Old/New Testament
An Ideal King Establishes a Kingdom of Peace
11 A shoot will grow out of Jesse’s[a] root stock,
a bud will sprout[b] from his roots.
2 The Lord’s Spirit will rest on him[c]—
a Spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom,[d]
a Spirit that provides the ability to execute plans,[e]
a Spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the Lord.[f]
3 He will take delight in obeying the Lord.[g]
He will not judge by mere appearances,[h]
or make decisions on the basis of hearsay.[i]
4 He will treat the poor fairly,[j]
and make right decisions[k] for the downtrodden of the earth.[l]
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,[m]
and order the wicked to be executed.[n]
5 Justice will be like a belt around his waist,
integrity will be like a belt around his hips.[o]
6 A wolf will reside[p] with a lamb,
and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;
an ox and a young lion will graze together,[q]
as a small child leads them along.
7 A cow and a bear will graze together,
their young will lie down together.[r]
A lion, like an ox, will eat straw.
8 A baby[s] will play
over the hole of a snake;[t]
over the nest[u] of a serpent
an infant[v] will put his hand.[w]
9 They will no longer injure or destroy
on my entire royal mountain.[x]
For there will be universal submission to the Lord’s sovereignty,
just as the waters completely cover the sea.[y]
Israel is Reclaimed and Reunited
10 At that time[z] a root from Jesse[aa] will stand like a signal flag for the nations. Nations will look to him for guidance,[ab] and his residence will be majestic. 11 At that time[ac] the Lord[ad] will again lift his hand[ae] to reclaim[af] the remnant of his people[ag] from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros,[ah] Cush,[ai] Elam, Shinar,[aj] Hamath, and the seacoasts.[ak]
12 He will lift a signal flag for the nations;
he will gather Israel’s dispersed people[al]
and assemble Judah’s scattered people
from the four corners of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will end,[am]
and Judah’s hostility[an] will be eliminated.
Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah,
and Judah will no longer be hostile toward Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down[ao] on the Philistine hills to the west;[ap]
together they will loot the people of the east.
They will take over Edom and Moab,[aq]
and the Ammonites will be their subjects.
15 The Lord will divide[ar] the gulf[as] of the Egyptian Sea;[at]
he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River[au] and send a strong wind;[av]
he will turn it into seven dried-up streams,[aw]
and enable them to walk across in their sandals.
16 There will be a highway leading out of Assyria
for the remnant of his people,[ax]
just as there was for Israel,
when[ay] they went up from the land of Egypt.
12 At that time[az] you will say:
“I praise you, O Lord,
for even though you were angry with me,
your anger subsided, and you consoled me.
2 Look, God is my deliverer![ba]
I will trust in him[bb] and not fear.
For the Lord gives me strength and protects me;[bc]
he has become my deliverer.”[bd]
3 Joyfully you will draw water
from the springs of deliverance.[be]
4 At that time[bf] you will say:
“Praise the Lord!
Ask him for help![bg]
Publicize his mighty acts among the nations.
Make it known that he is unique.[bh]
5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done magnificent things;
let this be known[bi] throughout the earth.
6 Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion,
for the Holy One of Israel[bj] acts mightily[bk] among you!”
The Lord Will Judge Babylon
13 [bl] This is an oracle[bm] about Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2 [bn] On a bare hill raise a signal flag;
shout to them,
wave your hand,
so they might enter the gates of the princes!
3 I have given orders to my chosen soldiers;[bo]
I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger[bp]—
my boasting, arrogant ones.[bq]
4 [br] There is a loud noise on the mountains—
it sounds like a large army![bs]
There is great commotion among the kingdoms[bt]—
nations are being assembled!
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is mustering
forces for battle.
5 They come from a distant land,
from the horizon.[bu]
It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment,[bv]
coming to destroy the whole earth.[bw]
6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment[bx] is near;
it comes with all the destructive power of the Sovereign One.[by]
7 For this reason all hands hang limp,[bz]
every human heart loses its courage.[ca]
8 They panic—
cramps and pain seize hold of them
like those of a woman who is straining to give birth.
They look at one another in astonishment;
their faces are flushed red.[cb]
9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment[cc] is coming;
it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger,[cd]
destroying[ce] the earth[cf]
and annihilating its sinners.
10 Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations
no longer give out their light;[cg]
the sun is darkened as soon as it rises,
and the moon does not shine.[ch]
11 [ci] I will punish the world for its evil,[cj]
and wicked people for their sin.
I will put an end to the pride of the insolent,
I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants.[ck]
12 I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold,
and people more scarce[cl] than gold from Ophir.
13 So I will shake the heavens,[cm]
and the earth will shake loose from its foundation,[cn]
because of the fury of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
in the day he vents his raging anger.[co]
14 Like a frightened gazelle[cp]
or a sheep with no shepherd,
each will turn toward home,[cq]
each will run to his homeland.
15 Everyone who is caught will be stabbed;
everyone who is seized[cr] will die[cs] by the sword.
16 Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes;
their houses will be looted
and their wives raped.
17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them;[ct]
they are not concerned about silver,
nor are they interested in gold.[cu]
18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons;[cv]
they have no compassion on a person’s offspring;[cw]
they will not[cx] look with pity on children.
19 Babylon, the most admired[cy] of kingdoms,
the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride,[cz]
will be destroyed by God
just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.[da]
20 No one will live there again;
no one will ever reside there again.[db]
No bedouin[dc] will camp[dd] there,
no shepherds will rest their flocks[de] there.
21 Wild animals will rest there,
the ruined[df] houses will be full of hyenas.[dg]
Ostriches will live there,
wild goats will skip among the ruins.[dh]
22 Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses,
jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces.[di]
Her time is almost up,[dj]
her days will not be prolonged.[dk]
Live in Unity
4 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord,[a] urge you to live[b] worthily of the calling with which you have been called,[c] 2 with all humility and gentleness,[d] with patience, putting up with[e] one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured[f] captives; he gave gifts to men.”[g] 9 Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended[h] to the lower regions,[i] namely, the earth?[j] 10 He, the very one[k] who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. 11 And he himself[l] gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,[m] 12 to equip[n] the saints for the work of ministry, that is,[o] to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to[p] the measure of Christ’s full stature.[q] 14 So[r] we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.[s] 15 But practicing the truth in love,[t] we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together[u] through every supporting ligament.[v] As each one does its part, the body builds itself up in love.
Live in Holiness
17 So I say this, and insist[w] in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility[x] of their thinking.[y] 18 They are darkened in their understanding,[z] being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. 19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.[aa] 20 But you did not learn about Christ like this, 21 if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. 22 You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside[ab] the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image[ac]—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.[ad]
25 Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor,[ae] because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin;[af] do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger.[ag] 27 Do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 The one who steals must steal no longer; instead he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 29 You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need,[ah] that it would give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 You must put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and slanderous talk—indeed all malice.[ai] 32 Instead,[aj] be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.
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