Old/New Testament
Prophecy about Damascus
17 The [a](A)oracle concerning (B)Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus is about to be (C)removed from being a city
And will become a (D)fallen ruin.
2 “The cities [b]of (E)Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for (F)flocks [c]to lie down in,
And there will be (G)no one to frighten them.
3 “The [d](H)fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And [e]sovereignty from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram;
They will be like the (I)glory of the sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.
4 Now in that day the (J)glory of Jacob will [f]fade,
And (K)the fatness of his flesh will become lean.
5 It will be (L)even like the [g]reaper gathering the standing grain,
As his arm harvests the ears,
Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain
In the (M)valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet (N)gleanings will be left in it like the [h]shaking of an olive tree,
Two or three olives on the topmost bough,
Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree,
Declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 In that day man will (O)have regard for his Maker
And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will not have regard for the (P)altars, the work of his hands,
Nor will he look to that which his (Q)fingers have made,
Even the [i](R)Asherim and [j]incense stands.
9 In that day [k]their strong cities will be like [l]forsaken places in the forest,
Or like [m]branches which they abandoned before the sons of Israel;
And [n]the land will be a desolation.
10 For (S)you have forgotten the (T)God of your salvation
And have not remembered the (U)rock of your refuge.
Therefore you plant delightful plants
And set them with vine slips of a strange god.
11 In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the (V)morning you bring your seed to blossom;
But the harvest will (W)be a heap
In a day of sickliness and incurable pain.
12 Alas, the uproar of many peoples
(X)Who roar like the roaring of the seas,
And the rumbling of nations
Who rush on like the (Y)rumbling of mighty waters!
13 The (Z)nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters,
But He will (AA)rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased (AB)like chaff in the mountains before the wind,
Or like whirling dust before a gale.
14 At evening time, behold, there is terror!
Before morning (AC)they are no more.
[o]Such will be the portion of those who plunder us
And the lot of those who pillage us.
Message to Ethiopia
18 Alas, oh land of whirring wings
Which lies beyond the rivers of [p](AD)Cush,
2 Which sends envoys by the sea,
Even in (AE)papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.
Go, swift messengers, to a nation [q](AF)tall and smooth,
To a people (AG)feared [r]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation
Whose land the rivers divide.
3 (AH)All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,
As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, (AI)you will see it,
And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.
4 For thus the Lord has told me,
“I will look [s]from My (AJ)dwelling place quietly
Like dazzling heat in the [t](AK)sunshine,
Like a cloud of (AL)dew in the heat of harvest.”
5 For (AM)before the harvest, as soon as the bud [u]blossoms
And the flower becomes a ripening grape,
Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives
And remove and cut away the spreading branches.
6 They will be left together for mountain birds (AN)of prey,
And for the beasts of the earth;
And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,
And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts
[v]From a (AO)people [w]tall and smooth,
Even from a people feared [x]far and wide,
A powerful and oppressive nation,
Whose land the rivers divide—
To the (AP)place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.
Message to Egypt
19 The [y](AQ)oracle concerning (AR)Egypt.
Behold, the Lord is (AS)riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The (AT)idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the (AU)heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
2 “So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will (AV)each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor,
City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
3 “Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;
And I will confound their strategy,
So that (AW)they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead
And to [z]mediums and spiritists.
4 “Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a (AX)cruel master,
And a [aa]mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord [ab]God of hosts.
5 (AY)The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
6 The [ac](AZ)canals will emit a stench,
The [ad](BA)streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;
(BB)The reeds and rushes will rot away.
7 The bulrushes by the (BC)Nile, by the [ae]edge of the Nile
And all the sown fields by the Nile
Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
8 And the (BD)fishermen will lament,
And all those who cast a [af]line into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets on the waters will [ag]pine away.
9 Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax
And the weavers of white (BE)cloth will be [ah]utterly dejected.
10 And [ai]the (BF)pillars of Egypt will be crushed;
All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.
11 The princes of [aj](BG)Zoan are mere fools;
The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become [ak]stupid.
How can you men say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the (BH)wise, a son of ancient kings”?
12 Well then, where are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them [al]understand what the Lord of hosts
Has (BI)purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of [am]Zoan have acted foolishly,
The princes of (BJ)Memphis are deluded;
Those who are the (BK)cornerstone of her tribes
Have [an]led Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of (BL)distortion;
(BM)They have led Egypt astray in all [ao]that it does,
As a (BN)drunken man [ap]staggers in his vomit.
15 There will be no work for Egypt
(BO)Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.
16 In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in (BP)dread because of the (BQ)waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. 17 The land of Judah will become a [aq]terror to Egypt; everyone [ar]to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the (BR)purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is purposing against them.
18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and (BS)swearing allegiance to the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of [as]Destruction.
19 In that day there will be an (BT)altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a (BU)pillar to the Lord near its border. 20 It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a (BV)Savior and a [at](BW)Champion, and He will deliver them. 21 Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with (BX)sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but (BY)healing; so they will (BZ)return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and will heal them.
23 In that day there will be a (CA)highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will (CB)worship with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is (CC)Egypt My people, and Assyria (CD)the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
17 So then do not be foolish, but (A)understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And (B)do not get drunk with wine, [a]for that is (C)dissipation, but be (D)filled with the Spirit, 19 (E)speaking to [b]one another in (F)psalms and (G)hymns and spiritual (H)songs, (I)singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 (J)always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to [c](K)God, even the Father; 21 [d](L)and be subject to one another in the [e](M)fear of Christ.
Marriage Like Christ and the Church
22 (N)Wives, (O)be subject to your own husbands, (P)as to the Lord. 23 For (Q)the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the (R)head of the church, He Himself (S)being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25 (T)Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and (U)gave Himself up for her, 26 (V)so that He might sanctify her, having (W)cleansed her by the (X)washing of water with (Y)the word, 27 that He might (Z)present to Himself the church [f]in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be (AA)holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to (AB)love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are (AC)members of His (AD)body. 31 (AE)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to (AF)love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she [g](AG)respects her husband.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.