Old/New Testament
The Third Description of Immanuel: The Branch From Jesse
11
A shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse,
and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him:
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 He will be delighted with the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
nor will he render decisions based on what he hears with his ears,
4 but with righteousness he will judge the poor,
and he will render fair decisions in favor of the oppressed on the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath from his lips he will put the wicked to death.
5 Righteousness will be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his hips.
6 The wolf will dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together,
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow and the bear will graze together,
and their young ones will lie down together.
The lion will eat straw like the cattle.
8 The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole,
and the weaned child will put his hand into a viper’s den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
A Remnant of Israel Will Return
10 This is what will take place on that day. The peoples will seek the Root of Jesse, who will be standing like a banner[a] for the peoples, and his resting place will be glorious.
11 On that day the Lord will reach out his hand for the second time to reclaim the remnant of this people who survive from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coasts of the sea.
12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
and he will assemble the outcasts of Israel
and gather together the scattered people of Judah,
from the four corners of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s envy will be turned aside,
and those who persecute Judah will be cut off.
Ephraim will not envy Judah,
and Judah will not persecute Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines in the west.
Together they will plunder the peoples in the east.
They will extend their power over Edom and Moab,
and the people of Ammon will obey them.
15 The Lord will completely dry up the gulf of the Egyptian Sea.
With his scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River,[b]
and he will split it into seven streams,
so that people wearing sandals will be able to march through it.
16 There will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant
of his people that is left there,
as there was for Israel in the day when they came up
out of the land of Egypt.
A Song of Salvation
12 In that day you will say:
I will give thanks to you, Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away,
and you comfort me.
2 Surely God is my salvation.
I will trust him and will not be afraid,
because Yah, the Lord,[c] is my strength and song,
and he has become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4 In that day you will say:
Give thanks to the Lord! Proclaim[d] his name.
Declare among the peoples what he has done.
Proclaim that his name is exalted!
5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done amazing things!
Let this be known in all the earth!
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, daughter[e] of Zion,
for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!
Prophecies Against the Nations
A Prophecy Against Babylon
13 The oracle[f]about Babylon, which Isaiah son of Amoz saw.
2 Raise a banner on a bare hill!
Shout to them.
Signal to them to enter the gates of the nobles.
3 I have given a command to my consecrated warriors.
I have called my elite warriors to carry out my anger—
those who rejoice in my triumph.
4 The noise of a horde is heard on the mountains,
like the noise of many people,
like the uproar of the kingdoms of the nations
who are massing together!
The Lord of Armies is mustering an army for war.
5 They come from a faraway country,
from the ends of the heavens.
The Lord and the weapons of his wrath
come to destroy the whole land.
6 Wail, for the Day of the Lord is near.
It will come like destruction from the Almighty.[g]
7 Therefore all hands will hang limp,
and every heart will melt.
8 They will be terrified.
Pain will overcome them.
They will be in pain like a woman in labor.
They will look at each other in shock.
Their faces are flushed.
9 Look, the Day of the Lord is coming,
a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger,
a day to make the land desolate,
a day to destroy its sinners there.
10 For the stars of the sky and its constellations
will not give their light.
The sun will be darkened as it rises,
and the moon will give no light.
11 I will punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their guilt.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the insolent,
and I will humble the pride of the ruthless.
12 I will make people rarer than fine gold,
and mankind scarcer than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore, I will make the heavens tremble,
and the earth will be shaken off its foundation
at the wrath of the Lord of Armies,
in the day of his fierce anger.
14 Like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep without a shepherd,
each of them will turn to his own people,
and everyone will flee to his own land.
15 Everyone who is caught will be run through.
Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
16 Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes.
Their houses will be looted, and their wives will be raped.
17 See, I will stir up against them the Medes,
who have no use for silver,
who do not delight even in gold.
18 Their bows will strike down the young,
and they will have no pity on newborn infants.[h]
There will be no compassion in their eyes for children.
19 Babylon is the glory of kingdoms,
the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
but it will be just like the day when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It will never be inhabited again,
nor will anyone live in it from generation to generation.
No Arab[i] will pitch his tent there.
No shepherd will rest his flocks there.
21 Instead, wild animals from the desert will rest there.
The houses will be full of wild dogs.[j]
Ostriches will nest there,
and wild goats will frolic.
22 Hyenas will howl in its fortresses,
and jackals in the luxurious palaces.
Its time is near,
and its days will not be prolonged.
Members of Christ’s Body
4 As a prisoner in the Lord, therefore, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. 2 Live with all humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love.
3 Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in the one hope of your calling. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us[a] all.
7 But to each one of us grace was given, according to the measure of the gift from Christ. 8 That is why it says, “When he ascended on high, he took captivity captive and gave gifts to his people.”[b] 9 Now what does it mean when it says “he ascended,” other than that he also had descended[c] to the lower parts, namely, the earth?[d] 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things. 11 He himself gave the apostles, as well as the prophets, as well as the evangelists, as well as the pastors and teachers, 12 for the purpose of training the saints for the work of serving,[e] in order to build up the body of Christ. 13 This is to continue until we all reach unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, resulting in a mature man with a stature reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 The goal is that we would no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, when people use tricks and invent clever ways to lead us astray. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we would in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 16 From him the whole body, being joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows in accordance with Christ’s activity when he measured out each individual part. He causes the growth of the body so that it builds itself up in love.
Living Changed Lives
17 So I tell you this and testify to it in the Lord: Do not walk any longer as the Gentiles walk, in their futile way of thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardness of their hearts. 19 Because they have no sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality, with an ever-increasing desire to practice every kind of impurity.
20 But you did not learn Christ in that way, 21 if indeed you have heard of him and were taught in him (since the truth is in Jesus). 22 As far as your former way of life is concerned, you were taught to take off the old self, which is corrupted by its deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed continually in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new self, which has been created to be like God in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Therefore, after you put away lying, let each of you speak truthfully with your neighbor, because we are all members of one body. 26 “Be angry, yet do not sin.”[f] Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. 27 Do not give the Devil an opportunity. 28 Let the one who has been stealing steal no longer. Instead, let him work hard doing what is good with his own hands, so that he has something to share with a person who is in need. 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come from your mouths. Say only what is beneficial when there is a need to build up others, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear. 30 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of every kind of bitterness, rage, anger, quarreling, and slander, along with every kind of malice. 32 Instead, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven us.[g]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.