Old/New Testament
The Prince of Peace
9 [a]But there will be no gloom for her who was[b] in distress. Formerly, he brought contempt to the region of Zebulun and the region of Naphtali, but in the future[c] he will have made glorious the way of the sea, the territory beyond the Jordan—Galilee of the nations.[d]
2 [e]The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
for those living in a land of deep darkness,
a light has shined upon them.
3 You have increased the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice in your presence
as they rejoice at the harvest,
as they are glad
when they’re dividing the spoils of war.[f]
4 Now as to the yoke that has been[g] his burden,
and the bar laid[h] on his shoulder—
the rod of his oppressor—
you have broken it[i] as on the day of Midiam.[j]
5 For every boot of the tramping soldier in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be used for burning as fuel for a fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government will be upon his shoulder,
and his name is[k] called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the growth of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will rule[l] over his kingdom,
sitting on the throne of David,
to establish it and to uphold it[m]
with justice and righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.
A Rebuke to Jacob and Israel
8 “The Lord[n] has sent a plague[o] against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
9 and all of the people were evil[p]—
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—
saying proudly with arrogant hearts:
10 ‘The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed[q] stones;
the sycamore[r] trees have been cut down,
but we will replace them with cedars.’[s]
11 But the Lord has raised adversaries[t] from Rezin[u] against him,
and he stirs up his enemies—
12 Arameans from the east
and Philistines from the west—
and they devour Israel with open mouths!
“Yet[v] for all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.”[w]
Judgment for Not Repenting
13 “But the people have not returned to rely[x] on[y] him who struck them,
nor have they sought the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
14 So the Lord has cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed
in[z] a single day—
15 the elder and the dignitary is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
16 For those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
17 Therefore the Lord does not have pity on[aa] their young men,
and has no compassion on their orphans[ab] and widows,
because each of them was godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth spoke folly.
“Yet[ac] for all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.[ad]
18 “For wickedness has burned like a blaze
that consumes briers and thorns;
it sets thickets of the forest on fire,
and skyward[ae] they swirl
in a column of smoke.
19 From[af] the wrath of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies
the land has been scorched,
and the people have become like fuel for the fire;
no one will spare his neighbor.
20 They cut meat on the right,
but they’re still hungry,
and they devour also[ag] on the left,
but they’re not satisfied;
each devours the flesh of his own children.[ah]
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim,
and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
together they are against Judah.
“Yet[ai] for all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.”[aj]
Judgment on Unjust Lawmakers
10 “How terrible it will be for the one[ak] who enacts unjust decrees,
for those who write oppressive laws
that they have prescribed
2 to deprive the needy of justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their rights,[al]
so that widows may become their spoil
and so that they may plunder orphans![am]
3 What will you do on the day of Judgment,[an]
in the calamity that will come from far away?
To whom will you run for help,
and where will you leave your wealth,
4 so you won’t have to crouch among those in chains[ao]
or fall among the slain?
“Yet[ap] for all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.”[aq]
Assyria is an Instrument of Judgment
5 “How terrible it will be
for Assyria, the rod of my anger!
The club is in their hands![ar]
6 I’m sending my fury[as] against a godless nation,
and I’ll command him against the people with whom I’m angry
to seize loot and snatch plunder,
and to trample them down
like mud in the streets.
7 But this is not what he intends,
and this is not what he thinks in his mind;
but it is in his mind to destroy,
and to cut down[at] many nations.
8 “Because this is what he is saying:
‘My commanders are all kings, are they not?
9 Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the idolatrous kingdoms[au]
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 will I not deal with Jerusalem and her idols
as I have dealt with Samaria and her images?’”
Assyria will be Judged
12 “For[av] the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and against Jerusalem; he will punish the speech that comes from that willful[aw] heart of Assyria’s king and the haughty look in his eyes. 13 He keeps bragging:[ax]
‘I’ve done it by the strength of my hand,
and by my wisdom,
because I’m so clever.[ay]
I removed the boundaries of peoples,
and plundered their treasures;
like a bull I brought down
those who sat on thrones.
14 My hand has found, as if in a nest,
the wealth of the people;
and as one gathers eggs that have been abandoned,
so I have gathered all the inhabitants of the[az] earth.
Nothing moved a wing,
opened its mouth,
or chirped.’
15 “Does the ax exalt itself
over the one who swings it?
Or does the saw magnify itself
in opposition to the one who wields it?
As if a rod were to wield those who lift[ba] it,
or as if a club were to brandish the one who is not wood!
16 Therefore, the Lord God[bb] of the Heavenly Armies will send a wasting disease
among Assyria’s[bc] sturdy warriors,
and under its glory a conflagration will be kindled,
like a blazing bonfire.
17 “The light of Israel will become a fire,
and its Holy One a flame,
and it will burn
and consume Assyria’s[bd] thorns and briers
in a single day.
18 The splendor of its forest and its fruitful land
the Lord will destroy—
both soul and body—
and Assyria[be] will be
as when a dying man wastes away.
19 What survives of the trees in his forest will be so few
that a child can count them.”[bf]
The Remnant Returns
20 At that time, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer rely on the one who struck them down, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God. 22 For even if your people of Israel number as many as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Overwhelming, righteous destruction is decreed, 23 because the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies[bg] will bring about destruction, as has been decreed, throughout[bh] the entire region.[bi]
24 Therefore this is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies says: “My people, you who live in Zion, don’t be afraid of the Assyrians, of the rod that beats you,[bj] who lift up their club against you as the Egyptians did. 25 In just a little while, my fury will come to an end, and my anger then will be directed to their destruction.[bk] 26 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies will brandish a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb;[bl] and as his staff was stretched out[bm] over the sea,[bn] so he will lift it up as he did in Egypt. 27 At that time,[bo] his burden will depart from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck. Indeed, the yoke will be broken, because you’ve become obese.”[bp]
The Coming Judgment of God
28 “The Assyrian commander[bq] has come upon[br] Aiath
and has passed through Migron;
he stores his supplies at Michmash.
29 He has[bs] crossed over by[bt] the pass;
his overnight lodging is at Geba.
Ramah trembles;
Gibeah of Saul has fled.
30 Cry aloud, you daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laish![bu]
Poor Anathoth!
31 Marmenah[bv] is in flight;
the inhabitants of Gebim take cover.
32 This very day he will halt at Nob;[bw]
he will shake[bx] his fists[by]
at the mountain that is the Daughter of Zion,
at Jerusalem’s hill.
33 Behold, the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies
will lop off its[bz] boughs with terrifying power;
the tallest in height will be cut down,
and the lofty will be brought low.
34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest
with an ax,
and Lebanon will fall
by the Majestic One.”[ca]
Paul’s Ministry to the Gentiles
3 For this reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of the Messiah[a] Jesus for the sake of you gentiles. 2 Surely you have heard about the responsibility of administering God’s grace that was given to me on your behalf, 3 and how this secret was made known to me through a revelation, just as I wrote about briefly in the past. 4 By reading this, you will be able to grasp my understanding of the secret about the Messiah,[b] 5 which in previous generations was not made known to human beings[c] as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s[d] holy apostles and prophets. This is that secret:[e] 6 The gentiles are heirs-in-common, members-in-common of the body, and common participants in what was promised[f] by the Messiah[g] Jesus through the gospel.
7 I have become a servant of this gospel[h] according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. 8 To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given so that I might proclaim to the gentiles the immeasurable wealth of the Messiah[i] 9 and help everyone see how this secret that has been at work was hidden for ages by God, who created all things. 10 He did this[j] so that now, through the church, the wisdom of God in all its variety might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm 11 in keeping with the eternal purpose that God[k] carried out through the Messiah[l] Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through his faithfulness.[m] 13 So then, I ask you not to become discouraged because of my troubles on your behalf, which work toward your glory.
To Know the Messiah’s Love
14 This is the reason I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[n] 15 from whom every family[o] in heaven and on earth receives its name. 16 I pray[p] that he would give you, according to his glorious riches, strength in your inner being and power through his Spirit, 17 and that the Messiah[q] would make his home in your hearts through faith. Then, having been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you will be able to understand, along with all the saints, what is wide, long, high, and deep— 19 that is, you will know the love of the Messiah[r]— which transcends knowledge, and will be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to the one who can do infinitely more than all we can ask or imagine according to the power that is working among[s] us— 21 to him be glory in the church and in the Messiah[t] Jesus to all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
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