Old/New Testament
E. The Lord Alone, Israel’s and Judah’s Salvation
Chapter 28
The Fate of Samaria[a]
1 Ah! majestic garland
of the drunkards of Ephraim,[b]
Fading blooms of his glorious beauty,
at the head of the fertile valley,
upon those stupefied with wine.(A)
2 See, the Lord has a strong one, a mighty one,[c]
who, like an onslaught of hail, a destructive storm,
Like a flood of water, great and overflowing,
levels to the ground with violence;(B)
3 With feet that will trample
the majestic garland of the drunkards of Ephraim.
4 The fading blooms of his glorious beauty
at the head of the fertile valley
Will be like an early fig before summer:
whoever sees it,
swallows it as soon as it is in hand.(C)
5 On that day the Lord of hosts
will be a glorious crown
And a brilliant diadem
for the remnant of his people,
6 A spirit of judgment
for the one who sits in judgment,
And strength for those
who turn back the battle at the gate.
Against Judah
7 But these also stagger from wine
and stumble from strong drink:
Priest and prophet stagger from strong drink,
overpowered by wine;
They are confused by strong drink,
they stagger in their visions,
they totter when giving judgment.(D)
8 Yes, all the tables
are covered with vomit,
with filth, and no place left clean.
9 [d]“To whom would he impart knowledge?
To whom would he convey the message?
To those just weaned from milk,
those weaned from the breast?
10 For he says,
‘Command on command, command on command,
rule on rule, rule on rule,
here a little, there a little!’”
11 [e]Yes, with stammering lips and in a strange language
he will speak to this people,(E)
12 to whom he said:
“This is the resting place,
give rest to the weary;
And this is the place of repose”—
but they refused to hear.(F)
13 So for them the word of the Lord shall be:
“Command on command, command on command,
Rule on rule, rule on rule,
here a little, there a little!”
So that when they walk, they shall stumble backward,
broken, ensnared, and captured.(G)
14 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule[f] this people in Jerusalem:(H)
15 You have declared, “We have made a covenant with death,
with Sheol[g] we have made a pact;
When the raging flood passes through,
it will not reach us;
For we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have found a hiding place,”—(I)
16 Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
See, I am laying a stone in Zion,[h]
a stone that has been tested,
A precious cornerstone as a sure foundation;
whoever puts faith in it will not waver.(J)
17 I will make judgment a measuring line,
and justice a level.—[i]
Hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters shall flood the hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death shall be canceled
and your pact with Sheol shall not stand.
When the raging flood passes through,
you shall be beaten down by it.(K)
19 Whenever it passes, it shall seize you;
morning after morning it shall pass,
by day and by night.
Sheer terror
to impart the message!
20 For the bed shall be too short to stretch out in,
and the cover too narrow to wrap in.
21 For the Lord shall rise up as on Mount Perazim,
bestir himself as in the Valley of Gibeon,[j]
To carry out his work—strange his work!
to perform his deed—alien his deed!
22 Now, cease scoffing,
lest your bonds be tightened,
For I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord, the God of hosts,
for the whole land.(L)
The Parable of the Farmer
23 [k]Give ear and hear my voice,
pay attention and hear my word:
24 Is the plowman forever plowing in order to sow,
always loosening and harrowing the field?
25 When he has leveled the surface,
does he not scatter caraway and sow cumin,[l]
Put in wheat and barley,
with spelt as its border?
26 His God has taught him this rule,
he has instructed him.
27 For caraway is not threshed with a sledge,
nor does a cartwheel roll over cumin.
But caraway is beaten out with a staff,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Grain is crushed for bread, but not forever;
though he thresh it thoroughly,
and drive his cartwheel and horses over it,
he does not pulverize it.
29 This too comes from the Lord of hosts;
wonderful is his counsel and great his wisdom.(M)
Chapter 29
Judgment and Deliverance of Jerusalem
1 Ah! Ariel, Ariel,[m]
city where David encamped!
Let year follow year,
and feast follow feast,(N)
2 But I will bring distress upon Ariel,
and there will be mourning and moaning.
You shall be to me like Ariel:(O)
3 I will encamp like David against you;
I will circle you with outposts
and set up siege works against you.(P)
4 You shall speak from beneath the earth,
and from the dust below, your words shall come.
Your voice shall be that of a ghost from the earth,
and your words shall whisper from the dust.(Q)
5 The horde of your arrogant shall be like fine dust,
a horde of tyrants like flying chaff.(R)
Then suddenly, in an instant,
6 you shall be visited by the Lord of hosts,
With thunder, earthquake, and great noise,
whirlwind, storm, and the flame of consuming fire.(S)
7 [n]Then like a dream,
a vision of the night,
Shall be the horde of all the nations
who make war against Ariel:
All the outposts, the siege works against it,
all who distress it.
8 As when a hungry man dreams he is eating
and awakens with an empty stomach,
Or when a thirsty man dreams he is drinking
and awakens faint, his throat parched,
So shall the horde of all the nations be,
who make war against Mount Zion.
Blindness and Perversity
9 [o]Stupefy yourselves and stay stupid;
blind yourselves and stay blind!
You who are drunk, but not from wine,
who stagger, but not from strong drink!(T)
10 For the Lord has poured out on you
a spirit of deep sleep.
He has shut your eyes (the prophets)
and covered your heads (the seers).[p](U)
11 For you the vision of all this has become like the words of a sealed scroll. When it is handed to one who can read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” 12 When the scroll is handed to one who cannot read, with the request, “Read this,” the reply is, “I cannot read.”
13 The Lord said:
Since this people draws near with words only
and honors me with their lips alone,
though their hearts are far from me,
And fear of me has become
mere precept of human teaching,(V)
14 Therefore I will again deal with this people
in surprising and wondrous fashion:
The wisdom of the wise shall perish,
the prudence of the prudent shall vanish.(W)
15 Ah! You who would hide a plan
too deep for the Lord!
Who work in the dark, saying,
“Who sees us, who knows us?”(X)
16 Your perversity is as though the potter
were taken to be the clay:
As though what is made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me!”
Or the vessel should say of the potter,
“He does not understand.”(Y)
Redemption[q]
17 Surely, in a very little while,
Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,
and the orchard be considered a forest!(Z)
18 On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a scroll;
And out of gloom and darkness,
the eyes of the blind shall see.(AA)
19 The lowly shall again find joy in the Lord,
the poorest rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.(AB)
20 For the tyrant shall be no more,
the scoffer shall cease to be;
All who are ready for evil shall be cut off,(AC)
21 those who condemn with a mere word,
Who ensnare the defender at the gate,
and leave the just with an empty claim.(AD)
22 Therefore thus says the Lord,
the God of the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:[r]
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no longer shall his face grow pale.(AE)
23 For when his children see
the work of my hands in his midst,
They shall sanctify my name;
they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
be in awe of the God of Israel.(AF)
24 Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
those who find fault shall receive instruction.
Chapter 3
Concluding Admonitions. 1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice[a] in the Lord. Writing the same things to you is no burden for me but is a safeguard for you.(A)
V. Polemic: Righteousness and the Goal in Christ[b]
Against Legalistic Teachers. 2 [c]Beware of the dogs! Beware of the evil-workers!(B) Beware of the mutilation![d] 3 For we are the circumcision,[e] we who worship through the Spirit of God, who boast in Christ Jesus and do not put our confidence in flesh,(C) 4 although I myself have grounds for confidence even in the flesh.(D)
Paul’s Autobiography. If anyone else thinks he can be confident in flesh, all the more can I. 5 Circumcised on the eighth day,[f] of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee,(E) 6 in zeal I persecuted the church, in righteousness based on the law I was blameless.(F)
Righteousness from God. 7 [But] whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss[g] because of Christ.(G) 8 More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ,(H) the righteousness from God, depending on faith 10 to know him and the power of his resurrection and [the] sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death,(I) 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.(J)
Forward in Christ.[h] 12 (K)It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity,[i] but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ [Jesus]. 13 Brothers, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.(L) 15 Let us, then, who are “perfectly mature” adopt this attitude. And if you have a different attitude, this too God will reveal to you. 16 Only, with regard to what we have attained, continue on the same course.[j]
Wrong Conduct and Our Goal.[k] 17 Join with others in being imitators of me,[l] brothers, and observe those who thus conduct themselves according to the model you have in us.(M) 18 For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.(N) 19 Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things.(O) 20 But our citizenship[m] is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.(P) 21 He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.(Q)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.