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God chooses Isaiah to be a prophet
6 In the year when King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord God. He was sitting high up, on a throne. The ends of his long coat filled the temple. 2 Above him there were seraphs. Each one had six wings. Two wings covered the seraphs' faces. Two wings covered their feet. With the other two wings they were flying.
3 The seraphs called out to one another. They said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty! The whole earth is full of his great glory.’
4 When the seraphs spoke, the foundation of the temple shook. And the temple became full of smoke.
5 Then I said, ‘It is bad for me! My life is at an end! I have lips that are unclean. I live among people with lips that are unclean. With my own eyes I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’
6 Then one of the seraphs flew towards me. In his hand was a piece of burning coal. He had used a tool to take it from the altar. 7 He touched my mouth with the piece of coal. He said to me, ‘Look! This has touched your lips. It has taken away your sin. You are no longer guilty.’
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord God. He said, ‘Is there anyone that I can send with my message? Who will go on our behalf?’ I said, ‘I am here. Send me!’
9 The Lord said, ‘Go! Tell my message to those people:[a]
“You will continue to listen,
but you will never understand!
You will continue to look,
but you will not see anything!”
10 Make them refuse to understand. Cause their ears to be deaf and their eyes to be blind. If you do not do that, they might use their eyes to see. They might use their ears to listen. They might use their minds to understand. Then they might turn back to me so that I would make them well again.’
11 Then I asked the Lord, ‘For how long will this be, Lord God?’
He replied,
‘It must continue until enemies destroy their cities.
Their houses will become a heap of stones
and nobody will live in them.
Their land will become useless
and nothing will remain there.
12 I will send all the people far away.
The whole land will be empty and useless.
13 Even if only one tenth part of the people remain in the land, enemies will continue to destroy it. It will be like they are cutting down a great oak tree. But the base of the tree with its roots will still be there. From the part that remains, a holy branch will grow.’
God's message for King Ahaz
7 Ahaz became the king of Judah. He was the son of Jotham. Jotham was the son of Uzziah.
While Ahaz was Judah's king, King Rezin of Syria and Remaliah's son, King Pekah of Israel, attacked Jerusalem. But they could not get into the city. 2 People gave this news to Judah's royal family. They said, ‘The armies of Syria and Ephraim have joined together to attack you.’[b] When they heard this, Ahaz and his people were very afraid. They shook with fear, like trees in the forest shake in the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, ‘Go out and meet Ahaz. Take your son, Shear-Jashub, with you.[c] Go to meet Ahaz at the end of the water stream that comes from the higher pool. That is at the field where people wash clothes.
4 Say to Ahaz, “Be careful. Do not be upset or afraid. Do not let King Rezin, his people from Syria and Remaliah's son, King Pekah, make you afraid. They are very angry, but their power will soon be useless, like two bits of wood that remain after a fire. 5 The rulers of Syria and Ephraim, as well as Remaliah's son, have made plans to attack you. 6 They are saying, ‘We must attack Judah. We will frighten the people and we will take their country for ourselves. We will make the son of Tabeel rule there as king.’
7 But I, the Almighty Lord, say this: That will never happen! 8 The capital city of Syria is Damascus. And the king of Damascus is Rezin. 65 years from now Ephraim will not even be a nation. There will be nothing left! 9 The capital city of Ephraim is Samaria. And the king of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you do not continue to trust me, you will not be strong enough to win.” ’
10 Isaiah also gave this message from the Lord to Ahaz. 11 He said, ‘Ask the Lord your God to do a miracle for you. That will show you that what he has said is true. Ask for anything, deep in the earth or high in the sky.’
12 But Ahaz said, ‘I will never ask the Lord to do that. I do not want to test him.’
13 So Isaiah replied, ‘Now listen, you royal family of David! You cause trouble for people like me. That is bad enough. But now you are trying to cause trouble for God himself. 14 So the Lord God himself will show you that he speaks a true message. Look, the young woman who has never had sex will become pregnant. She will give birth to a son. She will call his name Immanuel. 15 One day he will know how to choose good things and refuse to do evil things. By that time there will be cream and honey for him to eat. 16 Even before that, the two kings that you are now afraid of will have no power. Their land will be empty.
17 But the Lord will bring even greater trouble to you! It will be very bad for you, for the royal family, and for your people. Nothing as bad will have happened since Ephraim became separate from Judah. Yes, the Lord will bring the king of Assyria to attack you!’
18 At that time, the Lord will call the soldiers of Egypt to come and attack you. And they will come like a crowd of flies! He will call for soldiers to come from Assyria. And they will come like a crowd of bees! 19 They will all come in great crowds. They will come into the valleys, the cliffs, the holes in the rocks, the thorn bushes and the pools of water.
20 At that time, the Lord will use the king of Assyria to bring trouble and pain. He will come from beyond the Euphrates river. He will be like a sharp knife that cuts off all your hair, the hair from your head, your legs and your beard.
21 At that time, a farmer will have only one young cow and two goats.[d] 22 They will give him a lot of milk. So he will have butter and cream to eat. Everyone who remains in the land will have milk and honey as their food. 23 On that day, in every place where there had been 1,000 valuable vines, there will now be only weeds and thorn bushes. 24 In the whole land there will be only weeds and thorn bushes. So men will go to shoot wild animals there with their bows and arrows. 25 Nobody will go to the fields in the hills, because only thorn bushes grow there. People will be afraid to go there. They will send their cows there to eat grass. Sheep will run over the fields.
Paul speaks about his own work
16 I say this again: nobody should think that I am a fool. But even if you do think that, still listen to me. Give me a chance to praise myself a little, as a fool would do. 17 When I say good things about myself like this, it is not how the Lord would talk. No, these are the words of a fool. 18 But many other people are using human ideas to praise themselves. So I will also do that.
19 You think that you are very wise! So you are happy to listen to fools. 20 You accept people who make you like their slaves. You accept people who cheat you, or take things from you. You accept people who are proud of themselves. Even if someone hits you in your face, you still accept him. 21 But we were not brave enough to do things like that to you. Should I be ashamed of that?
But other people are brave enough to praise themselves. So I will also be proud of the same things. (Now I am talking like a fool!) 22 Are they proud that they are Hebrew people? So am I.[a] Do they belong to Israel's people? So do I. Are they descendants of Abraham's family? So am I. 23 Are they Christ's servants? I serve him even better than they do! (Now I am speaking like a crazy person.) I work much more than they have worked. I have been in prison more often than they have. People have hit me with whips very many times. I have nearly died many times.
24 At five different times, the Jewish leaders punished me with whips. Each time they hit me 39 times. 25 Three times the Romans punished me with sticks. People threw stones at me to kill me once. Three times I have been on ships that broke in the sea. Once I was in the sea for a night and a day. 26 I have travelled on many journeys. I have been in danger from rivers and also from robbers. I have been in danger from my own people and also from Gentiles. I have been in danger in cities and also in the wilderness. I have been in danger on the sea. I have been in danger from false believers. 27 I have worked very hard, and I have been in pain. Many times I have not slept. I have often been hungry and thirsty. Many times I have had no food. I have often been cold and without enough clothes.
28 All these troubles have happened to me. But also, every day I have trouble in my mind. I worry about the believers in all the churches. 29 When one of these believers is weak, then I feel weak too. When something causes one of them to do something wrong, then I am very upset.
30 If I must be proud about myself, I will only be proud of things that show my weakness. 31 I am not telling lies. God, the Father of the Lord Jesus, knows that. He is the one that we should praise for ever. 32 When I was in Damascus, the ruler of that city sent soldiers to catch me. He was under the authority of King Aretas. The soldiers were watching carefully outside the city. 33 But my friends put me in a basket on the end of a rope. They sent me out through a window in the city wall and they let me drop to the ground. That is how I got away from the ruler of the city.[b]
David wrote this special song for the music leader. He must use stringed instruments. It was when the men of Ziph went to Saul and they said, ‘David is hiding with us.’
God keeps me safe[a]
54 God, you are great, so please help me!
Use your power to show that I am right.
2 God, hear my prayer,
and listen carefully to what I am saying.
3 Strangers are attacking me!
Cruel people want to kill me.
They do not respect you, God.[b]
Selah.
4 But I know that God is the one who gives me help.
My Lord takes care of me.
5 Pay back my enemies with their own evil.
Please do what you have promised
and destroy them.
6 I choose to offer a sacrifice to thank you.
Lord, you are always good,
so I want to praise your name.
7 Yes, God has saved me from all my trouble.
When I looked at my enemies,
I see that I have won against them.[c]
More wise thoughts
23 6. When you sit down to eat a meal with a ruler, be careful how you eat. 2 Even if you enjoy your food, do not eat too much of it. 3 Do not want his special food for yourself. He may be trying to deceive you.
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