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Isaiah 22-24:23 (Contemporary English Version)
Isaiah 22
Trouble in Vision Valley
1This is a message
about Vision Valley: [a]
Why are you celebrating
on the flat roofs [b] of your houses?
2Your city is filled
with noisy shouts.
Those who lie drunk
in your streets
were not killed in battle.
3Your leaders ran away,
but they were captured
without a fight.
No matter how far they ran,
they were found and caught. [c]
4Then I said, "Leave me alone!
Let me cry bitter tears.
My people have been destroyed,
so don't try to comfort me."
5The LORD All-Powerful
had chosen a time
for noisy shouts and confusion
to fill Vision Valley,
and for everyone to beg
the mountains for help. [d]
6The people of Elam and Kir [e]
attacked with chariots [f]
and carried shields.
7Your most beautiful valleys
were covered with chariots;
your cities were surrounded
by cavalry troops.
8Judah was left defenseless.
At that time you trusted in the weapons you had stored in Forest Palace. [g] 9You saw the holes in the outer wall of Jerusalem, and you brought water from the lower pool. [h] 10You counted the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some of them, so you could get stones to repair the city wall. 11Then you built a large tank between the walls [i] to store the water. But you refused to trust the God who planned this long ago and made it happen.
A Time To Weep
12When all of this happened,
the LORD All-Powerful told you
to weep and mourn,
to shave your heads,
and wear sackcloth.
13But instead, you celebrated
by feasting on beef and lamb
and by drinking wine,
because you said,
"Let's eat and drink!
Tomorrow we may die."
14The LORD All-Powerful
has spoken to me
this solemn promise:
"I won't forgive them for this,
not as long as they live."
Selfish Officials Are Doomed
15The LORD All-Powerful is sending you with this message for Shebna, the prime minister:
16Shebna, what gives you the right to have a tomb carved out of rock in this burial place of royalty? None of your relatives are buried here. 17You may be powerful, but the LORD is about to snatch you up and throw you away. 18He will roll you into a ball and throw you into a wide open country, where you will die and your chariots will be destroyed. You're a disgrace to those you serve.
19The LORD is going to take away your job! 20-21He will give your official robes and your authority to his servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
Eliakim will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and to the royal family of Judah. 22The LORD will put him in charge of the key that belongs to King David's family. No one will be able to unlock what he locks, and no one will be able to lock what he unlocks. 23The LORD will make him as firm in his position as a tent peg hammered in the ground, and Eliakim will bring honor to his family.
24His children and relatives will be supported by him, like pans hanging from a peg on the wall. 25That peg is fastened firmly now, but someday it will be shaken loose and fall down. Then everything that was hanging on it will be destroyed. This is what the LORD All-Powerful has promised.
Isaiah 23
The City of Tyre Will Be Punished
1This is a message
from distant islands
about the city of Tyre: [j]
Cry, you seagoing ships! [k]
Tyre and its houses
lie in ruins. [l]
2Mourn in silence,
you shop owners of Sidon, [m]
you people on the coast.
Your sailors crossed oceans,
making your city rich.
3Your merchants sailed the seas,
making you wealthy
by trading
with nation after nation.
They brought back grain
that grew along the Nile. [n]
4Sidon, you are a mighty fortress
built along the sea.
But you will be disgraced
like a married woman
who never had children. [o]
5When Egypt hears about Tyre,
it will tremble.
6All of you along the coast
had better cry
and sail
far across the ocean. [p]
7Can this be the happy city
that has stood for centuries?
Its people have spread
to distant lands;
8its merchants were kings
honored all over the world.
Who planned to destroy Tyre?
9The LORD All-Powerful planned it
to bring shame and disgrace
to those
who are honored
by everyone on earth.
10People of Tyre, [q]
your harbor is destroyed!
You will have to become farmers
just like the Egyptians. [r]
Tyre Will Be Forgotten
11The LORD's hand has reached
across the sea,
upsetting the nations.
He has given a command
to destroy fortresses
in the land of Canaan.
12The LORD has said
to the people of Sidon,
"Your celebrating is over--
you are crushed.
Even if you escape to Cyprus,
you won't find peace."
13Look what the Assyrians have done to Babylonia! They have attacked, destroying every palace in the land. Now wild animals live among the ruins. [s] 14Not a fortress will be left standing, so tell all the seagoing ships [t] to mourn. 15The city of Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, which is the lifetime of a king. Then Tyre will be like that evil woman in the song:
16You're gone and forgotten,
you evil woman!
So strut through the town,
singing and playing
your favorite tune
to be remembered again.
17At the end of those seventy years, the LORD will let Tyre get back into business. The city will be like a woman who sells her body to everyone of every nation on earth, 18but none of what is earned will be kept in the city. That money will belong to the LORD, and it will be used to buy more than enough food and good clothes for those who worship the LORD.
Isaiah 24
The Earth Will Be Punished
1The LORD is going to twist the earth out of shape and turn it into a desert. Everyone will be scattered, 2including ordinary people and priests, slaves and slave owners, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, the rich and the poor. 3The earth will be stripped bare and left that way. This is what the LORD has promised.
4The earth wilts away;
its mighty leaders melt
to nothing. [u]
5The earth is polluted
because its people
disobeyed the laws of God,
breaking their agreement
that was to last forever.
6The earth is under a curse;
its people are dying out
because of their sins.
7Grapevines have dried up:
wine is almost gone--
mournful sounds are heard
instead of joyful shouts.
8No one plays tambourines
or stringed instruments;
all noisy celebrating
has come to an end.
9They no longer sing
as they drink their wine,
and it tastes sour.
10Towns are crushed and in chaos;
houses are locked tight.
11Happy times have disappeared
from the earth,
and people shout in the streets,
"We're out of wine!"
12Cities are destroyed;
their gates are torn down.
13Nations will be stripped bare,
like olive trees
or vineyards
after the harvest season.
Praise the God of Justice
14People in the west shout;
they joyfully praise
the majesty of the LORD.
15And so, everyone in the east
and those on the islands
should praise the LORD,
the God of Israel.
16From all over the world
songs of praise are heard
for the God of justice. [v]
But I feel awful,
terribly miserable.
Can anyone be trusted?
So many are treacherous!
There's No Escape
17Terror, traps, and pits
are waiting for everyone.
18If you are terrified and run,
you will fall into a pit;
if you crawl out of the pit,
you will get caught in a trap.
The sky has split apart
like a window thrown open.
The foundations of the earth
have been shaken;
19the earth is shattered,
ripped to pieces.
20It staggers and shakes
like a drunkard
or a hut in a windstorm.
It is burdened down with sin;
the earth will fall,
never again to get up.
21On that day the LORD
will punish
the powers
in the heavens [w]
and the kings of the earth.
22He will put them in a pit
and keep them prisoner.
Then later on,
he will punish them.
23The moon and sun will both
be embarrassed and ashamed.
The LORD All-Powerful will rule
on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
where he will show its rulers
his wonderful glory.
Footnotes:
Isaiah 22:1 Vision Valley: The exact location is not known. In Hebrew the name sounds something like "Hinnom Valley," where the people of Jerusalem sometimes offered human sacrifices to the gods of Canaan.
Isaiah 22:1 flat roofs: In Palestine the houses usually had a flat roof. Stairs on the outside led up to the roof, which was made of beams and boards covered with packed earth.
Isaiah 22:3 No matter. . . caught: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Isaiah 22:5 and for. . . help: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Isaiah 22:6 Elam and Kir: Regions in the Iranian highlands.
Isaiah 22:6 chariots: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Isaiah 22:8 Forest Palace: Built by Solomon (1 Kings 7.2) and used as a place for storing weapons.
Isaiah 22:9 the lower pool: Mentioned only here; probably in the southern part of the Central Valley (Tyropoean Valley) of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 22:11 between the walls: Some cities had two walls with a space between them. If the enemy broke through the outer wall, the city was still protected by the inner wall. The houses that were torn down to repair the outer wall were probably squatters' huts that had been built between the two walls.
Isaiah 23:1 Tyre: A fortress city built on an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of what is now Lebanon.
Isaiah 23:1 seagoing ships: See the note at 2.16.
Isaiah 23:1 Tyre. . . ruins: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Isaiah 23:2 Sidon: A coastal city just north of Tyre.
Isaiah 23:3 along the Nile: The Hebrew text has "grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile," but Shihor is probably a name for a region near the lower part of the Nile.
Isaiah 23:4 children: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Isaiah 23:6 far across the ocean: The Hebrew text has "to Tarshish," probably meaning a long distance.
Isaiah 23:10 People of Tyre: The Hebrew text has "the people of Tarshish," which stands for the colonies of Tyre.
Isaiah 23:10 Egyptians: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 10.
Isaiah 23:13 ruins: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.
Isaiah 23:14 seagoing ships: See the note at 2.16.
Isaiah 24:4 its. . . to nothing: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Isaiah 24:16 God of justice: Or "people who do right."
Isaiah 24:21 the powers in the heavens: In ancient times the stars were thought of as powerful spiritual beings, and sometimes they stood for pagan gods.
Galatians 2:17-3:9 (Contemporary English Version)
17When we Jews started looking for a way to please God, we discovered that we are sinners too. Does this mean that Christ is the one who makes us sinners? No, it doesn't! 18But if I tear down something and then build it again, I prove that I was wrong at first. 19It was the Law itself that killed me and freed me from its power, so that I could live for God.
I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. 20I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. 21I don't turn my back on God's undeserved kindness. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die.
Galatians 3
Faith Is the Only Way
1You stupid Galatians! I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you? 2I want to know only one thing. How were you given God's Spirit? Was it by obeying the Law of Moses or by hearing about Christ and having faith in him? 3How can you be so stupid? Do you think that by yourself you can complete what God's Spirit started in you? 4Have you gone through all of this for nothing? Is it all really for nothing? 5God gives you his Spirit and works miracles in you. But does he do this because you obey the Law of Moses or because you have heard about Christ and have faith in him?
6The Scriptures say that God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith. 7And so, you should understand that everyone who has faith is a child of Abraham. a] 8Long ago the Scriptures said that God would accept the Gentiles because of their faith. That's why God told Abraham the good news that all nations would be blessed because of him. 9This means that everyone who has faith will share in the blessings that were given to Abraham because of his faith.
Footnotes:
Galatians 3:7 a child of Abraham: God chose Abraham, and so it was believed that anyone who was a child of Abraham was also a child of God (see the note at 3.29).
Psalm 60:1-12 (Contemporary English Version)
Psalm 60
(For the music leader. To the tune "Lily of the Promise." A special psalm by David for teaching. He wrote it during his wars with the Arameans of northern Syria, [a] in Salt Valley.)
You Can Depend on God
1You, God, are angry with us!
We are rejected and crushed.
Make us strong again!
2You made the earth shake
and split wide open;
now heal its wounds
and stop its trembling.
3You brought hard times
on your people,
and you gave us wine
that made us stagger.
4You gave a signal to those
who worship you,
so they could escape
from enemy arrows. [b]
5Answer our prayers!
Use your powerful arm
and give us victory.
Then the people you love
will be safe.
6Our God, you solemnly promised,
"I would gladly divide up
the city of Shechem
and give away Succoth Valley
piece by piece.
7The lands of Gilead
and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is my war helmet,
and Judah is the symbol
of my royal power.
8Moab is merely my washbasin.
Edom belongs to me,
and I shout in triumph
over the Philistines."
9Our God, who will bring me
to the fortress,
or lead me to Edom?
10Have you rejected us
and deserted our armies?
11Help us defeat our enemies!
No one else can rescue us.
12You will give us victory
and crush our enemies.
Footnotes:
Psalm 60:1 (Psalm 60 wars. . . Syria: See 2 Samuel 8.3-8; 10.16-18; 1 Chronicles 18.3-11; 19.6-19.) when Joab came back and killed twelve thousand Edomites Psalm 60 killed. . . Edomites: See 2 Samuel 8.13; 1 Chronicles 18.12.
Psalm 60:4 so. . . arrows: Some ancient translations and one possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Proverbs 23:15-16 (Contemporary English Version)
-13-
15 My children,
if you show good sense,
I will be happy,
16and if you are truthful,
I will really be glad.
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