Isaiah 30–31; Philippians 4

red bookmark icon blue bookmark icon gold bookmark icon
Isaiah 30–31

Do Not Go Down to Egypt

Ah, nstubborn children, declares the Lord,

owho carry out a plan, but not mine,

and who make pan alliance,1 but not of my Spirit,

that they may add sin to sin;

qwho set out to go down to Egypt,

without asking for my direction,

to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh

and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

rTherefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,

and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.

For though his officials are at sZoan

and this envoys reach uHanes,

everyone comes to shame

through va people that cannot profit them,

that brings neither help nor profit,

but shame and disgrace.

An woracle on xthe beasts of ythe Negeb.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,

from where come the lioness and the lion,

the adder and the zflying fiery serpent,

they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,

and their treasures on the humps of camels,

to a people that cannot profit them.

Egypt’s ahelp is worthless and empty;

therefore I have called her

bRahab who sits still.

A Rebellious People

And now, go, cwrite it before them on a tablet

and inscribe it in a book,

that it may be for the time to come

as a witness forever.2

dFor they are a rebellious people,

lying children,

children unwilling to hear

the instruction of the Lord;

10  ewho say to fthe seers, Do not see,

and to the prophets, Do not prophesy to us what is right;

speak to us gsmooth things,

prophesy illusions,

11  leave the way, turn aside from the path,

let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.

12  Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,

Because you despise this word

and trust in hoppression and perverseness

and rely on them,

13  therefore this iniquity shall be to you

ilike a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,

whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;

14  and its breaking is jlike that of a potter’s vessel

that is smashed so ruthlessly

that among its fragments not a shard is found

with which to take fire from the hearth,

or to dip up water out of the cistern.

15  For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,

In kreturning3 and lrest you shall be saved;

in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.

But you were unwilling, 16 and you said,

No! We will flee upon mhorses;

therefore you shall flee away;

and, We will ride upon swift steeds;

therefore your pursuers shall be swift.

17  nA thousand shall flee at the threat of one;

at the threat of five you shall flee,

till you are left

like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,

like a signal on a hill.

The Lord Will Be Gracious

18  Therefore the Lord owaits to be gracious to you,

and therefore he pexalts himself to show mercy to you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

qblessed are all those who wait for him.

19 For a people shall dwell rin Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the sbread of adversity and the swater of affliction, tyet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 uAnd your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is vthe way, walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. wYou will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, Be gone!

23 xAnd he will give yrain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. zIn that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and athe oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And bon every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, cwhen the towers fall. 26 dMoreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when ethe Lord binds up fthe brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

27  Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,

burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;4

his lips are full of fury,

and his tongue is like a devouring fire;

28  ghis breath is hlike an overflowing stream

that reaches up to the neck;

to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,

and to place on the jaws of the peoples ia bridle that leads astray.

29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, jas when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to kthe mountain of the Lord, to lthe Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord mwill cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger nand a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst oand storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, pwhen he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them qwill be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. rBattling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For sa burning place5 has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, tits pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; uthe breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.

Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt

Woe6 to vthose who go down to Egypt for help

and rely on horses,

who wtrust in chariots because they are many

and in horsemen because they are very strong,

but xdo not look to the Holy One of Israel

or consult the Lord!

And yyet he is wise and brings disaster;

zhe does not call back his words,

but awill arise against the house of the evildoers

and against the helpers of bthose who work iniquity.

The Egyptians are man, and not God,

and their horses care flesh, and not spirit.

When the Lord stretches out his hand,

the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,

and they will all perish together.

For thus the Lord said to me,

dAs a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,

and when a band of shepherds is called out against him

he is not terrified by their shouting

or daunted at their noise,

eso the Lord of hosts will come down

to fight7 on Mount Zion and on its hill.

fLike birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts

will protect Jerusalem;

he will protect and deliver it;

he will spare and rescue it.

gTurn to him from whom people8 have hdeeply revolted, O children of Israel. For in that day ieveryone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.

jAnd the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;

and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;

and he shall flee from the sword,

and his young men shall be kput to forced labor.

lHis rock shall pass away in terror,

and his officers desert the standard in panic,

declares the Lord, whose mfire is in Zion,

and whose nfurnace is in Jerusalem.


Philippians 4

Therefore, my brothers,1 whom I love and jlong for, kmy joy and lcrown, mstand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Exhortation, Encouragement, and Prayer

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to nagree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion,2 help these women, who have labored3 side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, owhose names are in the book of life.

pRejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness4 be known to everyone. qThe Lord is at hand; rdo not be anxious about anything, sbut in everything by prayer and supplication twith thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And uthe peace of God, vwhich surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned5 and wreceived and heard and seen xin mepractice these things, and ythe God of peace will be with you.

God’s Provision

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length zyou have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be acontent. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and bhunger, abundance and cneed. 13 I can do all things dthrough him who strengthens me.

14 Yet it was kind of you eto share6 my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that fin the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, gno church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 hNot that I seek the gift, but I seek ithe fruit that increases to your credit.7 18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, jhaving received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, ka fragrant offering, la sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God mwill supply every need of yours naccording to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To oour God and Father be pglory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. qThe brothers who are with me greet you. 22 rAll the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

23 sThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.