1 At that time 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!
I will trust in him and not fear.
For the Lord gives me strength and protects me;
he has become my deliverer.”
3 Joyfully you will draw water
from the springs of deliverance.
4 At that time you will say:
“Praise the Lord!
Ask him for help!
Publicize his mighty acts among the nations.
Make it known that he is unique.
5 Sing to the Lord, for he has done magnificent things;
let this be known throughout the earth.
6 Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion,
for the Holy One of Israel acts mightily among you!”
1 This is an oracle about Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw:
2 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;
I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger—
my boasting, arrogant ones.
4 There is a loud noise on the mountains—
it sounds like a large army!
There is great commotion among the kingdoms—
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.
It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment,
coming to destroy the whole earth.
6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment is near;
it comes with all the destructive power of the Sovereign One.
7 For this reason all hands hang limp,
every human heart loses its courage.
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.
9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment is coming;
it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger,
destroying the earth
and annihilating its sinners.
10 Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations
no longer give out their light;
the sun is darkened as soon as it rises,
and the moon does not shine.
11 I will punish the world for its evil,
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.
12 I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold,
and people more scarce than gold from Ophir.
13 So I will shake the heavens,
and the earth will shake loose from its foundation,
because of the fury of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
in the day he vents his raging anger.
14 Like a frightened gazelle
or a sheep with no shepherd,
each will turn toward home,
each will run to his homeland.
15 Everyone who is caught will be stabbed;
everyone who is seized will die 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;
they are not concerned about silver,
nor are they interested in gold.
18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons;
they have no compassion on a person’s offspring;
they will not look with pity on children.
19 Babylon, the most admired of kingdoms,
the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride,
will be destroyed by God
just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.
20 No one will live there again;
no one will ever reside there again.
No bedouin will camp there,
no shepherds will rest their flocks there.
21 Wild animals will rest there,
the ruined houses will be full of hyenas.
Ostriches will live there,
wild goats will skip among the ruins.
22 Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses,
jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces.
Her time is almost up,
her days will not be prolonged.
1 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; he will again choose Israel as his special people and restore them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family of Jacob. 2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Israel will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them. 3 When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety and from the hard labor that you were made to perform, 4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words:
“Look how the oppressor has met his end!
Hostility has ceased!
5 The Lord has broken the club of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers.
6 It furiously struck down nations
with unceasing blows.
It angrily ruled over nations,
oppressing them without restraint.
7 The whole earth rests and is quiet;
they break into song.
8 The evergreens also rejoice over your demise,
as do the cedars of Lebanon, singing,
‘Since you fell asleep,
no woodsman comes up to chop us down!’
9 Sheol below is stirred up about you,
ready to meet you when you arrive.
It rouses the spirits of the dead for you,
all the former leaders of the earth;
it makes all the former kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.
10 All of them respond to you, saying:
‘You too have become weak like us!
You have become just like us!
11 Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol,
as well as the sound of your stringed instruments.
You lie on a bed of maggots,
with a blanket of worms over you.
12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,
O shining one, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
O conqueror of the nations!
13 You said to yourself,
‘I will climb up to the sky.
Above the stars of El
I will set up my throne.
I will rule on the mountain of assembly
on the remote slopes of Zaphon.
14 I will climb up to the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High!’
15 But you were brought down to Sheol,
to the remote slopes of the Pit.
16 Those who see you stare at you,
they look at you carefully, thinking:
‘Is this the man who shook the earth,
the one who made kingdoms tremble?
17 Is this the one who made the world like a wilderness,
who ruined its cities,
and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?’
18 As for all the kings of the nations,
all of them lie down in splendor,
each in his own tomb.
19 But you have been thrown out of your grave
like a shoot that is thrown away.
You lie among the slain,
among those who have been slashed by the sword,
among those headed for the stones of the Pit,
as if you were a mangled corpse.
20 You will not be buried with them,
because you destroyed your land
and killed your people.
The offspring of the wicked
will never be mentioned again.
21 Prepare to execute his sons
for the sins their ancestors have committed.
They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,
or fill the surface of the world with cities.
22 “I will rise up against them,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“I will blot out all remembrance of Babylon and destroy all her people,
including the offspring she produces,”
says the Lord.
23 “I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals
and covered with pools of stagnant water.
I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
24 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies makes this solemn vow:
“Be sure of this:
Just as I have intended, so it will be;
just as I have planned, it will happen.
25 I will break Assyria in my land,
I will trample them underfoot on my hills.
Their yoke will be removed from my people,
the burden will be lifted from their shoulders.
26 This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;
my hand is ready to strike all the nations.”
27 Indeed, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has a plan,
and who can possibly frustrate it?
His hand is ready to strike,
and who can possibly stop it?
28 This oracle came in the year that King Ahaz died:
29 Don’t be so happy, all you Philistines,
just because the club that beat you has been broken!
For a viper will grow out of the serpent’s root,
and its fruit will be a darting adder.
30 The poor will graze in my pastures;
the needy will rest securely.
But I will kill your root by famine;
it will put to death all your survivors.
31 Wail, O city gate!
Cry out, O city!
Melt with fear, all you Philistines!
For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,
and there are no stragglers in its ranks.
32 How will they respond to the messengers of this nation?
Indeed, the Lord has made Zion secure;
the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.
1 This is the third time I am coming to visit you. By the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter will be established. 2 I said before when I was present the second time and now, though absent, I say again to those who sinned previously and to all the rest, that if I come again, I will not spare anyone, 3 since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak toward you but is powerful among you. 4 For indeed he was crucified by reason of weakness, but he lives because of God’s power. For we also are weak in him, but we will live together with him, because of God’s power toward you. 5 Put yourselves to the test to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize regarding yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless, indeed, you fail the test! 6 And I hope that you will realize that we have not failed the test! 7 Now we pray to God that you may not do anything wrong, not so that we may appear to have passed the test, but so that you may do what is right even if we may appear to have failed the test. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the sake of the truth. 9 For we rejoice whenever we are weak, but you are strong. And we pray for this: that you may become fully qualified. 10 Because of this I am writing these things while absent, so that when I arrive I may not have to deal harshly with you by using my authority—the Lord gave it to me for building up, not for tearing down!
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. 13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
1 Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me.
For in you I have taken shelter.
In the shadow of your wings I take shelter
until trouble passes.
2 I cry out for help to God Most High,
to the God who vindicates me.
3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me
from my enemies who hurl insults. (Selah)
May God send his loyal love and faithfulness.
4 I am surrounded by lions;
I lie down among those who want to devour me,
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Rise up above the sky, O God.
May your splendor cover the whole earth.
6 They have prepared a net to trap me;
I am discouraged.
They have dug a pit for me.
They will fall into it. (Selah)
7 I am determined, O God. I am determined.
I will sing and praise you.
8 Awake, my soul!
Awake, O stringed instrument and harp!
I will wake up at dawn.
9 I will give you thanks before the nations, O Lord.
I will sing praises to you before foreigners.
10 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky,
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
11 Rise up above the sky, O God.
May your splendor cover the whole earth.
9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool,
for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone,
or take over the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Protector is strong;
he will plead their case against you.
