Isaiah 32-33

New International Version

The Kingdom of Righteousness

32 See, a king^(A) will reign in righteousness
    and rulers will rule with justice.^(B)
²Each one will be like a shelter^(C) from the wind
    and a refuge from the storm,^(D)
like streams of water^(E) in the desert^(F)
    and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

³Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,^(G)
    and the ears^(H) of those who hear will listen.
⁴The fearful heart will know and understand,^(I)
    and the stammering tongue^(J) will be fluent and clear.
⁵No longer will the fool^(K) be called noble
    nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
⁶For fools speak folly,^(L)
    their hearts are bent on evil:^(M)
They practice ungodliness^(N)
    and spread error^(O) concerning the Lord;
the hungry they leave empty^(P)
    and from the thirsty they withhold water.
⁷Scoundrels use wicked methods,^(Q)
    they make up evil schemes^(R)
to destroy the poor with lies,
    even when the plea of the needy^(S) is just.^(T)
⁸But the noble make noble plans,
    and by noble deeds^(U) they stand.^(V)

The Women of Jerusalem

⁹You women^(W) who are so complacent,
    rise up and listen^(X) to me;
you daughters who feel secure,^(Y)
    hear what I have to say!
¹⁰In little more than a year^(Z)
    you who feel secure will tremble;
the grape harvest will fail,^(AA)
    and the harvest of fruit will not come.
¹¹Tremble,^(AB) you complacent women;
    shudder, you daughters who feel secure!^(AC)
Strip off your fine clothes^(AD)
    and wrap yourselves in rags.^(AE)
¹²Beat your breasts^(AF) for the pleasant fields,
    for the fruitful vines^(AG)
¹³and for the land of my people,
    a land overgrown with thorns and briers^(AH)—
yes, mourn^(AI) for all houses of merriment
    and for this city of revelry.^(AJ)
¹⁴The fortress^(AK) will be abandoned,
    the noisy city deserted;^(AL)
citadel and watchtower^(AM) will become a wasteland forever,
    the delight of donkeys,^(AN) a pasture for flocks,^(AO)
¹⁵till the Spirit^(AP) is poured on us from on high,
    and the desert becomes a fertile field,^(AQ)
    and the fertile field seems like a forest.^(AR)
¹⁶The Lord’s justice^(AS) will dwell in the desert,^(AT)
    his righteousness^(AU) live in the fertile field.
¹⁷The fruit of that righteousness^(AV) will be peace;^(AW)
    its effect will be quietness and confidence^(AX) forever.
¹⁸My people will live in peaceful^(AY) dwelling places,
    in secure homes,^(AZ)
    in undisturbed places of rest.^(BA)
¹⁹Though hail^(BB) flattens the forest^(BC)
    and the city is leveled^(BD) completely,
²⁰how blessed you will be,
    sowing^(BE) your seed by every stream,^(BF)
    and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.^(BG)

Distress and Help

33 Woe^(BH) to you, destroyer,
    you who have not been destroyed!
Woe to you, betrayer,
    you who have not been betrayed!
When you stop destroying,
    you will be destroyed;^(BI)
when you stop betraying,
    you will be betrayed.^(BJ)

²Lord, be gracious^(BK) to us;
    we long for you.
Be our strength^(BL) every morning,
    our salvation^(BM) in time of distress.^(BN)
³At the uproar of your army,^(BO) the peoples flee;^(BP)
    when you rise up,^(BQ) the nations scatter.
⁴Your plunder,^(BR) O nations, is harvested^(BS) as by young locusts;^(BT)
    like a swarm of locusts people pounce on it.

⁵The Lord is exalted,^(BU) for he dwells on high;^(BV)
    he will fill Zion with his justice^(BW) and righteousness.^(BX)
⁶He will be the sure foundation for your times,
    a rich store of salvation^(BY) and wisdom and knowledge;
    the fear^(BZ) of the Lord is the key to this treasure.^[a]^(CA)

⁷Look, their brave men^(CB) cry aloud in the streets;
    the envoys^(CC) of peace weep bitterly.
⁸The highways are deserted,
    no travelers^(CD) are on the roads.^(CE)
The treaty is broken,^(CF)
    its witnesses^[b] are despised,
    no one is respected.
⁹The land dries up^(CG) and wastes away,
    Lebanon^(CH) is ashamed and withers;^(CI)
Sharon^(CJ) is like the Arabah,
    and Bashan^(CK) and Carmel^(CL) drop their leaves.

¹⁰“Now will I arise,^(CM)” says the Lord.
    “Now will I be exalted;^(CN)
    now will I be lifted up.
¹¹You conceive^(CO) chaff,
    you give birth^(CP) to straw;
    your breath is a fire^(CQ) that consumes you.
¹²The peoples will be burned to ashes;^(CR)
    like cut thornbushes^(CS) they will be set ablaze.^(CT)”

¹³You who are far away,^(CU) hear^(CV) what I have done;
    you who are near, acknowledge my power!
¹⁴The sinners^(CW) in Zion are terrified;
    trembling^(CX) grips the godless:
“Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?^(CY)
    Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”
¹⁵Those who walk righteously^(CZ)
    and speak what is right,^(DA)
who reject gain from extortion^(DB)
    and keep their hands from accepting bribes,^(DC)
who stop their ears against plots of murder
    and shut their eyes^(DD) against contemplating evil—
¹⁶they are the ones who will dwell on the heights,^(DE)
    whose refuge^(DF) will be the mountain fortress.^(DG)
Their bread will be supplied,
    and water will not fail^(DH) them.

¹⁷Your eyes will see the king^(DI) in his beauty^(DJ)
    and view a land that stretches afar.^(DK)
¹⁸In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror:^(DL)
    “Where is that chief officer?
Where is the one who took the revenue?
    Where is the officer in charge of the towers?^(DM)”
¹⁹You will see those arrogant people^(DN) no more,
    people whose speech is obscure,
    whose language is strange and incomprehensible.^(DO)

²⁰Look on Zion,^(DP) the city of our festivals;
    your eyes will see Jerusalem,
    a peaceful abode,^(DQ) a tent^(DR) that will not be moved;^(DS)
its stakes will never be pulled up,
    nor any of its ropes broken.
²¹There the Lord will be our Mighty^(DT) One.
    It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.^(DU)
No galley with oars will ride them,
    no mighty ship^(DV) will sail them.
²²For the Lord is our judge,^(DW)
    the Lord is our lawgiver,^(DX)
the Lord is our king;^(DY)
    it is he who will save^(DZ) us.

²³Your rigging hangs loose:
    The mast is not held secure,
    the sail is not spread.
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided
    and even the lame^(EA) will carry off plunder.^(EB)
²⁴No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”;^(EC)
    and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.^(ED)

Footnotes

Isaiah 33:6 Or is a treasure from him
Isaiah 33:8 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text / the cities

Colossians 1

New International Version

1 Paul, an apostle^(A) of Christ Jesus by the will of God,^(B) and Timothy^(C) our brother,

²To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters^[a] in Christ:

Grace^(D) and peace to you from God our Father.^[b]^(E)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³We always thank God,^(F) the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love^(G) you have for all God’s people^(H)— ⁵the faith and love that spring from the hope^(I) stored up for you in heaven^(J) and about which you have already heard in the true message^(K) of the gospel ⁶that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit^(L) and growing throughout the whole world^(M)—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. ⁷You learned it from Epaphras,^(N) our dear fellow servant,^[c] who is a faithful minister^(O) of Christ on our^[d] behalf, ⁸and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.^(P)

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you,^(Q) we have not stopped praying for you.^(R) We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will^(S) through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^[e]^(T) ¹⁰so that you may live a life worthy^(U) of the Lord and please him^(V) in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,^(W) ¹¹being strengthened with all power^(X) according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,^(Y) ¹²and giving joyful thanks to the Father,^(Z) who has qualified you^[f] to share in the inheritance^(AA) of his holy people in the kingdom of light.^(AB) ¹³For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness^(AC) and brought us into the kingdom^(AD) of the Son he loves,^(AE) ¹⁴in whom we have redemption,^(AF) the forgiveness of sins.^(AG)

The Supremacy of the Son of God

¹⁵The Son is the image^(AH) of the invisible God,^(AI) the firstborn^(AJ) over all creation. ¹⁶For in him all things were created:^(AK) things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;^(AL) all things have been created through him and for him.^(AM) ¹⁷He is before all things,^(AN) and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head^(AO) of the body, the church;^(AP) he is the beginning and the firstborn^(AQ) from among the dead,^(AR) so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased^(AS) to have all his fullness^(AT) dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile^(AU) to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,^(AV) by making peace^(AW) through his blood,^(AX) shed on the cross.

²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies^(AY) in your minds^(AZ) because of^[g] your evil behavior. ²²But now he has reconciled^(BA) you by Christ’s physical body^(BB) through death to present you^(BC) holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation^(BD)— ²³if you continue^(BE) in your faith, established^(BF) and firm, and do not move from the hope^(BG) held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven,^(BH) and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.^(BI)

Paul’s Labor for the Church

²⁴Now I rejoice^(BJ) in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions,^(BK) for the sake of his body, which is the church.^(BL) ²⁵I have become its servant^(BM) by the commission God gave me^(BN) to present to you the word of God^(BO) in its fullness— ²⁶the mystery^(BP) that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. ²⁷To them God has chosen to make known^(BQ) among the Gentiles the glorious riches^(BR) of this mystery, which is Christ in you,^(BS) the hope of glory.

²⁸He is the one we proclaim, admonishing^(BT) and teaching everyone with all wisdom,^(BU) so that we may present everyone fully mature^(BV) in Christ. ²⁹To this end I strenuously^(BW) contend^(BX) with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.^(BY)

Footnotes

Colossians 1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 4:15.
Colossians 1:2 Some manuscripts Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Colossians 1:7 Or slave
Colossians 1:7 Some manuscripts your
Colossians 1:9 Or all spiritual wisdom and understanding
Colossians 1:12 Some manuscripts us
Colossians 1:21 Or minds, as shown by