1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go as at other times to seek omens, rather he turned his attention toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him. 3 Then he took up his discourse and said,
“The declaration of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the declaration of the man whose eye is opened;
4 The declaration of him who hears the words of God,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered,
5 How pleasant are your tents, Jacob,
Your dwelling places, Israel!
6 Like valleys that stretch out,
Like gardens beside a river,
Like aloes planted by the Lord,
Like cedars beside the waters.
7 Water will flow from his buckets,
And his seed will be by many waters,
And his king shall be higher than Agag,
And his kingdom shall be exalted.
8 God brings him out of Egypt,
He is for him like the horns of the wild ox.
He will devour the nations who are his adversaries,
And will crush their bones,
And smash them with his arrows.
9 He crouches, he lies down like a lion,
And like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
Blessed is everyone who blesses you,
And cursed is everyone who curses you.”
10 Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! 11 So flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but behold, the Lord has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not in fact tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, 13 ‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the command of the Lord, either good or bad, of my own accord. What the Lord speaks, I will speak’? 14 So now, behold, I am going to my people; come, and I will advise you of what this people will do to your people in the days to come.”
15 Then he took up his discourse and said,
“The declaration of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the declaration of the man whose eye is opened,
16 The declaration of him who hears the words of God,
And knows the knowledge of the Most High,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered:
17 I see him, but not now;
I look at him, but not near;
A star shall appear from Jacob,
A scepter shall rise from Israel,
And shall smash the forehead of Moab,
And overcome all the sons of Sheth.
18 And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession,
While Israel performs valiantly.
19 One from Jacob shall rule,
And will eliminate the survivors from the city.”
20 And he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said,
“Amalek was the first of the nations,
But his end shall be destruction.”
21 And he looked at the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,
“Your dwelling place is enduring,
And your nest is set in the cliff.
22 Nevertheless Kain will suffer devastation;
How long will Asshur keep you captive?”
23 Then he took up his discourse and said,
“Oh, who can live unless God has ordained it?
24 But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And they shall oppress Asshur and oppress Eber;
So they also will come to destruction.”
25 Then Balaam arose, and he departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went on his way.
1 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
2 Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
3 Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!
Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will pretend to obey You.
4 All the earth will worship You,
And will sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name.” Selah
5 Come and see the works of God,
Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of mankind.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through the river on foot;
Let’s rejoice there, in Him!
7 He rules by His might forever;
His eyes keep watch on the nations;
The rebellious shall not exalt themselves! Selah
8 Bless our God, you peoples,
And sound His praise abroad,
9 Who keeps us in life,
And does not allow our feet to slip.
10 For You have put us to the test, God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
11 You brought us into the net;
You laid an oppressive burden upon us.
12 You made men ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water.
Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.
13 I shall come into Your house with burnt offerings;
I shall pay You my vows,
14 Which my lips uttered
And my mouth spoke when I was in distress.
15 I shall offer to You burnt offerings of fat animals,
With the smoke of rams;
I shall make an offering of bulls with male goats. Selah
16 Come and hear, all who fear God,
And I will tell of what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was exalted with my tongue.
18 If I regard wickedness in my heart,
The Lord will not hear;
19 But God has heard;
He has given attention to the sound of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer
Nor His favor from me.
1 God be gracious to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah
2 That Your way may be known on the earth,
Your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise You, God;
May all the peoples praise You.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy;
For You will judge the peoples with fairness
And guide the nations on the earth. Selah
5 May the peoples praise You, God;
May all the peoples praise You.
6 The earth has yielded its produce;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 God blesses us,
So that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
1 When the Lord has compassion on Jacob and again chooses Israel, and settles them on their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2 The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will make them their own possession in the land of the Lord as male and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors.
3 And it will be on the day when the Lord gives you rest from your hardship, your turmoil, and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved, 4 that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,
“How the oppressor has ceased,
And how the onslaught has ceased!
5 The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
The scepter of rulers,
6 Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,
Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.
7 The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;
They break forth into shouts of joy.
8 Even the juniper trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
‘Since you have been laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.’
9 Sheol below is excited about you, to meet you when you come;
It stirs the spirits of the dead for you, all the leaders of the earth;
It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.
10 They will all respond and say to you,
‘Even you have become weak as we,
You have become like us.
11 Your pride and the music of your harps
Have been brought down to Sheol;
Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you
And worms are your covering.’
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
You star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who defeated the nations!
13 But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 Nevertheless you will be brought down to Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.
16 Those who see you will stare at you,
They will closely examine you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
17 Who made the world like a wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?’
18 All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
Each in his own tomb.
19 But you have been hurled out of your tomb
Like a rejected branch,
Clothed with those killed who have been pierced with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit
Like a trampled corpse.
20 You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have ruined your country,
You have killed your people.
May the descendants of evildoers never be mentioned.
21 Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons
Because of the wrongdoing of their fathers.
They must not arise and take possession of the earth,
And fill the surface of the world with cities.”
22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of armies, “and eliminate from Babylon name and survivors, offspring and descendants,” declares the Lord. 23 “I will also make it the property of the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it away with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of armies.
24 The Lord of armies has sworn, saying, “Certainly, just as I have intended, so it has happened, and just as I have planned, so it will stand, 25 to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulders. 26 This is the plan devised against the entire earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. 27 For the Lord of armies has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
28 In the year that King Ahaz died, this pronouncement came:
29 “Do not rejoice, Philistia, all of you,
Because the rod that struck you is broken;
For from the serpent’s root a viper will come out,
And its fruit will be a winged serpent.
30 Those who are most helpless will eat,
And the poor will lie down in security;
I will kill your root with famine,
And it will kill your survivors.
31 Wail, you gate; cry, you city;
Melt away, Philistia, all of you!
For smoke comes from the north,
And there is no straggler in his ranks.
32 What answer will one give the messengers of the nation?
That the Lord has founded Zion,
And the poor of His people will take refuge in it.”
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by people, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone,
And the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”
7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for unbelievers,
“A stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief cornerstone,”
8 and,
“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;
for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this they were also appointed.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God on the day of visitation.
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God, that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond-servants of God. 17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are harsh. 19 For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person endures grief when suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
21 For you have been called for this purpose, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you would follow in His steps, 22 He who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; 23 and while being abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
