Isaiah 14–16; Ephesians 5:1–16

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Isaiah 14–16

The Restoration of Jacob

nFor the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and owill set them in their own land, and psojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. And qthe peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the Lord’s land ras male and female slaves.1 sThey will take captive those who were their captors, tand rule over those who oppressed them.

Israel’s Remnant Taunts Babylon

When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this utaunt against the king of Babylon:

How the oppressor has ceased,

vthe insolent fury2 ceased!

The Lord has broken the wstaff of the wicked,

the wscepter of rulers,

xthat struck the peoples in wrath

with unceasing blows,

that ruled the nations in anger

with unrelenting persecution.

The whole earth is at rest and quiet;

ythey break forth into singing.

zaThe cypresses rejoice at you,

bthe cedars of Lebanon, saying,

Since you were laid low,

no woodcutter comes up against us.

Sheol beneath is stirred up

to meet you when you come;

it rouses the shades to greet you,

all who were leaders of the earth;

it raises from their thrones

all who were kings of the nations.

10  cAll of them will answer

and say to you:

You too have become as weak as we!

You have become like us!

11  Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,

the sound of your harps;

maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,

and worms are your covers.

12  How dyou are fallen from heaven,

O Day Star, eson of Dawn!

How you are cut down to the ground,

you who laid the nations low!

13  You said in your heart,

fI will ascend to heaven;

above the stars of God

gI will set my throne on high;

I will sit on the mount of assembly

in the far reaches of the north;3

14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.

15  hBut you are brought down to Sheol,

to the far reaches of the pit.

16  Those who see you will stare at you

and ponder over you:

Is this ithe man who made the earth tremble,

who shook kingdoms,

17  who made the world like a desert

and overthrew its cities,

jwho did not let his prisoners go home?

18  All the kings of the nations lie in glory,

each in his own tomb;4

19  but you are cast out, away from your grave,

like a loathed branch,

kclothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,

who go down to the stones of the pit,

like a dead body trampled underfoot.

20  You will not be joined with them in burial,

because you have destroyed your land,

you have slain your people.

May lthe offspring of evildoers

nevermore be named!

21  Prepare slaughter for his sons

mbecause of the guilt of their fathers,

lest they rise and possess the earth,

and fill the face of the world with cities.

22 I will rise up against them, declares the Lord of hosts, and will cut off from Babylon name and nremnant, odescendants and posterity, declares the Lord. 23 And I will make it a possession of the phedgehog,5 and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction, declares the Lord of hosts.

An Oracle Concerning Assyria

24  The Lord of hosts has sworn:

qAs I have planned,

so shall it be,

and as I have purposed,

so shall it stand,

25  that rI will break the Assyrian in my land,

and on my mountains trample him underfoot;

and shis yoke shall depart from them,

and shis burden from their shoulder.

26  This is the purpose that is purposed

concerning the whole earth,

and this is tthe hand that is stretched out

over all the nations.

27  uFor the Lord of hosts has purposed,

and who will annul it?

tHis hand is stretched out,

and who will turn it back?

An Oracle Concerning Philistia

28 In the year that vKing Ahaz died came this woracle:

29  Rejoice not, xO Philistia, all of you,

that ythe rod that struck you is broken,

for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder,

and its fruit will be a zflying fiery serpent.

30  And the firstborn of athe poor will graze,

and athe needy lie down in safety;

but I will kill your root with famine,

and your remnant it will slay.

31  bWail, O cgate; cry out, O city;

melt in fear, xO Philistia, all of you!

dFor smoke comes out of the north,

and there is no straggler in his ranks.

32  What will one answer the messengers of the nation?

eThe Lord has founded Zion,

and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.

An Oracle Concerning Moab

An woracle concerning fMoab.

Because gAr of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone;

because hKir of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone.

He has gone up to the temple,6 and to iDibon,

to the high places7 to weep;

over jNebo and over iMedeba

Moab kwails.

On every head is lbaldness;

every beard is shorn;

in the streets they wear sackcloth;

on the housetops and in the squares

everyone wails and melts in tears.

mHeshbon and mElealeh cry out;

their voice is heard as far as nJahaz;

therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;

his soul trembles.

My heart cries out for Moab;

her fugitives flee to Zoar,

to nEglath-shelishiyah.

For at the oascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;

on the road to oHoronaim

they raise a cry of destruction;

the waters of pNimrim

are a desolation;

the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,

the greenery is no more.

qTherefore the abundance they have gained

and what they have laid up

they carry away

over the Brook of the Willows.

For a cry has gone

around the land of Moab;

her wailing reaches to Eglaim;

her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.

For the waters of rDibon8 are full of blood;

for I will bring upon Dibon even more,

sa lion for those of Moab who escape,

for the remnant of the land.

tSend the lamb to the ruler of the land,

from uSela, by way of the desert,

to the mount of the daughter of Zion.

Like fleeing birds,

like a scattered nest,

so are the daughters of Moab

at vthe fords of the Arnon.

Give counsel;

grant justice;

wmake your shade like night

at the height of noon;

shelter the outcasts;

do not reveal the fugitive;

let xthe outcasts of Moab

sojourn among you;

be a shelter to them9

from the destroyer.

When the oppressor is no more,

and destruction has ceased,

and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,

ythen a throne will be established in steadfast love,

and on it will sit in faithfulness

in the tent of David

one who judges and seeks justice

and is swift to do righteousness.

zWe have heard of the pride of Moab

how proud he is!

aof his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;

in his idle boasting he is not right.

Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,

blet everyone wail.

Mourn, utterly stricken,

for the craisin cakes of dKir-hareseth.

For the fields of Heshbon languish,

and ethe vine of Sibmah;

the lords of the nations

have struck down its branches,

which reached to Jazer

and strayed to the desert;

its shoots spread abroad

and passed over the sea.

Therefore fI weep with ethe weeping of Jazer

for the vine of Sibmah;

I drench you with my tears,

O Heshbon and Elealeh;

for over gyour summer fruit and your harvest

the shout has ceased.

10  hAnd joy and gladness are taken away from ithe fruitful field,

and in the vineyards no jsongs are sung,

no cheers are raised;

no ktreader treads out wine lin the presses;

I have put an end to the shouting.

11  Therefore mmy inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,

and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

12 And when Moab presents himself, when nhe wearies himself on othe high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.

13 This is the word that the Lord spoke concerning Moab pin the past. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, In three years, qlike the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be rvery few and feeble.


Ephesians 5:1–16

Walk in Love

jTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And kwalk in love, las Christ loved us and mgave himself up for us, a nfragrant ooffering and sacrifice to God.

But psexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness qmust not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be rno filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, swhich are out of place, but instead tlet there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that ueveryone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (vthat is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. wLet no one xdeceive you with empty words, for because of these things ythe wrath of God comes upon zthe sons of disobedience. Therefore ado not become partners with them; for bat one time you were cdarkness, but now you are light in the Lord. dWalk as children of light (for ethe fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and ftry to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 gTake no part in the hunfruitful iworks of darkness, but instead jexpose them. 12 For kit is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when lanything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

mAwake, O sleeper,

and narise from the dead,

and oChrist will shine on you.

15 pLook carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 pmaking the best use of the time, because qthe days are evil.