Isaiah 20–22; Ephesians 6

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Isaiah 20–22

A Sign Against Egypt and Cush

In the year that lthe commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to mAshdod and fought against it and captured it at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet, and he did so, walking nnaked and barefoot.

Then the Lord said, As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years oas a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,1 so shall the pking of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. qThen they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. And the inhabitants of rthis coastland will say in that day, Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and sto whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?

Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

The toracle concerning the wilderness of uthe sea.

vAs whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,

it comes from the wilderness,

from a terrible land.

A stern vision is told to me;

wthe traitor betrays,

and the destroyer destroys.

Go up, O xElam;

lay siege, O yMedia;

all the zsighing she has caused

I bring to an end.

Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;

apangs have seized me,

like the pangs of a woman in labor;

I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;

I am dismayed so that I cannot see.

My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;

bthe twilight I longed for

has been turned for me into trembling.

cThey prepare the table,

they spread the rugs,2

they eat, they drink.

Arise, O princes;

doil the shield!

For thus the Lord said to me:

Go, set a watchman;

let him announce what he sees.

When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,

riders on donkeys, riders on camels,

let him listen diligently,

very diligently.

Then he who saw cried out:3

eUpon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,

continually by day,

and at my post I am stationed

whole nights.

And behold, here come riders,

horsemen in pairs!

fAnd he answered,

gFallen, fallen is Babylon;

hand all the carved images of her gods

he has shattered to the ground.

10  O imy threshed and winnowed one,

what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel, I announce to you.

11 The joracle concerning kDumah.

One is calling to me from lSeir,

Watchman, what time of the night?

Watchman, what time of the night?

12  The watchman says:

Morning comes, and also mthe night.

If you will inquire, ninquire;

come back again.

13 The ooracle concerning pArabia.

In the thickets in pArabia you will lodge,

O qcaravans of pDedanites.

14  To the thirsty bring water;

meet the fugitive with bread,

O inhabitants of the land of rTema.

15  For they have fled from the swords,

from the drawn sword,

from the bent bow,

and from the press of battle.

16 For thus the Lord said to me, Within a year, saccording to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of tKedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of tKedar will be few, ufor the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.

An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem

The voracle concerning wthe valley of vision.

What do you mean that you have gone up,

all of you, to the housetops,

you who are full of shoutings,

tumultuous city, xexultant town?

Your slain are ynot slain with the sword

or dead in battle.

zAll your leaders have fled together;

without the bow they were captured.

All of you who were found were captured,

though they had fled far away.

Therefore I said:

Look away from me;

alet me weep bitter tears;

do not labor to comfort me

concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.

bFor the Lord God of hosts has ca day

of tumult and dtrampling and econfusion

in wthe valley of vision,

a battering down of walls

and a shouting to the mountains.

And fElam bore the quiver

with chariots and horsemen,

and gKir uncovered the shield.

Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,

and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.

He has taken away hthe covering of Judah.

In that day you looked to ithe weapons of the House of the Forest, and you saw that jthe breaches of the city of David were many. kYou collected the waters of the lower pool, 10 and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 kYou made a reservoir between lthe two walls for the water of mthe old pool. But nyou did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.

12  In that day othe Lord God of hosts

called for weeping and mourning,

for pbaldness and qwearing sackcloth;

13  and behold, joy and gladness,

killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,

eating flesh and drinking wine.

rLet us eat and drink,

for tomorrow we die.

14  The Lord of hosts shas revealed himself in my ears:

Surely tthis iniquity will not be atoned for you uuntil you die,

says the Lord God of hosts.

15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, Come, go to this steward, to vShebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, wthat you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you xwho cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. yHe will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be zyour glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house. 19 aI will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant bEliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and bI will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be ca father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place don his shoulder ethe key of the house of David. fHe shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him glike a peg in a secure place, and he will become ha throne of honor to his father’s house. 24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, gthe peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.


Ephesians 6

Children and Parents

sChildren, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. tHonor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, ubut bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

vBondservants,1 obey your earthly masters2 with fear and trembling, wwith a sincere heart, xas you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as ypeople-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, zknowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, awhether he is a bondservant or is free. Masters, do the same to them, band stop your threatening, knowing that che who is both their Master3 and yours is in heaven, and that dthere is no partiality with him.

The Whole Armor of God

10 Finally, ebe strong in the Lord and in fthe strength of his might. 11 gPut on hthe whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against ithe schemes of the devil. 12 For jwe do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against kthe rulers, against the authorities, against lthe cosmic powers over mthis present darkness, against nthe spiritual forces of evil oin the heavenly places. 13 Therefore ptake up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in qthe evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, rhaving fastened on the belt of truth, and shaving put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, tas shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up uthe shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all vthe flaming darts of wthe evil one; 17 and take sthe helmet of salvation, and xthe sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying yat all times zin the Spirit, awith all prayer and supplication. To that end, bkeep alert with all perseverance, making csupplication for all the saints, 19 and dalso for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth eboldly to proclaim fthe mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I gam an ambassador hin chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Final Greetings

21 iSo that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, jTychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may kencourage your hearts.

23 lPeace be to the brothers,4 and mlove with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who nlove our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.