A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you oscoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the poverwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made qlies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
r“Behold, I am the one who has laid1 as a foundation sin Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice tthe line,
and righteousness tthe plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then uyour covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you;
vfor morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be wsheer terror to understand the message.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up xas on Mount Perazim;
yas in the Valley of zGibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
22 Now therefore do not ascoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard ba decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.
23 Give ear, and hear my voice;
give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25 cWhen he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place,
and emmer2 as the border?
26 dFor he is rightly instructed;
his God teaches him.
27 Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Does one crush grain for bread?
No, he does not thresh it forever;3
when he drives his cart wheel over it
with his horses, he does not crush it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
he is ewonderful in counsel
and excellent in wisdom.
The Siege of Jerusalem
1 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city fwhere David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.4
3 gAnd I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you hwith towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 iAnd you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like jthe voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like ksmall dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
lAnd in an instant, suddenly,
6 myou will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And nthe multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be olike a dream, a vision of the night.
8 pAs when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves5 and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk,6 but not with wine;
rstagger,7 but not with strong drink!
10 sFor the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is tsealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
13 And the Lord said:
“Because uthis people vdraw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, wI will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and xthe wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
15 Ah, yyou who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are zin the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 aYou turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
buntil Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day cthe deaf shall hear
dthe words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
ethe eyes of the blind shall see.
19 fThe meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and gthe scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and hlay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea iturn aside him who is in the right.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, jwho redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
kthe work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
lthey will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those mwho go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”
Do Not Go Down to Egypt
1 “Ah, nstubborn children,” declares the Lord,
o“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make pan alliance,8 but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
2 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!
3 rTherefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
4 For though his officials are at sZoan
5 everyone comes to shame
through va people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”
6 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.
7 Egypt’s ahelp is worthless and empty;
therefore I have called her
b“Rahab who sits still.”
A Rebellious People
8 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.9
9 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.”
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, qimprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, rthe law was our sguardian until Christ came, tin order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus uyou are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as vwere baptized winto Christ have xput on Christ. 28 yThere is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave1 nor free, zthere is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And aif you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, bheirs according to promise.
Sons and Heirs
1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,2 though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, cwere enslaved to the elementary principles3 of the world. 4 But dwhen the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, eborn fof woman, born gunder the law, 5 hto redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive iadoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent jthe Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then kan heir through God.
Paul’s Concern for the Galatians
8 Formerly, when you ldid not know God, you mwere enslaved to those that by nature nare not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather oto be known by God, phow can you turn back again to qthe weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 rYou observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid sI may have labored over you in vain.
12 Brothers,4 tI entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. uYou did me no wrong. 13 You know it was vbecause of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you wat first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me xas an angel of God, yas Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by ztelling you the truth?5 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and anot only when I am present with you, 19 bmy little children, cfor whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ dis formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.
Example of Hagar and Sarah
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, eone by a slave woman and fone by a free woman. 23 But gthe son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while hthe son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two icovenants. jOne is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;6 she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But kthe Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,
l“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”
28 Now you,7 brothers, mlike Isaac, nare children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh opersecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, pso also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? q“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but rof the free woman.
My Soul Waits for God Alone
To the choirmaster: according to xJeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1 For God alone ymy soul zwaits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 aHe alone is my rock and my salvation,
3 How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like da leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 They only plan to thrust him down from his ehigh position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
fThey bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah
5 For God alone, O ymy soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 aHe only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my gsalvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, hmy refuge is God.
8 iTrust in him at all times, O people;
jpour out your heart before him;
God is ha refuge for us. Selah
9 kThose of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate lare a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
kthey are together lighter than a breath.
10 Put no trust in extortion;
mset no vain hopes on robbery;
nif riches increase, set not your heart on them.
11 oOnce God has spoken;
otwice have I heard this:
that ppower belongs to God,
12 and that to you, O Lord, qbelongs steadfast love.
For you will rrender to a man
according to his work.
19 Hear, my son, and xbe wise,
and ydirect your heart in the way.
or among agluttonous eaters of meat,
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and bslumber will clothe them with rags.
