Old/New Testament
17 The burden of Damascus:
Behold, Damascus will cease as a city
and will become a ruinous heap.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken.
They will be for flocks—they will lie down
and no one will frighten them.
3 The fortress will also cease from Ephraim,
and the kingdom from Damascus.
The remnant of Aram will be
like the glory of Bnei-Yisrael.
It is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
Jacob’s Glory Fades
4 Now in that day Jacob’s glory will fade,
and the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
5 It will be as when the harvester gathers the standing grain
and reaps the heads with his arm,
as when one gleans grain in the valley of Rephaim.
6 Only gleanings will remain,
as when beating an olive tree—
two or three olives at the very top,
four or five on a fruitful tree’s branches.
It is a declaration of Adonai God of Israel.
7 In that day a man will look to his Maker and his eyes will turn to the Holy One of Israel. 8 He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, nor will he look to what his fingers have made—neither the Asherah poles nor the sun-images.
9 In that day the strong cities will be like forsaken forests and treetops that were abandoned, because of Bnei-Yisrael—they will be laid waste.
10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
and you have not remembered the Rock of your strength.
Therefore you plant delightful plants
and set out exotic vines.
11 In the day that you plant, you fence it in,
and in the morning you made your seed to sprout—
but the harvest will be a heap
in a day of grief and incurable pain.
12 Oy! The uproar of many peoples
who roar like the roaring of the seas.
The rumbling of nations,
who rush in like the rumbling of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush in like the rumbling of many waters,
but He will rebuke them so they will flee far away,
chased like chaff on the hills before the wind,
like whirling dust before the storm.
14 At evening time—sudden terror!
Before morning, they are no more.
This is the reward of those who plunder us
and the lot of those who pillage us.
Ode of Ethiopia
18 Oy! The land of whirring wings,
which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,
2 that sends ambassadors by sea,
in papyrus vessels upon the water.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall
and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide,
a nation powerful and oppressive,
whose land the rivers divide.
3 All you inhabitants of the world,
and dwellers on earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains,
look!
when a shofar is blown,
listen!
4 For so Adonai has said to me:
“I will remain quiet, and look from My dwelling place,
like shimmering heat in sunshine,
like a cloud of dew in harvest heat.”
5 For before the harvest, as soon as blossoming is over
and flower becomes ripening grape,
He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives,
He will cut back and remove the twigs.
6 They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey
and the beasts of the land.
The birds of prey will summer on them,
and all the beasts of the land will winter upon them.
7 At that time tribute will be brought to Adonai-Tzva’ot
from a nation tall and smooth-skinned,
from a people feared far and wide,
a nation powerful and oppressive,
whose land the rivers divide—
to the place of the Name of Adonai-Tzva’ot—Mount Zion!
Egypt Will Know Adonai
19 The burden of Egypt:
Behold, Adonai rides upon a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt.
Egypt’s idols tremble before Him
and Egypt’s heart melts within them.
2 I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian.
Everyone will fight against his brother,
and everyone against his neighbor—
city against city,
kingdom against kingdom.
3 The spirit of Egypt will drain within it,
and I will confuse its counsel.
So they will resort to idols, charmers,
mediums and familiar spirits.
4 I will give the Egyptians
into the hand of a cruel master—
a fierce king will rule over them.
It is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
5 The waters from the sea will dry up,
and the river will be drained dry.
6 Then the channels will stink.
The streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.
Reeds and rushes will rot.
7 The bulrushes by the Nile,
by the mouth of the Nile,
and everything sown by the Nile
will wither, blow away and be no more.
8 Then the fishermen will lament.
All who cast hooks in the Nile will mourn,
and those who spread nets on the waters
will languish.
9 Moreover the workers of fine flax,
and the weavers of white cloth will be ashamed.
10 Her pillars will be crushed,
All hired workers will be grieved in soul.
11 The princes of Zoan are utter fools.
Pharaoh’s wisest counselors are stupid.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am the son of the wise,
a son of ancient kings”?
12 Where then are your wise men?
Let them tell you now!
Let them know what Adonai-Tzva’ot
has purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan are fools.
The princes of Noph are deceived.
The cornerstone of her tribes
have led Egypt astray.
14 Adonai has mixed within her
a spirit of dizziness.
They make Egypt stagger in every work,
as a drunkard staggers in his vomit.
15 There will be no work for Egypt to do,
for head or tail, palm branch or rush.
16 In that day Egypt will be like women trembling with fear, because of the shaking hand of Adonai-Tzva’ot, which He is about to wave over it. 17 The land of Judah will terrify Egypt. Anyone who mentions it will be afraid, because of what Adonai-Tzva’ot has surely purposed against it.
18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan, swearing allegiance to Adonai-Tzva’ot. One used to be called the City of the Sun.
19 In that day there will be an altar to Adonai in the middle of the land of Egypt, and next to the border a pillar to Adonai. 20 It will be as a sign and a witness to Adonai-Tzva’ot in the land of Egypt. For they will cry to Adonai because of oppressors, and He will send them a savior and defender—and he will deliver them. 21 So Adonai will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Adonai in that day. They will worship with sacrifice and offering. They will vow to Adonai, and fulfill it. 22 So Adonai will strike Egypt—striking yet healing—so they will return to Adonai, and He will respond to them and heal them.
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the earth. 25 For Adonai-Tzva’ot has blessed, saying:
“Blessed is Egypt My people,
and Assyria My handiwork,
and Israel My inheritance.”
17 For this reason do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 And do not get drunk on wine, for that is recklessness.[a] Instead, be filled with the Ruach, 19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your heart to the Lord— 20 always giving thanks for everything to God the Father, in the name of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
Orderly Relationships: Marriage
21 Also submit yourselves to one another out of reverence for Messiah— 22 wives to your own husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as Messiah also is head of His community—Himself the Savior of the body. 24 But as Messiah’s community is submitted to Messiah, so also the wives to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives just as Messiah also loved His community and gave Himself up for her 26 to make her holy, having cleansed her by immersion[b] in the word. 27 Messiah did this so that He might present to Himself His glorious community—not having stain or wrinkle or any such thing, but in order that she might be holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it—just as Messiah also does His community, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” [c] 32 This mystery is great—but I am talking about Messiah and His community. 33 In any case, let each of you love his own wife as himself, and let the wife respect her husband.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.