Old/New Testament
The Kingdom of Righteousness
32 See, a king shall reign in righteousness,
and princes shall rule justly.
2 A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind,
and a shelter from the tempest,
as rivers of water in a dry place,
as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3 The eyes of those who see shall not be blinded,
and the ears of those who hear shall listen.
4 The heart also of the hasty shall understand knowledge,
and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5 The vile person shall no more be called noble,
nor the rogue be spoken of as generous;
6 for the vile person will speak nonsense,
and his heart will work iniquity:
to practice hypocrisy
and to utter error against the Lord,
to keep the hungry unsatisfied
and to withhold drink from the thirsty.
7 The instruments also of the rogue are evil;
he devises wicked schemes
to destroy the poor with lying words,
even when the needy speaks right.
8 But the noble devises noble things,
and by noble things he stands.
The Women of Jerusalem
9 Rise up, you women who are at ease,
hear my voice;
you careless daughters,
give ear to my speech.
10 Within a year and a few days
you shall be troubled, you careless daughters;
for the vintage is ended
and the fruit gathering shall not come.
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease;
be troubled, you careless daughters;
strip, undress,
and put sackcloth on your waist.
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
13 for the land of my people
in which thorns and briers shall come up,
yes, for all the joyful houses
and for the jubilant city;
14 because the palaces have been forsaken,
the populated city is forsaken.
The forts and towers shall be caves forever,
a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,
15 until the Spirit is poured on us from on high,
and the wilderness is a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is counted as a forest.
The Peace of God’s Reign
16 Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness will abide in the fruitful field.
17 The work of righteousness shall be peace,
and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
18 My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation
and in secure dwellings
and in quiet resting places;
19 and it shall hail when the forest comes down,
and the city shall be utterly laid low.
20 How blessed are you
who sow beside all waters,
who send out freely the ox and the donkey.
A Prophecy of Deliverance
33 Woe to you, O destroyer,
though you were not destroyed,
and he who is treacherous,
though others did not deal treacherously with you!
When you cease destroying,
you shall be destroyed;
and when you finish dealing treacherously,
others shall deal treacherously with you.
2 O Lord, be gracious to us;
we have waited for You.
Be our strength every morning,
our salvation also in the time of trouble.
3 At the noise of the tumult, the people flee;
at the lifting up of Yourself, the nations scatter;
4 your spoil is gathered like the caterpillar gathers;
as locusts rush about, men rush about on it.
5 The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 He shall be the stability of your times,
a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is His treasure.
7 Listen! Their valiant ones cry in the streets;
the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways lie waste,
the wayfaring man ceases.
He has broken the covenant,
he has despised the cities,
he has no regard for man.
9 The earth mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down.
Sharon is like a wilderness,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.
Impending Judgment on Israel
10 “Now I will rise,” says the Lord,
“now I will be exalted,
now I will be lifted up.
11 You have conceived chaff,
you shall bring forth stubble;
My breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12 The people shall be burned to lime,
as thorns cut up are burned in the fire.”
13 Hear what I have done, you who are far away;
and you who are near, acknowledge My might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
fearfulness has seized the hypocrites:
“Who among us can live with the continual fire?
Who among us can live with everlasting burning?”
15 He who walks righteously
and speaks uprightly,
he who rejects unjust gain
and shakes his hands from holding bribes,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
and shuts his eyes from seeing evil:
16 He shall dwell on high;
his place of defense shall be the impregnable rock;
his bread shall be given him,
his waters shall be sure.
The Land of the Majestic King
17 Your eyes shall see the King in His beauty;
they shall see the land that is very far away.
18 Your heart shall meditate on terror:
“Where is he who counts?
Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
19 You shall not see a fierce people any more,
a people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends,
of a stammering tongue which no one understands.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
your eyes shall see Jerusalem,
a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down;
not one of its stakes shall ever be removed,
nor shall any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the glorious Lord will be to us
a place of broad rivers and streams
on which no boat with oars shall go
and on which no gallant ship shall pass,
22 for the Lord is our judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king;
He will save us.
23 Your tackle hangs loose;
it cannot hold the base of its mast securely,
nor spread out the sail.
Then the prey of an abundant spoil shall be divided;
the lame shall take the prey.
24 The inhabitant shall not say, “I am sick”;
the people who dwell there shall be forgiven their iniquity.
Salutation
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ who are at Colosse:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thankfulness for the Colossians
3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. 4 For we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints, 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has in all the world, and brings forth fruit, as it has also in you, since the day you heard it and knew the grace of God in truth. 7 And you also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ for you, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
The Person and Work of Christ
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing to all, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, 11 strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, enduring everything with perseverance and patience joyfully, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled us to be partakers in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of His dear Son, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of every creature. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell, 20 and to reconcile all things to Himself by Him, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him, I say—whether they are things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, who were formerly alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight, 23 if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and are not removed from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Paul’s Ministry to the Church
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and fill up in my flesh that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church. 25 I have been made a servant of it according to the commission of God, which has been given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 even the mystery which has been hidden from past ages and generations, but now is revealed to His saints. 27 To them God would make known what is the glorious riches of this mystery among the nations. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory, 28 whom we preach, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present them perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 In this I labor, striving according to His power, which effectively works in me.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.