Prophecy Against Ammon

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^w“Son of man, ^xset your face toward ^ythe Ammonites and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: ^zThus says the Lord God, Because you said, ^a‘Aha!’ over my ^bsanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4 therefore behold, I am handing you over to ^cthe people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 I will make ^dRabbah a ^epasture for camels and Ammon^{1 e}a fold for flocks. ^vThen you will know that I am the Lord. 6 For thus says the Lord God: Because ^fyou have clapped your hands ^gand stamped your feet and ^hrejoiced with all the ⁱmalice within your soul against the land of Israel, 7 therefore, behold, ^jI have stretched out my hand against you, and ^kwill hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Prophecy Against Moab and Seir

8 “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^lMoab and ^mSeir² said, ‘Behold, the ⁿhouse of Judah is like all the other nations,’ 9 therefore ^lI will lay open the flank of Moab from the cities, from its cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, ^oBeth-jeshimoth, ^pBaal-meon, and ^qKiriathaim. 10 I will give it ^ralong with the Ammonites ^sto the people of the East as a possession, ^tthat the Ammonites may be remembered no more among the nations, 11 ^land I will execute judgments upon Moab. ^uThen they will know that I am the Lord.

Prophecy Against Edom

12 “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^vEdom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and has grievously offended ^win taking vengeance on them, 13 therefore thus says the Lord God, ^xI will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from ^yTeman even to ^zDedan they shall fall by the sword. 14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom ^aby the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and ^bthey shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God.

Prophecy Against Philistia

15 “Thus says the Lord God: Because ^cthe Philistines ^dacted revengefully and took vengeance ^ewith malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, 16 therefore thus says the Lord God, ^xBehold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off ^fthe Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. 17 I will execute great vengeance on them ^gwith wrathful rebukes. ^hThen they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”

Prophecy Against Tyre

1 ⁱIn the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^j“Son of man, because ^kTyre said concerning Jerusalem, ^l‘Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,’ 3 therefore thus says the Lord God: ^mBehold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up ⁿmany nations against you, ^oas the sea brings up its waves. 4 They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and ^pmake her a bare rock. 5 She ^qshall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, ^rfor I have spoken, declares the Lord God. And she shall become plunder for the nations, 6 and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword. ^sThen they will know that I am the Lord.

7 “For thus says the Lord God: ^tBehold, I will bring against Tyre ^ufrom the north Nebuchadnezzar³ king of Babylon, ^vking of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers. 8 He will kill with the sword ^wyour daughters on the mainland. ^xHe will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise ^ya roof of shields against you. 9 ^zHe will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. 10 His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as men enter a city that has been breached. 11 With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder ^ayour riches and loot ^ayour merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. Your stones and timber and ^bsoil they will cast into the midst of the waters. 13 ^cAnd I will stop the music of your songs, and ^dthe sound of your lyres shall be heard no more. 14 ^pI will make you a bare rock. ^qYou shall be a place for the spreading of nets. You shall never be rebuilt, ^rfor I am the Lord; I have spoken, declares the Lord God.

15 “Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: Will not ^ethe coastlands shake at the sound of your fall, ^fwhen the wounded groan, when slaughter is made in your midst? 16 Then all ^gthe princes of the sea will step down from their thrones and ^hremove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; ⁱthey will sit on the ground and ^jtremble every moment and ^kbe appalled at you. 17 And they will ^lraise a lamentation over you and say to you,

19 “For thus says the Lord God: When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, ^owhen I bring up the deep over you, and the great waters cover you, 20 then ^pI will make you go down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you to dwell in the world below, among ruins from of old, ^pwith those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set beauty ^qin the land of the living. 21 I will bring you ^rto a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. ^sThough you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord God.”

A Lament for Tyre

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Now you, ^tson of man, ^uraise a lamentation over Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre, who dwells at ^vthe entrances to the sea, ^wmerchant of the peoples to many coastlands, thus says the Lord God:

10 ⁱ“Persia and ^jLud and ⁱPut were in your army as your men of war. ^kThey hung the shield and helmet in you; they gave you splendor. 11 Men of ^eArvad and Helech were on your walls all around, and men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their shields on your walls all around; they made ^xperfect your beauty.

12 ^l“Tarshish did ^mbusiness with you because of your great wealth of every kind; silver, iron, tin, and lead they exchanged for your ⁿwares. 13 ^oJavan, ^pTubal, and ^pMeshech traded with you; they exchanged human beings and vessels of bronze for your merchandise. 14 From ^qBeth-togarmah they exchanged horses, war horses, and mules ^rfor your wares. 15 The men of ^sDedan⁴ traded with you. Many coastlands were your own special markets; they brought you in payment ivory tusks and ebony. 16 Syria ^tdid business with you because of your abundant goods; they exchanged for your wares ^uemeralds, ^upurple, ^vembroidered work, ^wfine linen, coral, and ^xruby. 17 Judah and the land of Israel traded with you; they exchanged for your merchandise ^ywheat of ^zMinnith, meal,⁵ honey, oil, and ^abalm. 18 ^bDamascus did business with you for your abundant goods, because of your great wealth of every kind; wine of Helbon and ^cwool of Sahar 19 and casks of wine⁶ from Uzal they exchanged for your wares; wrought iron, ^dcassia, and ^ecalamus were bartered for your merchandise. 20 Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of ^fKedar were your favored dealers ^fin lambs, rams, and goats; in these they did business with you. 22 The traders of ^gSheba and ^gRaamah traded with you; they exchanged ^hfor your wares ⁱthe best of all kinds of spices and all precious stones and gold. 23 ^jHaran, Canneh, ^jEden, traders of Sheba, ^kAsshur, and Chilmad traded with you. 24 In your market these traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of ^lblue and ^lembroidered work, and in carpets of colored material, bound with cords and made secure. 25 ^mThe ships of ⁿTarshish traveled for you with your merchandise. So you were filled and heavily laden ^oin the heart of the seas.

Greeting

1 ^aJames, a servant¹ of God and ^bof the Lord Jesus Christ,

To ^cthe twelve tribes in ^dthe Dispersion:

Greetings.

Testing of Your Faith

2 ^eCount it all joy, my brothers,² when you meet trials ^fof various kinds, 3 for you know that ^gthe testing of your faith ^hproduces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be ⁱperfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 ^jIf any of you lacks wisdom, ^klet him ask God, ^lwho gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But ^mlet him ask in faith, ⁿwith no doubting, for the one who doubts is like ^oa wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 ^phe is a double-minded man, ^qunstable in all his ways.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and ^rthe rich in his humiliation, because ^slike a flower of the grass³ he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and ^twithers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

12 ^uBlessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive ^vthe crown of life, ^wwhich God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire ^xwhen it has conceived gives birth to sin, and ^ysin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 ^zEvery good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from ^athe Father of lights, ^bwith whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.⁴ 18 ^cOf his own will he ^dbrought us forth by the word of truth, ^ethat we should be a kind of ^ffirstfruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 ^gKnow this, my beloved brothers: let every person ^hbe quick to hear, ⁱslow to speak, ^jslow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore ^kput away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with ^lmeekness the implanted word, ^mwhich is able to save your souls.

22 But be ⁿdoers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, ^othe law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, ^phe will be blessed in his doing.

26 If anyone thinks he is religious ^qand does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s ^rreligion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: ^sto visit ^torphans and widows in their affliction, and ^uto keep oneself ^vunstained from the world.

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

A Song of ^mAscents. Of David.