Old/New Testament
Warnings to Northern Israel
28 Look at Samaria!
The drunks of Ephraim are proud of that city.
It sits on a hill with a rich valley around it.
The Samarians think their city is a beautiful crown of flowers.
But they are drunk with wine,
and this “beautiful crown” is just a dying plant.
2 Look, the Lord has someone who is strong and brave.
He will come into the country like a storm of hail and rain.
Like a powerful river of water flooding the country,
he will throw that crown[a] down to the ground.
3 The drunks of Ephraim are proud of their beautiful crown,
but that city will be trampled down.
4 That city sits on a hill with a rich valley around it.
But that beautiful crown of flowers is just a dying plant.
It will be like the first figs of summer.
As soon as someone sees a ripe one, they pick it and eat it.
5 At that time the Lord All-Powerful will become the “Beautiful Crown.” He will be the “Wonderful Crown of Flowers” for his people who are left. 6 Then he will give wisdom to the judges who rule his people. He will give strength to the people who are in battles at the city gates. 7 But now those leaders are drunk. The priests and prophets are all drunk with wine and beer. They stumble and fall down. The prophets are drunk when they see their dreams. The judges are drunk when they make their decisions. 8 Every table is covered with vomit. There is not a clean place anywhere.
God Wants to Help His People
9 The people say, “Who does he think he is trying to teach and explain his message to? Does he think we are babies who were at their mother’s breast only a very short time ago? 10 He speaks to us as though we were babies:
“Saw lasaw saw lasaw
Qaw laqaw qaw laqaw
Ze’er sham ze’er sham.”[b]
11 So God will use this strange way of talking, and he will use other languages to speak to these people.
12 In the past he spoke to them and said, “Here is a resting place. Let those who are tired come and rest. This is the place of peace.”
But they would not listen to him. 13 So the Lord’s words will be senseless sounds[c] to them:
“Saw lasaw saw lasaw.
Qaw laqaw qaw laqaw.
Ze’er sham ze’er sham.”
When the people try to walk, they will fall backwards. They will be defeated, trapped, and captured.
No One Escapes God’s Judgment
14 You leaders in Jerusalem should listen to the Lord’s message, but now you refuse to listen to him. 15 You have said, “We have made an agreement with death. We have a contract with death. So we will not be punished. Punishment will pass us without hurting us. We will hide behind our tricks and lies.”
16 Because of these things, the Lord God says, “I will put a rock—a cornerstone—in the ground in Zion. This will be a very precious stone.[d] Everything will be built on this very important rock. Anyone who trusts in that rock will not be disappointed.[e]
17 “Workers use a string and weight to show their work is straight and true. I will use justice as the string and goodness as the weight when I lay that foundation. But your safe places were built on lies. So they will be destroyed and washed away when the troubles come against you like hail storms and floods. 18 Your agreement with death will be erased. Your contract with Sheol will not help you.
“Someone will come and punish you. He will make you like the dirt he walks on. 19 He will come and take you away. Your punishment will be terrible. Your punishment will come early in the morning, and it will continue late into the night.
“Then you will understand this story: 20 A man tried to sleep on a bed that was too short for him. He had a blanket that was not wide enough to cover him. The bed and blanket were useless, and so were your agreements.”
21 The Lord will fight as he did at Mount Perazim. He will be angry as he was in Gibeon Valley.[f] He will do what he must do. It will be what some stranger should do, but he will finish his work. Yes, this is a stranger’s job. 22 Now don’t complain about these things. If you fight against them, you will only tighten the ropes around you.
The words I heard will not change. They came from the Lord God All-Powerful, the ruler of all the earth, and these things will be done.
The Lord Punishes Fairly
23 Listen closely to the message I am telling you. 24 Does a farmer plow his field all the time? No, he doesn’t work the soil all the time. 25 A farmer prepares the ground, and then he plants the seed. He plants different kinds of seeds different ways. He scatters dill seeds, he throws cumin seeds on the ground, and he plants wheat in rows. A farmer plants barley in its special place, and he plants spelt seeds at the edge of his field.
26 Our God is using this to teach you a lesson. This example shows us that God is fair when he punishes his people. 27 Does a farmer use large boards with sharp teeth to crush dill seeds? No, and he doesn’t use a wagon to crush cumin seeds. A farmer uses a small stick to break the hulls from these seeds of grain. 28 People grind grain to make flour, but they don’t grind it forever. As God does in punishing people, a worker might drive his wagon over the grain to remove the hulls, but he does not allow the horses[g] to crush it. 29 This lesson comes from the Lord All-Powerful, who gives wonderful advice. He is very wise.
God Punishes Jerusalem
29 God says, “Look at Ariel,[h] the city where David camped. Keep on having your festivals, year after year. 2 But I will punish Ariel. The city will be filled with sadness and crying, but it will always be my Ariel.
3 “I will put armies all around you, Ariel. I will raise war towers against you. 4 You will be pulled to the ground. Your voice will rise from the ground like the voice of a ghost. Your words come like a whisper from the dirt.”
5 There will be so many foreigners that they will be like dust. Cruel people will be like the chaff blowing in the wind. Then suddenly, 6 the Lord All-Powerful will punish you with earthquakes, thunder, and loud noises. There will be storms, strong winds, and a burning, destructive fire. 7 Many nations will fight against Ariel. It will be a nightmare. Armies will surround Ariel and punish her. 8 But it will also be like a dream to those armies. They will not get what they want. It will be like a hungry man dreaming about food. When the man wakes up, he is still hungry. It will be like a thirsty man dreaming about water. When the man wakes up, he is still thirsty. The same thing is true about all the nations fighting against Zion. Those nations will not get what they want.
9 Be surprised and amazed!
You will become drunk, but not from wine.
Look and be amazed!
You will stumble and fall, but not from beer.
10 The Lord will make you sleepy.
He will close your eyes. (The prophets are your eyes.)
He will cover your heads. (The prophets are your heads.)
11 To you my words are like the words in a book that is closed and sealed.[i] You can give the book to someone who can read and tell that person to read it. But that person will say, “I cannot read the book. It is closed and I cannot open it.” 12 Or you can give the book to someone who cannot read and tell that person to read it. That person will say, “I cannot read the book because I don’t know how to read.”
13 The Lord says, “These people come to honor me with words, but I am not really important to them. The worship they give me is nothing but human rules they have memorized. 14 So I will continue to amaze them by doing powerful and amazing things. Their wise men will lose their wisdom. Even the most intelligent among them will not be able to understand.”
15 Look at them! They try to hide things from the Lord. They think he will not understand. They do their evil things in darkness. They tell themselves: “No one can see us. No one will know who we are.”
16 You turn things upside down. You think the clay is equal to the potter. You think that something that is made can tell the one who made it, “You did not make me!” This is like a pot telling its maker, “You know nothing.”
A Better Time Is Coming
17 This is the truth: After a very short time, Lebanon will become rich farmland, and the farmland will be like thick forests. 18 The deaf will hear the words in the book. The blind will see through the darkness and fog. 19 The Lord will make poor people happy. The poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 This will happen when the people who are mean and cruel have come to an end. It will happen when those who enjoy doing bad things are gone. 21 (They lie about good people. They try to trap people in court. They try to destroy innocent people.)
22 So the Lord, who made Abraham free, speaks to Jacob’s family. He says, “Now the people of Jacob will not be embarrassed and ashamed.
23 Yes, when they see all their children,
the children I myself have made for them,
they will honor[j] my name as holy.
They will respect the God of Israel.
24 Many of these people did not understand, so they did what was wrong. They complained, but now they will learn their lesson.”
Christ Is More Important Than Anything
3 And now, my brothers and sisters, be filled with joy in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again. I want to be sure that you are prepared.
2 Be careful of the dogs—those men whose work does only harm. They want to cut on everyone who isn’t circumcised.[a] 3 But we are the ones who have the true circumcision[b]—we who worship God through his Spirit. We don’t trust in ourselves or anything we can do. We take pride only in Christ Jesus. 4 Even if I am able to trust in myself, still I don’t do it. If anyone else thinks they have a reason to trust in themselves, they should know that I have a greater reason for doing so. 5 I was circumcised on the eighth day after my birth. I am from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a true Jew, and so were my parents. The law was very important to me. That is why I became a Pharisee. 6 I was so eager to defend my religion[c] that I persecuted the church. And no one could find fault with the way I obeyed the Law of Moses.
7 At one time all these things were important to me. But because of Christ, I decided that they are worth nothing. 8 Not only these things, but now I think that all things are worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Christ, I lost all these things, and now I know that they are all worthless trash. All I want now is Christ. 9 I want to belong to him. In Christ I am right with God, but my being right does not come from following the law. It comes from God through faith. God uses my faith in[d] Christ to make me right with him. 10 All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him from death. I want to share in his sufferings and be like him even in his death. 11 Then there is hope that I myself will somehow be raised from death.
Trying to Reach the Goal
12 I don’t mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal. But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine. That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his. 13 Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me. 14 I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven.
15 All of us who have grown to be spiritually mature should think this way too. And if there is any of this that you don’t agree with, God will make it clear to you. 16 But we should continue following the truth we already have.
17 Brothers and sisters, join together in following my example. Also, learn by watching those who are living the way we showed you. 18 There are many who live like enemies of the cross of Christ. I have often told you about them. And it makes me cry to tell you about them now. 19 The way they live is leading them to destruction. They have replaced God with their own desires. They do shameful things, and they are proud of what they do. They think only about earthly things. 20 But the government that rules us is in heaven. We are waiting for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from there. 21 He will change our humble bodies and make them like his own glorious body. Christ can do this by his power, with which he is able to rule everything.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International