Old/New Testament
A Prophecy Against Egypt and Ethiopia
20 In the year that the Tartan[a] came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it, 2 at the same time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz saying, “Go and loosen the sackcloth from your waist and take off your shoes from your feet.” And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
3 The Lord said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia, 4 so the king of Assyria shall lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5 Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed of Ethiopia their hope and Egypt their boast. 6 So the inhabitants of this coastland shall say in that day, ‘Certainly such is our hope, where we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And how shall we escape?’ ”
A Prophecy Against Babylon
21 The oracle of the desert of the sea.
As whirlwinds in the Negev pass through,
so it comes from the desert,
from a terrible land.
2 A grievous vision is declared to me;
the treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.
Go up, O Elam. Lay siege, O Media.
All her sighing I have made to cease.
3 Therefore, my loins are filled with pain;
pangs have taken hold of me as the pangs of a woman who travails.
I am so perplexed at the hearing of it;
I am so dismayed at the seeing of it.
4 My heart panted,
fearfulness overwhelmed me;
the night for which I longed
has turned into trembling for me.
5 Prepare the table,
watch in the watchtower,
eat and drink.
Arise, you princes,
and oil the shields.
6 For thus the Lord has said to me:
“Go, station a watchman;
let him declare what he sees.
7 When he sees chariots
with horsemen in pairs,
a chariot of donkeys,
and a chariot of camels,
then let him pay close attention,
very close attention.”
8 Then the watchman called:
“O Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime,
and I am stationed at my guard post every night.
9 Look, here comes a chariot of men,
horsemen in pairs.”
And he answered and said,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon.
And all the graven images of her gods
lie shattered on the ground.”
10 O my threshed people and my afflicted of the threshing floor!
What I have heard from the Lord of Hosts,
the God of Israel,
I have declared to you.
A Prophecy Against Edom
11 The oracle of Dumah.
He calls to me out of Seir,
“Watchman, how far gone is the night?
Watchman, how far gone is the night?”
12 The watchman says,
“The morning comes and also the night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
return again.”
A Prophecy Against Arabia
13 The oracle about Arabia.
In the forest of Arabia you shall lodge,
O traveling companies of Dedanites.
14 Bring water for the thirsty,
O inhabitants of the land of Tema;
meet the fugitive with bread.
15 For they fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
and from the bent bow,
and from the grievousness of war.
16 For thus the Lord has said to me: Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall fail. 17 And the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished, for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it.
An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem
22 The oracle of the Valley of Vision.
What ails you now,
that you all have gone up to the housetops,
2 you who were full of noise,
a tumultuous city, a joyous city?
Your slain are not slain with the sword,
nor did they die in battle.
3 All your rulers have fled together;
they are captured by the archers.
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
although they had fled from afar.
4 Therefore, I say, “Look away from me,
I will weep bitterly;
do not try to comfort me
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5 For it is a day of trouble and of treading down and of perplexity
by the Lord God of Hosts
in the Valley of Vision,
a breaking down of the walls
and a crying to the mountains.
6 Elam took up the quiver
with chariots of men and horsemen,
and Kir uncovered the shield.
7 Your choicest valleys shall be full of chariots,
and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
8 And He shall remove the protection of Judah.
You shall depend in that day
on the weapons of the house of the forest;
9 you have seen also that the breaches
of the City of David are many;
and you gathered together the waters
of the lower pool.
10 You have numbered the houses of Jerusalem,
and the houses you have broken down to fortify the wall.
11 You also made a reservoir between the two walls
for the water of the old pool.
But you have not looked to its Maker,
nor did you respect Him who fashioned it long ago.
12 In that day the Lord God of Hosts
called you to weeping and mourning,
and to tear your hair and wear sackcloth.
13 Yet, there is joy and gladness,
slaying of oxen and killing of sheep,
eating of meat and drinking wine:
“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we may die.”
14 It was revealed in my hearing by the Lord of Hosts: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die, says the Lord God of Hosts.
15 Thus says the Lord God of Hosts:
Come, go to this treasurer,
even to Shebna, who is over the royal household, and say:
16 What right do you have here? And whom do you have here
that you have dug out for yourself a tomb here,
as he who hews out for himself a tomb on high,
and who cuts a habitation for himself in a rock?
17 Indeed, the Lord is about to hurl you headlong, O man;
He is about to seize you firmly.
18 He will surely violently turn
and toss you like a ball into a large country;
there you shall die,
and there the chariots of your glory shall be
the shame of your lord’s house.
19 I will drive you from your office
and pull you down from your station.
20 In that day I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. 21 And I will clothe him with your robe and tie him securely with your sash. And I will entrust him with your authority, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder. Then he shall open, and no one shall shut. And he shall shut, and no one shall open. 23 I will fasten him as a nail in a firm place, and he shall become a glorious throne to his father’s house. 24 They shall hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the bowls to all the jars.
25 In that day, says the Lord of Hosts, the nail that is fastened in the firm place shall be removed, and be cut down and fall. And the load that was on it shall be cut off, for the Lord has spoken it.
Children and Parents
6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise, 3 “so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”[a]
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Servants and Masters
5 Servants, obey those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of your heart, as to Christ, 6 not serving when eyes are on you, but as pleasing men as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good thing any man does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is enslaved or free.
9 And masters, do the same things for them, no longer threatening, knowing that your Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
The Battle Against Evil
10 Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your waist girded with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 having your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, 16 and above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit always with all kinds of prayer and supplication. To that end be alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray for me, that the power to speak may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.
Final Greetings
21 Now that you also may know my activities and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you might know our activities and that he might comfort your hearts.
23 Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.