kind. God uses his great power to help me in that work. ⁸ I am the least important of all God's people. But God has given this special work to me because he is so kind. He has sent me to tell his good news to the Gentiles. Then they know about the many valuable things that Christ has prepared for us.

⁹ I help everyone to know how God makes his purpose happen. God himself created all things, and he has hidden this secret during past times. ¹⁰ But now God wants the people of his church to show everyone how wise he is in every way. He wants the spiritual rulers and everything that has authority in the heavens to know this. ¹¹ This had always been God's purpose, from the beginning of all things. And it was our Lord Christ Jesus who made it happen.

¹² Because we are united with Christ, we can come near to God. We are not afraid to do that. We can be sure that God will accept us, because we trust in Christ. ¹³ So do not become weak or afraid. I am now suffering so that I can help you. So you should be strong, so that God will bless you.

Paul prays for the Christians at Ephesus

¹⁴ Yes, that is why I pray for you. I go down on my knees to pray to God, our Father. ¹⁵ Every family, those in heaven and those on earth, receives its true name from him. ¹⁶ I pray that God will cause you to be strong in your spirits. God has great and valuable things in heaven to help you. I pray that God's Spirit will help you with God's own power. ¹⁷ I pray that Christ will make his home in you, as you believe in him. Then you will know God's love very well. You will be like trees that have roots which go down deep into God's love. That will make you strong. ¹⁸ Then you will understand, with all God's people, how much Christ loves us. That love is very wide and long and high and deep! ¹⁹ Christ's love for us is so great that nobody can ever completely know it. As you understand this more and more, God's own nature will completely fill you.

²⁰ We praise God, who causes his power to work in us. In that way, he is able to do much more than we could ever ask for. He can do much more than we could even think about. ²¹ We want all God's people to know that God is great! Everyone who belongs to his church and who trusts in Christ Jesus should praise him! We should praise him always and for ever. Amen. That is true!