Old/New Testament
The Vindication of Jerusalem
62 “And[a] I won’t remain silent,[b]
and for Jerusalem’s sake I won’t stay quiet,
until her vindication shines out like brightness,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and people will call you[c] by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 And[d] you’ll no longer be called ‘Deserted,’
and your land will no longer be called ‘Desolate’;
but people will call you[e] ‘Hephzibah,’[f]
and your land ‘Beulah’[g]—
for the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.”
5 “For just as[h] a young man marries a maiden,
so your sons will marry you;
and just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
6 “Upon your walls, Jerusalem,
I have posted watchmen;
all day and all night
they won’t[i] remain silent.
You who make mention of the Lord,
take no rest,
7 and give him no rest
until he prepares, establishes[j] and makes Jerusalem
a song of praise throughout the earth.
8 “The Lord has sworn by his right hand
and by his mighty arm:[k]
‘I will never again give your grain[l]
as food for your enemies;
never[m] again will foreigners drink your new wine
for which you have toiled;
9 but surely[n] those who harvest it will eat it
and praise the name of[o] the Lord,
and those who gather it will drink it
in the courts of my sanctuary,’ says your God.”[p]
The Coming of God to Reign
10 “Pass through[q] the gates!
prepare the way for the people!
Build up! Build up the highway!
Clear it of stumbling stones,[r]
speak among the peoples.[s]
11 Here is the Lord!
Proclaim[t] to the ends[u] of the earth,
say to the inhabitants[v] of Zion:
‘See, your salvation is coming!
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompenses are[w] before him.’
12 People will call them, ‘The Holy People,’
‘The Redeemed of the Lord’;
and they will call you,[x] ‘Sought After,’
‘The City Not Deserted.’”
God’s Day of Vengeance
63 “Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah, in garments stained crimson?
Who is this, robed in such splendor,
marching in his great might?
It is I, speaking in vindication,
mighty to save.
2 “Why is your clothing red,
and your garments like those worn by the ones who tread in the winepress?[y]
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from my people[z] no one was with me,
I trampled them in my anger
and trod them down in my wrath;
their lifeblood spattered on my garments,[aa]
and I stained[ab] all my clothing.
4 “For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and the year for my redeeming work had come.
5 I looked, but there was no helper,
I was appalled that there was no one to give support;[ac]
so my own arm[ad] brought me victory,
and as for my wrath, it supported me.
6 I trampled people[ae] in my anger;
in my wrath I made them drunk
and I poured out their lifeblood on the ground.”
God’s Grace to Israel
7 I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his mercy,
according to the abundance of his gracious love.
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who won’t act falsely.”
And so he became their savior.
9 In all their distress he wasn’t distressed,[af]
but the angel of his presence saved them;
in his acts of love[ag] and in his acts[ah] of pity he redeemed them;
he carried them and lifted them up[ai] all the days of old.
10 Yet they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit;
so he changed and became their enemy,
and[aj] he himself fought against them.
11 Then they[ak] remembered the days of old,
of Moses his servant.
Where is the one who brought up[al] out of the sea
the[am] shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who put his Holy Spirit among them,
12 and[an] who made his glorious arm[ao] march at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters in front of them
to win[ap] an everlasting name,
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the open desert,
they did not stumble;
14 like cattle that go down into the valley,
the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
For[aq] you led your people,
to win for yourself a glorious name.
God the Father
15 Look down from heaven, and see
from your holy and glorious dwelling.
Where are your zeal and your might?
Where are the yearning of your heart and your compassion?
They are held back from me.
16 But you are our Father,
even[ar] Abraham does not know us
and Israel has not acknowledged[as] us;
you are he,[at] O Lord, our Father,
from long ago, ‘Our Redeemer’ is your name.
17 Why, Lord, do you make us wander[au] from your ways
and harden our hearts, so that we do not fear you?
Turn back for the sake of your servants,
for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage.
18 Your holy people took possession[av] for a little while,
but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 For a long time we have been those you do not rule,
those who are not called by your name.
A Prayer for God to Intervene
64 [aw]If only you would tear open the heavens and[ax] come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
2 [ay]just as fire sets twigs[az] ablaze
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make known your name to your enemies,
yes, to your enemies before you,[ba]
so that the nations might quake at your presence!
3 When you did awesome deeds that we expected,[bb]
you came down,
and the mountains shuddered before you.
4 Since[bc] ancient times no one has heard,
and[bd] no ear has perceived,
and[be] no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
5 You come to the aid of those who gladly do what’s right,
To those who remember you in your ways.
See, you were angry,
and we sinned against them for a long time,
but we will be saved.
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and[bf] all our righteous acts are like a filthy rag;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind, our iniquities[bg] sweep us away.
7 There is no one who calls on your name
or rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have given us[bh] into the control[bi] of our iniquity.
God, our Father, will Act
8 But as for you,[bj] O Lord, you are our Father;
and[bk] we are clay,[bl]
and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hands.[bm]
9 Don’t be angry beyond measure, Lord,
and don’t remember our iniquity for a season.[bn]
Please look now, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a desert;
Zion has become like[bo] a desert,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy Temple and our splendor,
where our ancestors praised you,
have become[bp] a conflagration of fire,
and all our dearest places have become[bq] ruins.
12 Lord, after all this, can you hold yourself back?
Can you keep silent and punish us so severely?
Greetings
1 From:[a] Paul, an apostle of the Messiah[b] Jesus, by the command of God our Savior and the Messiah[c] Jesus, our hope.
2 To: Timothy, my genuine child in the faith.
May grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Messiah[d] Jesus, our Lord, be yours!
A Warning against False Teachers
3 When I was on my way to Macedonia, I urged you to stay in Ephesus so that you could instruct certain people to stop teaching false doctrine 4 and occupying themselves with myths and endless genealogies. These things promote controversies rather than God’s ongoing purpose, which involves faith. 5 The goal of this instruction is love that flows from a pure heart, from a clear conscience, and from a sincere faith. 6 Some people have left these qualities behind and have turned to fruitless discussion. 7 They want to be teachers of the Law, yet they do not understand either what they are talking about or the things about which they speak so confidently.
8 Of course, we know that the Law is good if a person uses it legitimately, 9 that is, if he understands that the Law is not intended for righteous[e] people but for lawbreakers and rebels, for ungodly people and sinners, for those who are unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers, their mothers, or other people, 10 for those involved in sexual immorality, for homosexuals, for kidnappers,[f] for liars, for false witnesses, and for whatever else goes against the healthy teaching 11 that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
12 I thank the Messiah[g] Jesus, our Lord, who gives me strength, that he has considered me faithful and has appointed me to his service. 13 In the past I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent[h] man. But I received mercy because I acted ignorantly in my unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed toward me,[i] along with the faith and love that are in the Messiah[j] Jesus. 15 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves complete acceptance:[k]
I am the worst of them. 16 But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the worst sinner,[n] the Messiah[o] Jesus might demonstrate all of his patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King Eternal—the immortal, invisible, and only God—be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.
Guidelines for Behavior in the Church
18 Timothy, my child, I am instructing you in keeping with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may continue to fight the good fight 19 with faith and a good conscience. By ignoring their consciences,[p] some people have destroyed their faith like a wrecked ship. 20 These include Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I handed over to Satan so that they may learn not to blaspheme.
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