Isaiah 26-29

New American Standard Bible

Song of Trust in God’s Protection

26 ^(A)On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a ^(B)strong city;
He sets up walls and ramparts for ^[a]^(C)security.
²Open the ^(D)gates, that the ^(E)righteous nation may enter,
The one that ^[b]remains faithful.
³The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect ^(F)peace,
Because he trusts in You.
⁴^(G)Trust in the Lord forever,
For in ^[c]God the Lord, we have an everlasting ^(H)Rock.
⁵For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the ^(I)unassailable city;
^(J)He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.
⁶^(K)The foot will trample it,
The feet of the ^(L)poor, the steps of the helpless.”

⁷The ^(M)way of the righteous is smooth;
O Upright One, ^(N)make the path of the righteous level.
⁸Indeed, while following the way of ^(O)Your judgments, Lord,
We have waited for You eagerly;
^(P)Your name, and ^(Q)remembering You, is the desire of our souls.
⁹^(R)At night ^[d]my soul longs for You,
Indeed, ^[e]my spirit within me ^(S)seeks You diligently;
For when the earth ^[f]experiences Your judgments,
The inhabitants of the world ^(T)learn righteousness.
¹⁰Though the wicked person is shown compassion,
He does not ^(U)learn righteousness;
He ^(V)deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,
And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.

¹¹Lord, Your hand is lifted up, yet they ^(W)do not see it.
^[g]They see ^(X)Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;
Indeed, ^[h]^(Y)fire will devour Your enemies.
¹²Lord, You will establish ^(Z)peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all our works.
¹³Lord, our God, ^(AA)other masters besides You have ruled us;
But through You alone we ^[i]^(AB)confess Your name.
¹⁴^(AC)The dead will not live, the ^[j]departed spirits will not rise;
Therefore You have ^(AD)punished and destroyed them,
And You have eliminated all remembrance of them.
¹⁵^(AE)You have increased the nation, Lord,
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have ^(AF)extended all the borders of the land.
¹⁶Lord, they sought You ^(AG)in distress;
They ^[k]could only whisper a prayer,
Your discipline was upon them.
¹⁷^(AH)As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,
She writhes and cries out in her labor pains;
This is how we were before You, Lord.
¹⁸We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,
We ^(AI)gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,
Nor were ^(AJ)inhabitants of the world ^[l]born.
¹⁹Your ^(AK)dead will live;
^[m]Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, ^(AL)awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the ^[n]dawn,
And the earth will ^[o]give birth to the ^[p]departed spirits.

²⁰Come, my people, ^(AM)enter your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little ^[q]^(AN)while
Until ^(AO)indignation ^[r]runs its course.
²¹For behold, the Lord is about to ^(AP)come out from His place
To ^(AQ)punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wrongdoing;
And the earth will ^(AR)reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover her slain.

God’s Blessings for Israel

27 On that day ^(AS)the Lord will punish ^[s]^(AT)Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even ^[t]Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And ^(AU)He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea.

²On that day,
“A ^[u]^(AV)vineyard of beauty, sing of it!
³I, the Lord, am its keeper;
^(AW)I water it every moment.
So that no one will ^[v]damage it,
I ^(AX)guard it night and day.
⁴I have no wrath.
Should ^[w]someone give Me ^(AY)briars and thorns in battle,
Then I would step on them, ^(AZ)I would burn them ^[x]completely.
⁵Or let him ^[y]^(BA)rely on My protection,
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him ^(BB)make peace with Me.”
⁶^[z]In the days to come Jacob ^(BC)will take root,
Israel will ^(BD)blossom and sprout,
And they will fill the ^[aa]whole world with ^(BE)fruit.

⁷Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has ^(BF)He struck them?
Or like the slaughter of His slain, ^[ab]have they been slain?
⁸You contended with them ^[ac]by banishing them, by ^(BG)driving them away.
With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the ^(BH)east wind.
⁹Therefore through this Jacob’s wrongdoing will be ^(BI)forgiven;
And this will be ^[ad]the full price of the ^[ae]^(BJ)pardoning of his sin:
When he makes all the ^(BK)altar stones like pulverized chalk stones;
When ^[af]Asherim and incense altars will not stand.
¹⁰For the fortified city is ^(BL)isolated,
A ^[ag]homestead deserted and abandoned like the desert;
^(BM)There the calf will graze,
And there it will lie down and ^[ah]feed on its branches.
¹¹When its ^(BN)limbs are dry, they are broken off;
Women come and make a fire with them,
For they are not a people of ^(BO)discernment,
Therefore ^(BP)their Maker ^(BQ)will not have compassion on them.
And their Creator will not be gracious to them.

¹²On that day the Lord ^(BR)will thresh from the flowing stream of the ^(BS)Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt, and you will be ^(BT)gathered up one by one, you sons of Israel. ¹³It will come about also on that day that a great ^(BU)trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of ^(BV)Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and ^(BW)worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Ephraim’s Captivity Predicted

28 Woe to the proud crown of the ^(BX)habitually drunk of ^(BY)Ephraim,
And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the ^[ai]fertile valley
Of those who are ^[aj]overcome with wine!
²Behold, the Lord has a strong and ^(BZ)mighty agent;
As a storm of ^(CA)hail, a tempest of destruction,
Like a storm of ^(CB)mighty overflowing waters,
He has thrown it down to the earth with His hand.
³The splendid crown of the habitually drunk of Ephraim is ^(CC)trampled underfoot.
⁴And the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
Which is at the head of the ^[ak]fertile valley,
Will be like the ^(CD)first-ripe fig prior to the summer,
Which ^[al]one sees,
And ^[am]as soon as it is in his ^[an]hand,
He swallows it.
⁵On that day the ^(CE)Lord of armies will become a beautiful ^(CF)crown
And a glorious wreath to the remnant of His people;
⁶A ^(CG)spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment,
A ^(CH)strength to those who repel the ^[ao]onslaught at the gate.
⁷And these also ^(CI)reel with wine and stagger from intoxicating drink:
^(CJ)The priest and ^(CK)the prophet reel with intoxicating drink,
They are confused by wine, they stagger from ^(CL)intoxicating drink;
They reel while ^[ap]having ^(CM)visions,
They stagger when rendering a verdict.
⁸For all the tables are full of filthy ^(CN)vomit, without a single clean place.

⁹“To ^(CO)whom would He teach knowledge,
And to whom would He interpret the message?
Those just ^(CP)weaned from milk?
Those just taken from the breast?
¹⁰For He says,
‘^[aq]^(CQ)Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.’”
¹¹Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through ^(CR)stammering lips and a foreign tongue,
¹²He who said to them, “This is the ^(CS)place of quiet, give rest to the weary,”
And, “This is the resting place,” but they would not listen.
¹³So the word of the Lord to them will be,
“^[ar]Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and ^(CT)stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.

Judah Is Warned

¹⁴Therefore, ^(CU)hear the word of the Lord, you ^(CV)scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
¹⁵Because you have said, “We have made a ^(CW)covenant with death,
And with ^[as]Sheol we have made a ^[at]pact.
^(CX)The ^[au]gushing flood will not reach us when it passes by,
Because we have made ^(CY)falsehood our refuge and we have ^(CZ)concealed ourselves with deception.”

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord ^[av]God says:

“^(DA)Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a tested ^(DB)stone,
A precious cornerstone for the foundation, ^[aw]firmly placed.
The one who believes in it will not be ^[ax]disturbed.
¹⁷I will make ^(DC)justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then ^(DD)hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
¹⁸Your ^(DE)covenant with death will be ^[ay]^(DF)canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the ^(DG)^[az]gushing flood passes through,
Then you will become its ^(DH)trampling ground.
¹⁹As ^(DI)often as it passes through, it will ^[ba]seize you;
For ^(DJ)morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be ^[bb]sheer ^(DK)terror to understand ^[bc]what it means.”
²⁰The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the ^(DL)blanket is too ^[bd]small to wrap oneself in.
²¹For the Lord will rise up as at Mount ^(DM)Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the Valley of ^(DN)Gibeon,
To do His ^(DO)task, His ^[be]^(DP)unusual task,
And to work His work, His ^[bf]extraordinary work.
²²And now do not carry on as ^(DQ)scoffers,
Or your shackles will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord ^[bg]God of armies
Of decisive ^(DR)destruction on all the earth.

²³Listen and hear my voice,
Pay attention and hear my words.
²⁴Does the ^[bh]farmer plow ^[bi]continually to plant seed?
Does he continually ^[bj]turn and break up his ground?
²⁵Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter ^(DS)cumin
And ^[bk]plant ^(DT)wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its ^[bl]area?
²⁶For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
²⁷For dill is not threshed with a ^(DU)threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel ^[bm]driven over cumin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a club.
²⁸Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually ^[bn]damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
²⁹This also comes from the Lord of armies,
Who has made His counsel ^(DV)wonderful and His wisdom ^(DW)great.

Jerusalem Is Warned

29 Woe, ^[bo]Ariel, ^[bp]Ariel the city where David once ^(DX)camped!
Add year to year, ^[bq]^(DY)keep your feasts on schedule.
²I will bring distress to Ariel,
And she will be a city of grieving and ^(DZ)mourning;
And she will be like an ^[br]Ariel to me.
³I will ^(EA)camp against you ^[bs]encircling you,
And I will set up siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up battle towers against you.
⁴Then you will ^(EB)be brought low;
From the earth you will speak,
And from the dust where you are prostrate
Your words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a ^[bt]spirit from the ground,
And your speech will whisper from the dust.

⁵But the multitude of your ^[bu]enemies will become like fine ^(EC)dust,
And the multitude of the ^(ED)ruthless ones like the chaff which ^[bv]blows away;
And it will happen ^(EE)instantly, suddenly.
⁶From the Lord of armies you will be ^(EF)punished with ^(EG)thunder and earthquake and loud noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.
⁷And the ^(EH)multitude of all the nations who wage war against ^[bw]Ariel,
Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a ^(EI)vision of the night.
⁸It will be as when a hungry person dreams—
And behold, he is eating;
But when he awakens, his ^[bx]hunger is not satisfied,
Or as when a thirsty person dreams—
And behold, he is drinking,
But when he awakens, behold, he is faint
And his ^[by]thirst is not quenched.
^(EJ)So will the multitude of all the nations be
Who wage war against Mount Zion.

⁹^(EK)Be delayed and horrified,
Blind yourselves and be blind;
They ^(EL)become drunk, but not with wine,
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
¹⁰For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep ^(EM)sleep,
He has ^(EN)shut your eyes—the prophets;
And He has covered your heads—the seers.

¹¹The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed ^[bz]^(EO)book, which, when they give it to the one who ^[ca]is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” ¹²Then the ^[cb]book will be given to the one who ^[cc]is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I ^[cd]cannot read.”

¹³Then the Lord said,

“Because ^(EP)this people approaches Me with their ^[ce]words
And honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me,
And their ^[cf]reverence for Me ^[cg]consists of the commandment of men that is taught;
¹⁴Therefore behold, I will once again deal ^(EQ)marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And ^(ER)the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the understanding of their men who have understanding will be concealed.”

¹⁵Woe to those who deeply ^(ES)hide their ^[ch]plans from the Lord,
And whose ^(ET)deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “^(EU)Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
¹⁶You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered ^[ci]as equal with the clay,
That ^(EV)what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Blessing after Discipline

¹⁷Is it not yet just a little while
^[cj]Before Lebanon will be turned into a ^(EW)fertile field,
And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?
¹⁸On that day those who are ^(EX)deaf will hear ^(EY)words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the ^(EZ)eyes of those who are blind will see.
¹⁹The ^(FA)afflicted also will increase their joy in the Lord,
And the ^(FB)needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
²⁰For the ^(FC)ruthless will come to an end and the ^(FD)scorner will be finished,
Indeed ^(FE)all who ^[ck]are intent on doing evil will be eliminated,
²¹Who ^[cl]cause a person to be indicted by a word,
And ^(FF)set a trap for the arbitrator at the gate,
And ^[cm]^(FG)defraud the one in the right with ^[cn]meaningless arguments.

²²Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed ^(FH)Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob ^(FI)will not be ashamed now, nor will his face turn pale now;
²³But when ^[co]he sees his ^(FJ)children, the ^(FK)work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will ^(FL)sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
²⁴Those who ^(FM)err in ^[cp]mind will ^(FN)know ^[cq]the truth,
And those who ^[cr]criticize will ^[cs]^(FO)accept instruction.

Footnotes

Isaiah 26:1 Or salvation
Isaiah 26:2 Lit keeps faithfulness
Isaiah 26:4 Heb Yah, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 26:9 Lit with my soul I long
Isaiah 26:9 Lit with my spirit...I seek
Isaiah 26:9 Lit has
Isaiah 26:11 Or Let them see...and be
Isaiah 26:11 Or let the fire for Your adversaries devour them
Isaiah 26:13 Or make Your name known
Isaiah 26:14 Or shades
Isaiah 26:16 Lit sound forth a whisper
Isaiah 26:18 Lit fallen
Isaiah 26:19 As in some ancient versions; MT My
Isaiah 26:19 Lit lights
Isaiah 26:19 Lit cause to fall
Isaiah 26:19 Or shades
Isaiah 26:20 Lit moment
Isaiah 26:20 Lit passes over
Isaiah 27:1 Or sea monster
Isaiah 27:1 Or sea monster
Isaiah 27:2 Some mss a vineyard of wine
Isaiah 27:3 Lit punish
Isaiah 27:4 Lit who
Isaiah 27:4 Lit altogether
Isaiah 27:5 Lit take hold of
Isaiah 27:6 Lit Those coming
Isaiah 27:6 Lit face of the world
Isaiah 27:7 Lit he was slain
Isaiah 27:8 Some ancient versions by exact measure
Isaiah 27:9 Lit all the fruit
Isaiah 27:9 Lit removing
Isaiah 27:9 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
Isaiah 27:10 Lit pasture
Isaiah 27:10 Lit consume
Isaiah 28:1 Lit valley of fatness
Isaiah 28:1 Lit stricken
Isaiah 28:4 Lit valley of fatness
Isaiah 28:4 Lit the one seeing sees
Isaiah 28:4 Lit while it is yet
Isaiah 28:4 Lit palm
Isaiah 28:6 Lit battle
Isaiah 28:7 Lit seeing
Isaiah 28:10 Heb Sav lasav, sav lasav, Kav lakav, kav lakav, Zeer sham, zeer sham. These Hebrew fragments, imitating the babbling of a child, mock the prophet’s preaching.
Isaiah 28:13 See note v 10. The Lord responds to their scoffing by imitating their mockery, to represent the unintelligible language of a conqueror.
Isaiah 28:15 I.e., the netherworld
Isaiah 28:15 As in some ancient versions; MT seer
Isaiah 28:15 Or overwhelming scourge
Isaiah 28:16 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 28:16 Lit well-laid
Isaiah 28:16 Lit in a hurry
Isaiah 28:18 Lit covered over
Isaiah 28:18 Or overwhelming scourge
Isaiah 28:19 Lit take
Isaiah 28:19 Lit only
Isaiah 28:19 Lit the report; or the message
Isaiah 28:20 Lit narrow
Isaiah 28:21 Lit task is strange
Isaiah 28:21 Lit work is foreign
Isaiah 28:22 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 28:24 Lit plowman
Isaiah 28:24 Lit all day
Isaiah 28:24 Lit open
Isaiah 28:25 Lit put
Isaiah 28:25 Lit region
Isaiah 28:27 Lit rolled
Isaiah 28:28 Lit discomfit
Isaiah 29:1 I.e., Lion of God, or Jerusalem
Isaiah 29:1 I.e., Lion of God, or Jerusalem
Isaiah 29:1 Lit let your feasts run their round
Isaiah 29:2 Ariel (i.e., Jerusalem) is a Heb word for “altar hearth” where offerings were burned
Isaiah 29:3 Lit like a circle
Isaiah 29:4 Or ghost
Isaiah 29:5 Lit strangers
Isaiah 29:5 Lit passes away
Isaiah 29:7 See note 1 v 1
Isaiah 29:8 Lit soul
Isaiah 29:8 Lit soul
Isaiah 29:11 Or scroll
Isaiah 29:11 Lit knows books
Isaiah 29:12 Or scroll
Isaiah 29:12 Lit does not know books
Isaiah 29:12 Lit do not know books
Isaiah 29:13 Lit mouth
Isaiah 29:13 Lit fear of Me
Isaiah 29:13 Lit is
Isaiah 29:15 Lit counsel
Isaiah 29:16 Lit like
Isaiah 29:17 Lit And
Isaiah 29:20 Lit watch evil
Isaiah 29:21 Lit bring a person under condemnation
Isaiah 29:21 Lit turn aside
Isaiah 29:21 Lit confusion
Isaiah 29:23 Or his children see
Isaiah 29:24 Lit spirit
Isaiah 29:24 Lit understanding
Isaiah 29:24 Lit murmur
Isaiah 29:24 Lit learn

Psalm 65

New American Standard Bible

God’s Abundant Favor to Earth and Mankind.

For the music director. A Psalm of David. A Song.

65 There will be silence ^[a]before You, and praise in Zion, God,
And the ^(A)vow will be fulfilled for You.
²You who hear prayer,
To You ^(B)all ^[b]mankind comes.
³^[c]^(C)Wrongdoings prevail against me;
As for our offenses, You ^[d]^(D)forgive them.
⁴^(E)Blessed is the one You ^(F)choose and allow to approach You;
He will dwell in Your courtyards.
We will be ^(G)satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.

⁵By ^(H)awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, ^(I)God of our salvation,
You who are the trust of all the ^(J)ends of the earth and the farthest ^[e]^(K)sea;
⁶Who ^(L)establishes the mountains by His strength,
Who is ^(M)encircled with might;
⁷Who ^(N)stills the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the ^(O)turmoil of the nations.
⁸They who dwell at the ^(P)ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;
You make the ^[f]sunrise and the sunset shout for joy.

⁹You visit the earth and ^(Q)cause it to overflow;
You greatly ^(R)enrich it;
The ^[g]^(S)stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their ^(T)grain, for so You prepare ^[h]the earth.
¹⁰You water its furrows abundantly,
You ^[i]settle its ridges,
You soften it ^(U)with showers,
You bless its growth.
¹¹You have crowned the year ^[j]with Your ^(V)goodness,
And Your ^[k]paths ^(W)drip with fatness.
¹²^(X)The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the ^(Y)hills encircle themselves with rejoicing.
¹³The meadows are ^(Z)clothed with flocks
And the valleys are ^(AA)covered with grain;
They ^(AB)shout for joy, yes, they sing.

Footnotes

Psalm 65:1 Lit to
Psalm 65:2 Lit flesh comes
Psalm 65:3 Or Confessions of wrongdoings
Psalm 65:3 Lit cover, atone for
Psalm 65:5 Or seas
Psalm 65:8 Lit outgoings of the morning and evening
Psalm 65:9 Or channel
Psalm 65:9 Lit it
Psalm 65:10 Or smooth
Psalm 65:11 Lit of
Psalm 65:11 I.e., wagon tracks

1 Corinthians 4

New American Standard Bible

Servants of Christ

4 This is the way any person is to regard us: as ^(A)servants of Christ and ^(B)stewards of ^(C)the mysteries of God. ²In this case, moreover, it is required ^[a]of stewards that one be found trustworthy. ³But to me it is an insignificant matter that I would be examined by you, or by any human ^[b]court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. ⁴For I ^(D)am not aware of anything against myself; however I am not ^(E)vindicated by this, but the one who examines me is the Lord. ⁵Therefore ^(F)do not go on ^[c]passing judgment before ^[d]the time, but wait ^(G)until the Lord comes, who will both ^(H)bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of human hearts; and then ^(I)praise will come to each person from God.

⁶Now these things, brothers and sisters, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos on your account, so that in us you may learn not to exceed ^(J)what is written, so that no one of you will ^(K)become ^[e]arrogant ^(L)in behalf of one against the other. ⁷For who considers you as superior? ^(M)What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

⁸You are ^(N)already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you! ⁹For I think, God has exhibited us, the apostles, last of all as men ^(O)condemned to death, because we ^(P)have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to mankind. ¹⁰We are ^(Q)fools on account of Christ, but ^(R)you are prudent in Christ! ^(S)We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are without honor! ¹¹Up to this present hour we are both ^(T)hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless; ¹²and we labor, ^(U)working with our own hands; when we are ^(V)verbally abused, we bless; when we are ^(W)persecuted, we endure it; ¹³when we are slandered, we ^[f]reply as friends; we have ^(X)become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

¹⁴I do not write these things to ^(Y)shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved ^(Z)children. ¹⁵For if you were to have countless ^(AA)tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in ^(AB)Christ Jesus I ^(AC)became your father through the ^(AD)gospel. ¹⁶Therefore I urge you, be ^(AE)imitators of me. ¹⁷For this reason I ^(AF)have sent to you ^(AG)Timothy, who is my ^(AH)beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, ^(AI)just as I teach everywhere in every church. ¹⁸Now some have become ^[g]^(AJ)arrogant, as though I were not ^(AK)coming to you. ¹⁹But I ^(AL)will come to you soon, ^(AM)if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the ^[h]words of those who are ^(AN)arrogant, but their power. ²⁰For the kingdom of God is ^(AO)not in ^[i]words, but in power. ²¹What do you desire? ^(AP)That I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?