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.

Prophecy Against the Prince of Tyre

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^h“Son of man, say to ⁱthe prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God:

A Lament over the King of Tyre

11 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: 12 ^z“Son of man, ^araise a lamentation over ^bthe king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:

Prophecy Against Sidon

20 The word of the Lord came to me: 21 ^s“Son of man, ^tset your face toward ^uSidon, and ^tprophesy against her 22 and say, Thus says the Lord God:

24 “And for the house of Israel ^bthere shall be no more a brier to prick or ^ca thorn to hurt them among all their neighbors ^dwho have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

Israel Gathered in Security

25 “Thus says the Lord God: ^eWhen I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and ^zmanifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, ^fthen they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 ^gAnd they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, ^hwhen I execute judgments upon all their neighbors ^dwho have treated them with contempt. ^xThen they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

Qualifications for Overseers

1 The saying is ^vtrustworthy: If anyone aspires to ^wthe office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore ^xan overseer¹ must be above reproach, ^ythe husband of one wife,^{2 z}sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, ^ahospitable, ^bable to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but ^cgentle, not quarrelsome, ^dnot a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity ^ekeeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for ^wGod’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may ^fbecome puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by ^goutsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into ^ha snare of the devil.

Qualifications for Deacons

8 ⁱDeacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,^{3 j}not addicted to much wine, ^knot greedy for dishonest gain. 9 They must ^lhold the mystery of the faith with ^ma clear conscience. 10 And ⁿlet them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11 ^oTheir wives likewise⁴ must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, ^pfaithful in all things. 12 Let deacons each be ^qthe husband of one wife, ^qmanaging their children and their own households well. 13 For ^rthose who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

The Mystery of Godliness

14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

Some Will Depart from the Faith

1 Now ^xthe Spirit expressly says that ^yin later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to ^zdeceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of ^aliars whose consciences are seared, 3 ^bwho forbid marriage and ^crequire abstinence from foods ^dthat God created ^eto be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For ^feverything created by God is good, and ^gnothing is to be rejected if it is ^ereceived with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy ^hby the word of God and prayer.

A Good Servant of Christ Jesus

6 ⁱIf you put these things before the brothers,⁸ you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have ^jfollowed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, ^ksilly myths. Rather ^ltrain yourself for godliness; 8 for while ^mbodily training is of some value, godliness ⁿis of value in every way, as ^oit holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is ^ptrustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive,⁹ because we have our hope set on the living God, ^qwho is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.