Isaiah 23–25; Philippians 1

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Isaiah 23–25

An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

The ioracle concerning jTyre.

Wail, O kships of Tarshish,

for Tyre is laid waste, lwithout house or harbor!

From mthe land of Cyprus1

it is revealed to them.

Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;

the merchants of nSidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.

And on many waters

your revenue was the grain of Shihor,

the harvest of the Nile;

you were othe merchant of the nations.

Be ashamed, O nSidon, for the sea has spoken,

the stronghold of the sea, saying:

I have neither labored nor given birth,

I have neither reared young men

nor brought up young women.

When the report comes to Egypt,

they will be in anguish2 over the report about Tyre.

pCross over to Tarshish;

wail, O inhabitants of the coast!

Is this your exultant city

qwhose origin is from days of old,

whose feet carried her

to settle far away?

Who has purposed this

against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,

whose merchants were princes,

whose traders were the honored of the earth?

The Lord of hosts has purposed it,

rto defile the pompous pride of all glory,3

to dishonor all the honored of the earth.

10  Cross over your land like the Nile,

O daughter of Tarshish;

there is no restraint anymore.

11  sHe has stretched out his hand over the sea;

he has shaken the kingdoms;

the Lord has given command concerning Canaan

to destroy its strongholds.

12  And he said:

You will no more exult,

O oppressed virgin daughter of tSidon;

arise, ucross over to vCyprus,

even there you will have no rest.

13 Behold the land of wthe Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;4 Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected xtheir siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

14  yWail, O ships of Tarshish,

for your stronghold is laid waste.

15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for zseventy years, like the days5 of one king. At the end of zseventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

16  Take a harp;

go about the city,

O forgotten prostitute!

Make sweet melody;

sing many songs,

that you may be remembered.

17 At the end of aseventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and bwill prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.

Judgment on the Whole Earth

Behold, cthe Lord will empty the earth6 and make it desolate,

and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

dAnd it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;

as with the slave, so with his master;

as with the maid, so with her mistress;

eas with the buyer, so with the seller;

as with the lender, so with the borrower;

fas with the creditor, so with the debtor.

gThe earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;

hfor the Lord has spoken this word.

iThe earth mourns and withers;

the world languishes and withers;

the highest people of the earth languish.

The earth lies jdefiled

under its inhabitants;

for kthey have transgressed the laws,

violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant.

Therefore la curse devours the earth,

and its inhabitants msuffer for their guilt;

therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,

and few men are left.

nThe wine mourns,

the vine languishes,

all the merry-hearted sigh.

oThe mirth of the tambourines is stilled,

the noise of the jubilant has ceased,

the mirth of the lyre is stilled.

No more do they drink wine pwith singing;

strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

10  qThe wasted city is broken down;

revery house is shut up so that none can enter.

11  sThere is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;

tall joy has grown dark;

the gladness of the earth is banished.

12  Desolation is left in the city;

the gates are battered into ruins.

13  For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth

among the nations,

uas when an olive tree is beaten,

as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

14  They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;

over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.7

15  vTherefore in the east8 give glory to the Lord;

in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

16  wFrom the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,

of glory to xthe Righteous One.

But I say, I waste away,

I waste away. Woe is me!

For ythe traitors have betrayed,

with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.

17  zTerror and the pit and the snare9

are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!

18  zHe who flees at the sound of the terror

shall fall into the pit,

and he who climbs out of the pit

shall be caught in the snare.

For athe windows of heaven are opened,

and bthe foundations of the earth tremble.

19  The earth is utterly broken,

the earth is split apart,

the earth is violently shaken.

20  The earth cstaggers like a drunken man;

it sways like a hut;

dits transgression lies heavy upon it,

and it falls, and will not rise again.

21  On that day the Lord will punish

the host of heaven, in heaven,

and ethe kings of the earth, on the earth.

22  fThey will be gathered together

as prisoners in a pit;

they will be shut up in a prison,

and after many days gthey will be punished.

23  hThen the moon will be confounded

and the sun ashamed,

for ithe Lord of hosts reigns

on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,

and his glory will be before his elders.

God Will Swallow Up Death Forever

O Lord, jyou are my God;

kI will exalt you; I will praise your name,

for you have done wonderful things,

lplans formed of old, faithful and sure.

For you have made the city ma heap,

the fortified city a ruin;

the foreigners’ palace is a city no more;

it will never be rebuilt.

nTherefore strong peoples will glorify you;

cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

oFor you have been a stronghold to the poor,

a stronghold to the needy in his distress,

pa shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;

qfor the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,

rlike heat in a dry place.

You subdue the noise of the foreigners;

as heat by the shade of a cloud,

so the song of the ruthless is put down.

sOn this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

tof rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

And he will swallow up son this mountain

the covering that is cast over all peoples,

uthe veil that is spread over all nations.

vHe will swallow up death forever;

and wthe Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,

and xthe reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,

yfor the Lord has spoken.

It will be said on that day,

Behold, this is our God; zwe have waited for him, that he might save us.

This is the Lord; we have waited for him;

alet us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

10  For the hand of the Lord will rest son this mountain,

and bMoab shall be trampled down in his place,

as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.10

11  cAnd he will spread out his hands in the midst of it

as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,

but the Lord dwill lay low his pompous pride together with the skill11 of his hands.

12  And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,

lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.


Philippians 1

Greeting

Paul and Timothy, servants1 of Christ Jesus,

To all the asaints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the boverseers2 and cdeacons:3

dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

eI thank my God fin all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, gbecause of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began ha good work in you iwill bring it to completion at jthe day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you kin my heart, for you are all lpartakers with me of grace,4 both min my imprisonment and in nthe defense and confirmation of the gospel. For oGod is my witness, phow I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that qyour love may abound more and more, rwith knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, sand so be pure and blameless tfor the day of Christ, 11 filled uwith the fruit of righteousness that comes vthrough Jesus Christ, wto the glory and praise of God.

The Advance of the Gospel

12 I want you to know, brothers,5 that what has happened to me has really xserved to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard6 and yto all the rest that zmy imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold ato speak the word7 without fear.

15 bSome indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, cknowing that I am put here for dthe defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ eout of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

To Live Is Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that fthrough your prayers and gthe help of hthe Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope ithat I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full jcourage now as always Christ kwill be honored in my body, lwhether by life or by death. 21 For to me mto live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 nI am hard pressed between the two. My desire is oto depart and pbe with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 qConvinced of this, rI know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your sprogress and tjoy in the faith, 26 so that in me uyou may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

27 Only vlet your manner of life be wworthy8 of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you xthat you are standing firm in one spirit, with yone mind zstriving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is aa clear sign to them of their destruction, but bof your salvation, and that from God. 29 For cit has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also bsuffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same dconflict that eyou saw I had and now hear that I still have.