6 On your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have set ywatchmen;
all the day and all the night
they shall never be silent.
You who put the Lord in remembrance,
take no rest,
7 and give him no rest
until he establishes Jerusalem
and makes it za praise in the earth.
8 The Lord has sworn aby his right hand
and by his mighty arm:
“I will not again give byour grain
to be food for your enemies,
cand foreigners shall not drink your wine
for which you have labored;
9 but dthose who garner it shall eat it
and praise the Lord,
and dthose who gather it shall drink it
in the courts of my sanctuary.”1
10 Go through, go through the gates;
eprepare the way for the people;
fbuild up, build up the highway;
clear it of stones;
glift up a signal over the peoples.
11 Behold, the Lord has proclaimed
to the end of the earth:
hSay to the daughter of Zion,
i“Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.”
12 jAnd they shall be called The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord;
kand you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.
The Lord’s Day of Vengeance
1 Who is this who comes from lEdom,
in crimsoned garments from lBozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
mmarching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.”
2 Why is your napparel red,
and your garments like his owho treads in the winepress?
3 p“I have trodden the winepress alone,
qand from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood2 spattered on my garments,
and stained all my apparel.
4 rFor the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and my year of redemption3 had come.
5 I looked, but sthere was no one to help;
I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
and my wrath upheld me.
6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
tI made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
The Lord’s Mercy Remembered
7 I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,
the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord has granted us,
uand the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely.”
And he became their Savior.
9 vIn all their affliction he was afflicted,4
and the angel of his presence saved them;
win his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
xhe lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
10 yBut they rebelled
zand grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
and himself fought against them.
11 Then he remembered athe days of old,
of Moses and his people.5
bWhere is he who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put in the midst of them
his Holy Spirit,
12 who caused his glorious arm
to go at the right hand of Moses,
cwho divided the waters before them
dto make for himself an everlasting name,
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
they did not stumble.
14 Like livestock that go down into the valley,
ethe Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So you led your people,
dto make for yourself a glorious name.
Prayer for Mercy
15 fLook down from heaven and see,
gfrom your holy and beautiful6 habitation.
Where are hyour zeal and your might?
The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
are held back from me.
16 For iyou are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
jour Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways
and kharden our heart, so that we fear you not?
lReturn for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
18 mYour holy people held possession for a little while;7
nour adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 oWe have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
like those who are not called by your name.
1 pOh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
qthat the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 8 as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
rto make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 sWhen you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 tFrom of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
uno eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?9
6 vWe have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
wWe all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 xThere is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in10 the hand of our iniquities.
8 yBut now, O Lord, you are our Father;
zwe are the clay, and you are our potter;
awe are all the work of your hand.
9 bBe not so terribly angry, O Lord,
cand remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 dYour holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 eOur holy and beautiful11 house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 fWill you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?
Judgment and Salvation
1 gI was ready to be sought by hthose who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
to a nation that was not called by12 my name.
2 iI spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;
3 a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
jsacrificing in gardens
and making offerings on bricks;
4 who sit in tombs,
and spend the night in secret places;
kwho eat pig’s flesh,
and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
5 who say, “Keep to yourself,
do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
lThese are a smoke in my nostrils,
a fire that burns all the day.
6 Behold, mit is written before me:
n“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
oI will indeed repay into their lap
7 both your iniquities pand your fathers’ iniquities together,
says the Lord;
qbecause they made offerings on the mountains
qand insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their lap
payment for their former deeds.”13
8 Thus says the Lord:
r“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants’ sake,
sand not destroy them all.
9 tI will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
and my servants shall dwell there.
10 uSharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
and vthe Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
for my people wwho have sought me.
11 But xyou who forsake the Lord,
who forget ymy holy mountain,
who zset a table for Fortune
and zfill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
abecause, when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
bbut you did what was evil in my eyes
and chose what I did not delight in.”
13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, cmy servants shall eat,
but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;
14 behold, dmy servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out for pain of heart
and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
15 You shall leave your name to emy chosen ffor a curse,
and the Lord God will put you to death,
but his servants ghe will call by another name,
16 so that he who hblesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by hthe God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by ithe God of truth;
jbecause the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my eyes.
New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “For behold, kI create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, lI create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
19 mI will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
nno more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
20 No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for othe young man shall die a hundred years old,
and pthe sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 qThey shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 qThey shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
rfor like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy14 the work of their hands.
23 sThey shall not labor in vain
tor bear children for calamity,15
for uthey shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
24 vBefore they call I will answer;
wwhile they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 xThe wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and ydust shall be the serpent’s food.
zThey shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Timothy and Epaphroditus
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus wto send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one xlike him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all yseek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s1 zproven worth, how aas a son2 with a father bhe has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and cI trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.
25 I have thought it necessary to send to you dEpaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and efellow soldier, and your messenger and fminister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So greceive him in the Lord with all joy, and hhonor such men, 30 for he nearly died3 ifor the work of Christ, risking his life jto complete what was lacking in your service to me.
Righteousness Through Faith in Christ
1 Finally, my brothers,4 krejoice in the Lord. lTo write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
2 Look out for mthe dogs, look out for nthe evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For owe are the circumcision, pwho worship qby the Spirit of God5 and rglory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
Book Three
God Is My Strength and Portion Forever
A Psalm of bAsaph.
1 Truly God is good to cIsrael,
to those who are dpure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 eFor I was fenvious of the arrogant
when I saw the gprosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not hstricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is itheir necklace;
violence covers them as ja garment.
7 Their keyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and lspeak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
11 And they say, n“How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they oincrease in riches.
13 All in vain have I pkept my heart clean
and qwashed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been hstricken
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed tthe generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me ua wearisome task,
17 until I went into vthe sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their wend.
18 Truly you set them in xslippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed yin a moment,
swept away utterly by zterrors!
20 Like aa dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when byou rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was cbrutish and ignorant;
I was like da beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you ehold my right hand.
24 You fguide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will greceive me to glory.
25 hWhom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 iMy flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is jthe strength2 of my heart and my kportion lforever.
27 For behold, those who are mfar from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is nunfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to obe near God;
I have made the Lord God my prefuge,
that I may qtell of all your works.
13 My son, oeat honey, for it is good,
and pthe drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
14 Know that wisdom is such to your soul;
if you find it, there will be qa future,
and your hope will not be cut off.