14 Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact.
The gushing flood will not reach us when it passes by,
Because we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”
16 Therefore this is what the Lord God says:
“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
A precious cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
The one who believes in it will not be disturbed.
17 I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18 Your covenant with death will be canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the gushing flood passes through,
Then you will become its trampling ground.
19 As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
20 The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the Valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
22 And now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or your shackles will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord God of armies
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.
23 Listen and hear my voice,
Pay attention and hear my words.
24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?
Does he continually turn and break up his ground?
25 Does he not level its surface
And sow dill and scatter cumin
And plant wheat in rows,
Barley in its place and rye within its area?
26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is the cartwheel driven over cumin;
But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a club.
28 Grain for bread is crushed,
Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever.
Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it,
He does not thresh it longer.
29 This also comes from the Lord of armies,
Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.
1 Woe, Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped!
Add year to year, keep your feasts on schedule.
2 I will bring distress to Ariel,
And she will be a city of grieving and mourning;
And she will be like an Ariel to me.
3 I will camp against you encircling you,
And I will set up siegeworks against you,
And I will raise up battle towers against you.
4 Then you will be brought low;
From the earth you will speak,
And from the dust where you are prostrate
Your words will come.
Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground,
And your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust,
And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away;
And it will happen instantly, suddenly.
6 From the Lord of armies you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise,
With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel,
Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,
Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 It will be as when a hungry person dreams—
And behold, he is eating;
But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied,
Or as when a thirsty person dreams—
And behold, he is drinking,
But when he awakens, behold, he is faint
And his thirst is not quenched.
So will the multitude of all the nations be
Who wage war against Mount Zion.
9 Be delayed and horrified,
Blind yourselves and be blind;
They become drunk, but not with wine,
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
10 For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep,
He has shut your eyes—the prophets;
And He has covered your heads—the seers.
11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which, when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.” 12 Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”
13 Then the Lord said,
“Because this people approaches Me with their words
And honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of the commandment of men that is taught;
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the understanding of their men who have understanding will be concealed.”
15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord,
And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
16 You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet just a little while
Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,
And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?
18 On that day those who are deaf will hear words of a book,
And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of those who are blind will see.
19 The afflicted also will increase their joy in the Lord,
And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,
Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be eliminated,
21 Who cause a person to be indicted by a word,
And set a trap for the arbitrator at the gate,
And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.
22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob will not be ashamed now, nor will his face turn pale now;
23 But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob,
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 Those who err in mind will know the truth,
And those who criticize will accept instruction.
1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,
“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;
2 Who proceed down to Egypt
Without consulting Me,
To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh,
And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame,
And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.
4 For their officials are at Zoan
And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.
5 Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who do not benefit them,
Who are not a help or benefit, but a source of shame and also disgrace.”
6 The pronouncement concerning the animals of the Negev:
Through a land of distress and anguish,
From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent,
They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on camels’ humps,
To a people who will not benefit them;
7 Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty.
Therefore, I have called her
“Rahab who has been exterminated.”
8 Now go, write it on a tablet in their presence
And inscribe it on a scroll,
That it may serve in the time to come
As a witness forever.
9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons,
Sons who refuse to listen
To the instruction of the Lord;
10 Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”;
And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy the truth to us.
Speak to us pleasant words,
Prophesy illusions.
11 Get out of the way, turn aside from the path,
Stop speaking before us about the Holy One of Israel!”
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
8 However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which you want to be enslaved all over again? 10 You meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.
12 I beg of you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; 13 but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; 14 and you did not despise that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, nor express contempt, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. 15 Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I testify about you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16 So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 They eagerly seek you, not in a commendable way, but they want to shut you out so that you will seek them. 18 But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable way, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you— 20 but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone of voice, for I am at a loss about you!
21 Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the Law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman. 23 But the son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. 24 This is speaking allegorically, for these women are two covenants: one coming from Mount Sinai giving birth to children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. 25 Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is enslaved with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. 27 For it is written:
“Rejoice, infertile one, you who do not give birth;
Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;
For the children of the desolate one are more numerous
Than those of the one who has a husband.”
28 And you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But as at that time the son who was born according to the flesh persecuted the one who was born according to the Spirit, so it is even now. 30 But what does the Scripture say?
“Drive out the slave woman and her son,
For the son of the slave woman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”
31 So then, brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman, but of the free woman.
1 My soul waits in silence for God alone;
From Him comes my salvation.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I will not be greatly shaken.
3 How long will you attack a man,
That you may murder him, all of you,
Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
4 They have planned only to thrust him down from his high position;
They delight in falsehood;
They bless with their mouth,
But inwardly they curse. Selah
5 My soul, wait in silence for God alone,
For my hope is from Him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
My refuge; I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my glory rest on God;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your hearts before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
9 People of low standing are only breath, and people of rank are a lie;
In the balances they go up.
Together they are lighter than breath.
10 Do not trust in oppression,
And do not vainly rely on robbery;
If wealth increases, do not set your heart on it.
11 God has spoken once;
Twice I have heard this:
That power belongs to God;
12 And faithfulness is Yours, Lord,
For You reward a person according to his work.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise,
And direct your heart in the way.
20 Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
21 For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
