Old/New Testament
The Captivity of Ephraim
28 How terrible it will be for that arrogant garland—
the drunks of Ephraim!
How terrible it will be for that fading flower of his glorious beauty,
which sits on the heads of people bloated with food,[a]
of people overcome with wine!
2 Look! The Lord[b] has one who is mighty and strong,
like a hailstorm and destructive tempest,
like a storm of mighty, overflowing water—
and[c] he will give rest to the land.
3 With hands[d] and feet, that proud garland[e]—
those drunks of Ephraim—will be trampled.
4 And that fading flower, his glorious beauty,
which sits on the heads of people bloated with food,
will be like an early fig before summer—
whenever someone sees it, he swallows it
as soon as it’s in his hand.
5 At that time,[f] the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will become a glorious crown,
a beautiful diadem for the remnant of his people,
6 and a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment,
a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 These people also[g] stagger from wine
and reel from strong drink.
Priests and prophets stagger from strong drink;
they’re drunk from[h] wine;
they reel from strong drink,
waver when seeing visions,
and stumble when rendering decisions.
8 For all the tables are covered in vomit and filth,
with no clean[i] space left.
Misuse of God’s Word
9 To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
To children just weaned from milk?
To those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is: “Do this and do that,
do this and do that,
Line upon line, line upon line,
a little here, a little there.”
11 Very well, then, through the mouths of foreigners[j]
and foreign languages
the Lord will speak to this people
12 to whom he said,
“This is the resting place,
so give rest to the weary”’
and,
“This is the place of repose”—
but they would not listen.
13 So, then, the message from the Lord to them will become:
“Do this and do that,
do this and do that,
line upon line,
line upon line,
a little here,
a little there,”
so that they will go,
but fall backward,
and be injured, snared, and captured.
God’s Precious Cornerstone
14 “Therefore hear[k] the message from the Lord, you scoffers
who rule this people that are in Jerusalem.
15 Because you said:
‘We have entered into a covenant with death,
and we have an agreement with Sheol,[l]
so when the overwhelming scourge makes its choice,[m]
it cannot reach us,
since we have made lies our refuge
and have concealed ourselves inside falsehood,’
16 therefore this is what the Lord God[n] says:
“Look! I am laying[o] a foundation stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure[p] foundation:
Whoever believes firmly will not act hastily.
17 And I will make justice the measuring line,
and righteousness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away your refuge of lies,
and floods[q] will overflow your hiding place.
18 “Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol[r] will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge sweeps by,
you will be trampled by it.
19 As often as it sweeps through,
it will carry you away,
for it will sweep by morning after morning in the day;
but understanding this message will bring sheer terror at night,[s]
20 because the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and its blankets too narrow to wrap around oneself!
God is on Mount Perazim
21 For the Lord will stand upon[t] Mount Perazim,[u]
he will rouse himself in[v] the Valley of Gibeon;
to carry out his work—
his strange deed,
and to perform his task—
his alien task!
22 But as for you,[w] don’t start mocking,
or your chains will become tighter;
for I have heard from the Lord[x] of the Heavenly Armies about destruction,
and it is decreed against the whole land.
The God who Plows and Harvests
23 “Pay attention!
Listen to what I have to say;
Pay attention,
and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow all the time?
Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing his field?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
he scatters caraway[y] and sows cumin, doesn’t he?
He plants wheat in rows,
barley in its designated place,
and feed for livestock[z] around its borders,[aa] doesn’t he?
26 His God instructs him regarding the correct way,
directing him how to plant.[ab]
27 For caraway is not threshed with a sharp sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin.
Instead, caraway is winnowed with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 It[ac] must be ground;[ad]
one cannot keep threshing it forever.
Even if he drives his cart[ae] and horses over it,
he cannot crush it.
29 This insight also comes from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
who is distinguished[af] in practical advice
and[ag] magnificent in sound wisdom.”
Judgment is Coming to Jerusalem
29 “How terrible it will be for you, Aruel, Aruel,[ah]
the city where David encamped!
Year after year,
let your festivals run their cycle.
2 Then I’ll besiege Aruel,[ai]
and there will be sorrow and mourning;
she will become to me like an altar fireplace.[aj]
3 Then I’ll encamp against you like David,[ak]
and I’ll lay siege to you with towers,
raise siege works against you,
4 and you will be brought down.
You will speak from the ground,
and your speech will mumble from the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the ground,
and your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 “But the hordes of your enemies[al]
will become like fine dust,
and the hordes of tyrants like flying chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6 you will be visited by the Lord of the Heavenly Armies—
with thunder, an earthquake, and great noise,
with a windstorm, a tempest,
and flames from a devouring fire.
7 Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Aruel,[am]
all that attack her and her fortification[an] and besiege her,
will become like a dream, with its visions in the night—
8 as when a hungry man dreams—
he eats, but wakes up still hungry;
or when a thirsty man dreams—
he drinks, but wakes up faint,
with his thirst unquenched.
So will it be with the hordes of all the nations
that fight against Mount Zion.
Blind to God’s Words
9 “Act stupid!
Be astonished!
Act blind,
and be blind!
Be drunk,[ao] but not from[ap] wine;
stagger around,[aq] but not from strong drink.
10 For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep—
he has closed your eyes, you prophets,
he has covered your heads, you seers!”
11 “And this entire vision has become for you like the words of a sealed book. When people give it to someone who can read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers,[ar] ‘I cannot, because it is sealed.’ 12 Or when they give the book[as] to someone who cannot read, and say, ‘Read this, please,’ he answers,[at] ‘I don’t know how to read.’”
A Rebuke of Hypocritical Worship
13 Then the Lord said:
“Because these people draw near with their mouths
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me,
worship of me[au] has become
merely like[av] rules taught by human beings.
14 Therefore, watch out!
“As for me,[aw] I will once again
do amazing things with this people,
wonder upon wonder.
The wisdom of their wise men will perish,
and the insights[ax] of their discerning men will stay hidden.”
A Rebuke to the Deceptive
15 “How terrible it will be for you who go to great depths
to hide your plans from the Lord,
you whose deeds have been[ay] done[az] in the dark,
and who say, ‘Who can see us?
Who has recognized[ba] us?’
16 He has turned the tables on you[bb]—
as if the potter were thought to be like heat.[bc]
Can what is made say of the one who made it,
‘He did not make me?’
Or can what is formed say of the ones[bd] who formed it,
‘He has no skill?’
17 “In a very little while,
will not Lebanon be turned into a garden of fruit,[be]
and the garden of fruit[bf] seem like a forest?
18 On that day the deaf will hear
the words of a scroll,
and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The humble will again experience joy in the Lord,
and the poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless will vanish,
and mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down—
21 those who make a person appear to be the offender in a lawsuit,
who set a trap for someone
who is making his defense in court,[bg]
and push aside the innocent
with specious arguments.
22 “Therefore, this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob:
‘No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees in his midst his children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Moreover, those who go astray in spirit will gain[bh] understanding,
and those who complain will accept instruction.’”
Warning against Pride
3 So then,[a] my brothers, keep on rejoicing in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you; indeed, it is for your safety.
2 Beware of the dogs! Beware of the evil workers! Beware of the mutilators![b] 3 For it is we who are the circumcision[c]—we who worship in the Spirit of God[d] and find our joy in the Messiah[e] Jesus. We have not placed any confidence in the flesh, 4 although I could have confidence in the flesh. If anyone thinks he can place confidence in the flesh, I have more reason to think so.[f] 5 Having been circumcised on the eighth day, I am of the nation of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. As far as the Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee. 6 As for my zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. As far as righteousness in the Law is concerned, I was blameless.
7 But whatever things were assets to me, these I now consider a loss for the sake of the Messiah.[g] 8 What is more, I continue to consider all these things to be a loss for the sake of what is far more valuable, knowing the Messiah[h] Jesus, my Lord. It is because of him that I have experienced the loss of all those things. Indeed, I consider them rubbish[i] in order to gain the Messiah[j] 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but one that comes through the faithfulness[k] of the Messiah,[l] the righteousness that comes from God and that depends on faith. 10 I want to know the Messiah[m]—what his resurrection power is like and what it means to share in his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 though I hope to experience the resurrection from the dead.
Pursuing the Goal
12 It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already become perfect. But I keep pursuing it, hoping somehow to embrace it just as I have been embraced by the Messiah[n] Jesus. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have embraced it yet.[o] But this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I keep pursuing the goal to win the prize[p] of God’s heavenly call in the Messiah[q] Jesus.
15 Therefore, those of us who are mature[r] should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will show you how to think.[s] 16 However, we should live up to what we have achieved so far.
True and False Teachers
17 Join together in imitating me, brothers, and pay close attention to those who live by the example we have set for you.[t] 18 For I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of the Messiah.[u] 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on worldly things.
20 Our citizenship, however, is in heaven, and it is from there that we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[v] 21 He will change our unassuming bodies and make them like his glorious body through the power that enables him to bring everything under his authority.
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