Old/New Testament
Chapter 26
Judah’s Praise and Prayer for Deliverance.[a] 1 On that day this song shall be sung in the land of Judah:
“A strong city[b] have we;
he sets up victory as our walls and ramparts.(A)
2 Open up the gates
that a righteous nation may enter,
one that keeps faith.(B)
3 With firm purpose you maintain peace;
in peace, because of our trust in you.”(C)
4 Trust in the Lord forever!
For the Lord is an eternal Rock.(D)
5 He humbles those who dwell on high,
the lofty city he brings down,
Brings it down to the ground,
levels it to the dust.(E)
6 The feet of the needy trample on it—
the feet of the poor.
7 The way of the just is smooth;
the path of the just you make level.(F)
8 The course of your judgments, Lord, we await;
your name and your memory are the desire of our souls.
9 My soul yearns for you at night,
yes, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn;
When your judgment comes upon the earth,
the world’s inhabitants learn justice.(G)
10 The wicked, when spared, do not learn justice;
in an upright land they act perversely,
and do not see the majesty of the Lord.(H)
11 Lord, your hand is raised high,
but they do not perceive it;
Let them be put to shame when they see your zeal for your people:
let the fire prepared for your enemies consume them.(I)
12 Lord, you will decree peace for us,
for you have accomplished all we have done.(J)
13 Lord, our God, lords other than you have ruled us;
only because of you can we call upon your name.
14 Dead they are, they cannot live,
shades that cannot rise;
Indeed, you have punished and destroyed them,
and wiped out all memory of them.
15 You have increased the nation, Lord,
you have increased the nation, have added to your glory,
you have extended far all the boundaries of the land.(K)
16 Lord, oppressed by your punishment,
we cried out in anguish under your discipline.(L)
17 As a woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in pain,
so were we before you, Lord.(M)
18 We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth only to wind;
Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,
no inhabitants for the world were born.(N)
19 [c]But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise!
Awake and sing, you who lie in the dust!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and you cause the land of shades to give birth.(O)
The Lord’s Response[d]
20 Go, my people, enter your chambers,
and close the doors behind you;
Hide yourselves for a brief moment,
until the wrath is past.(P)
21 See, the Lord goes forth from his place,
to punish the wickedness of the earth’s inhabitants;
The earth will reveal the blood shed upon it,
and no longer conceal the slain.(Q)
Chapter 27
The Judgment and Deliverance of Israel
1 On that day,
The Lord will punish with his sword
that is cruel, great, and strong,
Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
Leviathan the coiled serpent;
he will slay the dragon[e] in the sea.(R)
2 [f]On that day—
The pleasant vineyard, sing about it!(S)
3 I, the Lord, am its keeper,
I water it every moment;
Lest anyone harm it,
night and day I guard it.(T)
4 I am not angry.
But if I were to find briers and thorns,
In battle I would march against it;
I would burn it all.(U)
5 But if it holds fast to my refuge,
it shall have peace with me;(V)
it shall have peace with me.
6 In days to come Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall sprout and blossom,
covering all the world with fruit.(W)
7 [g]Was he smitten as his smiter was smitten?
Was he slain as his slayer was slain?
8 Driving out and expelling, he struggled against it,
carrying it off with his cruel wind on a day of storm.(X)
9 This, then, shall be the expiation of Jacob’s guilt,
this the result of removing his sin:
He shall pulverize all the stones of the altars
like pieces of chalk;
no asherahs or incense altars shall stand.
10 For the fortified city shall be desolate,
an abandoned pasture, a forsaken wilderness;
There calves shall graze, there they shall lie down,
and consume its branches.
11 When its boughs wither, they shall be broken off;
and women shall come to kindle fires with them.
For this is not an understanding people;
therefore their maker shall not spare them;
their creator shall not be gracious to them.(Y)
12 On that day,
The Lord shall beat out grain
from the channel of the Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt,
and you shall be gleaned[h] one by one, children of Israel.
13 On that day,[i]
A great trumpet shall blow,
and the lost in the land of Assyria
and the outcasts in the land of Egypt
Shall come and worship the Lord
on the holy mountain, in Jerusalem.(Z)
Chapter 2
Plea for Unity and Humility.[a] 1 If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing.(A) 3 Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,(B) 4 each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others.(C)
5 Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,[b]
6 Who,[c] though he was in the form of God,(D)
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.[d]
7 Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;[e]
and found human in appearance,(E)
8 he humbled himself,(F)
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.[f]
9 Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name[g]
that is above every name,(G)
10 that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,[h]
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,(H)
11 and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,[i]
to the glory of God the Father.(I)
Obedience and Service in the World.[j] 12 (J)So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.[k] 13 For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work.(K) 14 Do everything without grumbling or questioning,(L) 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,[l] among whom you shine like lights in the world,(M) 16 as you hold on to the word of life, so that my boast for the day of Christ may be that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.(N) 17 But, even if I am poured out as a libation[m] upon the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you.(O) 18 In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.(P)
IV. Travel Plans of Paul and His Assistants[n]
Timothy and Paul. 19 I hope, in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy[o] to you soon, so that I too may be heartened by hearing news of you.(Q) 20 For I have no one comparable to him for genuine interest in whatever concerns you. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.(R) 22 But you know his worth, how as a child with a father he served along with me in the cause of the gospel. 23 He it is, then, whom I hope to send as soon as I see how things go with me, 24 but I am confident in the Lord that I myself will also come soon.[p]
Epaphroditus. 25 With regard to Epaphroditus,[q] my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier, your messenger and minister in my need, I consider it necessary to send him to you.(S) 26 For he has been longing for all of you and was distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 He was indeed ill, close to death; but God had mercy on him, not just on him but also on me, so that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I send him therefore with the greater eagerness, so that, on seeing him, you may rejoice again, and I may have less anxiety. 29 Welcome him then in the Lord with all joy and hold such people in esteem,(T) 30 because for the sake of the work of Christ he came close to death, risking his life to make up for those services to me that you could not perform.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.