Old/New Testament
A Victory Song
26 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah.
We have a strong city.
God sets up salvation as its walls and ramparts.
2 Open the gates,
so that the righteous nation may enter,
the nation that guards the truth.[a]
3 You preserve perfect peace for the person
whose resolve is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for Yah the Lord[b] is the eternal Rock.
5 He humbles those who live in a high place,
in a high, secure city.
He brings it down!
He brings it down to the ground!
He throws it down into the dust!
6 It is trampled down
by the feet of the poor,
by the soles of the feet of the helpless.
A Prayer for Blessing
7 The way of the righteous is level and smooth.
You are righteous.[c] You smooth the path for the righteous.
8 Truly, Lord, we have waited for you on the path of your judgments.
Your name and your renown are what our soul desires.
9 My soul longs for you during the night.
My spirit within me looks for you early in the morning,
because when your judgments are known on earth,
the inhabitants of the world will learn what righteousness is.
10 Although grace is shown to the wicked,
they do not learn righteousness.
They will continue to act unjustly even in a righteous land.
They will not recognize the Lord’s majesty.
11 Lord, your hand is raised, ready to strike,
but they do not see it.
But they will see your zeal for the people,
and they will be put to shame.
May fire consume your enemies.
12 O Lord, you establish peace for us.
Everything we have done, you have accomplished for us.
13 O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
but we honor only your name.
14 They are dead. They will not live again.
Their departed spirits will not return.
You have dealt with them and destroyed them.
You have wiped out all memory of them.
15 You have enlarged the nation, O Lord.
You have enlarged the nation!
You are glorified!
You have extended all the borders of the land.
16 O Lord, they appealed to you in distress.
They whispered a prayer as you disciplined them.
17 Just as a pregnant woman nearing the time of her delivery
writhes and cries out in her pain,
so we have done before you, O Lord.
18 We have been in pain
as if we were about to give birth to a child,
but we gave birth only to wind.
We have not brought salvation for the earth.
We have not given birth to people who can inhabit the world.[d]
19 But your dead ones will live.
Their[e] dead bodies will rise.
Wake up and sing for joy,
you who dwell in the dust,
because your dew will glisten like morning light,
and the earth will give up the spirits of the dead.[f]
20 Go, my people, go into your rooms,
and shut the doors behind you.
Hide yourselves for a little while,
until his wrath has passed over.
21 Look! The Lord is coming out of his place
to deal with the guilt of those who live on the earth.
Then the earth will reveal the blood shed on it.
It will no longer cover those who have been killed.
The Lord Will Deliver Israel
27 On that day, the Lord will draw his sharp, great, and powerful sword, and he will kill Leviathan,[g] the slithering serpent—Leviathan, the coiling serpent. The Lord will kill the monster[h] in the sea.
2 On that day, sing about a delightful vineyard![i]
3 I, the Lord, am serving as its caretaker.
I water it constantly.
So that nothing will damage it,
I guard it night and day.
4 I am not angry,
but if I do find briers and thorns there,
I will fight them!
I will charge against them and set them all on fire.
5 To prevent this, let them turn to me for protection
and make peace with me.
Let them make peace with me![j]
6 In days to come,
Jacob will take root.
Israel will blossom and bud.
It will fill the whole world with fruit.
7 Has he struck Israel the way he struck those who struck them?
Have they been killed the same way those who killed them were killed?
8 When you drive them away[k] and send them into exile,
you make your case against them.
He drives them out with his violent storm,
as on a day when the hot east wind blows.
9 In this way the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
and this will be all the fruit that results from taking away his sin.
He will make all the altar stones like chalk that has been crushed,
and no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.
10 Then the fortified city will be all alone,
a dwelling place, deserted and forsaken, like a wilderness.
Calves will graze there.
They will lie down there and eat all the leaves off the branches.
11 When its twigs are dried up, they are broken off.
Women will come and build a fire with them.
Because they are a people who have no understanding,
therefore their Maker will have no compassion on them.
He who formed them will not be gracious to them.
12 On that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing river, the Euphrates, to the Stream of Egypt,[l] and you Israelites will be gathered one by one. 13 On that day there will be a very loud blast on a ram’s horn, and those who were about to perish in the land of Assyria, together with those who were scattered in the land of Egypt, will come. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Live in Harmony
2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility consider one another better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look carefully not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Jesus Humbled Himself
5 Indeed,[a] let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. 6 Though he was by nature God,[b] he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed,[c] 7 but he emptied himself by taking the nature[d] of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man,[e] 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Lights in the World
12 So then, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you, but also now much more in my absence, continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 In fact, it is God who is working in you, both to will and to work, for the sake of his good pleasure. 14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish among a crooked and perverted generation. You shine among them like lights in the world, 16 as you hold on to[f] the word of life. Then I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I continue to be glad and rejoice with you all. 18 In the same way, also be glad and rejoice with me.
Two Faithful Workers
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 To be sure, I have no one else like him,[g] who will be genuinely concerned about your welfare. 21 For, the others all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s proven character, that as a child for his father, he served with me in the gospel. 23 So he is the one I hope to send just as soon as I see how things go with me. 24 But I have confidence in the Lord that I myself will be coming soon too.
25 I also considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier, as well as the one you sent to serve me in my need. 26 I sent him because he was longing for[h] all of you and was distressed, because you had heard that he was sick. 27 As a matter of fact, he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Now I am especially eager to send him, so that you may rejoice when you see him again, and I may be relieved. 29 Therefore, receive him in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard, 30 because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life in order to fill in what was lacking in your service to me.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.