Message to Egypt

1The oracle concerning Egypt.

Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;

The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,

And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

2“So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;

And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor,

City against city and kingdom against kingdom.

3Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;

And I will confound their strategy,

So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead

And to mediums and spiritists.

4Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master,

And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord God of hosts.

5The waters from the sea will dry up,

And the river will be parched and dry.

6The canals will emit a stench,

The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;

The reeds and rushes will rot away.

7The bulrushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile

And all the sown fields by the Nile

Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.

8And the fishermen will lament,

And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn,

And those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.

9Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax

And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected.

10And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed;

All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

11The princes of Zoan are mere fools;

The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become stupid.

How can you men say to Pharaoh,

“I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings”?

12Well then, where are your wise men?

Please let them tell you,

And let them understand what the Lord of hosts

Has purposed against Egypt.

13The princes of Zoan have acted foolishly,

The princes of Memphis are deluded;

Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes

Have led Egypt astray.

14The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of distortion;

They have led Egypt astray in all that it does,

As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

15There will be no work for Egypt

Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.

16In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in dread because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. 17The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is purposing against them.

18In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.

19In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord near its border. 20It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. 21Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 22The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and will heal them.

23In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

24In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

Prophecy about Egypt and Ethiopia

1In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it, 2at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your shoes off your feet.” And he did so, going naked and barefoot. 3And the Lord said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token against Egypt and Cush, 4so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast. 6So the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, such is our hope, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and we, how shall we escape?’ ”

God Commands That Babylon Be Taken

1The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.

As windstorms in the Negev sweep on,

It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.

2A harsh vision has been shown to me;

The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.

Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media;

I have made an end of all the groaning she has caused.

3For this reason my loins are full of anguish;

Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor.

I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.

4My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;

The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.

5They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;

“Rise up, captains, oil the shields,”

6For thus the Lord says to me,

“Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees.

7When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,

A train of donkeys, a train of camels,

Let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

8Then the lookout called,

“O Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,

And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

9Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”

And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;

And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

10O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!

What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,

The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Oracles about Edom and Arabia

11The oracle concerning Edom.

One keeps calling to me from Seir,

“Watchman, how far gone is the night?

Watchman, how far gone is the night?”

12The watchman says,

“Morning comes but also night.

If you would inquire, inquire;

Come back again.”

13The oracle about Arabia.

In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night,

O caravans of Dedanites.

14Bring water for the thirsty,

O inhabitants of the land of Tema,

Meet the fugitive with bread.

15For they have fled from the swords,

From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow

And from the press of battle.

16For thus the Lord said to me, “In a year, as a hired man would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will terminate; 17and the remainder of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken.”

The Council at Jerusalem

1Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. 2It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain. 3But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. 5But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. 6But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. 7But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised 8(for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), 9and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do.

Peter (Cephas) Opposed by Paul

11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. 13The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

15“We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; 16nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

PSALM 59

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies.

For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David, when Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.

1Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;

Set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me.

2Deliver me from those who do iniquity

And save me from men of bloodshed.

3For behold, they have set an ambush for my life;

Fierce men launch an attack against me,

Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord,

4For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me.

Arouse Yourself to help me, and see!

5You, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,

Awake to punish all the nations;

Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity. Selah.

6They return at evening, they howl like a dog,

And go around the city.

7Behold, they belch forth with their mouth;

Swords are in their lips,

For, they say, “Who hears?”

8But You, O Lord, laugh at them;

You scoff at all the nations.

9Because of his strength I will watch for You,

For God is my stronghold.

10My God in His lovingkindness will meet me;

God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes.

11Do not slay them, or my people will forget;

Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down,

O Lord, our shield.

12On account of the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,

Let them even be caught in their pride,

And on account of curses and lies which they utter.

13Destroy them in wrath, destroy them that they may be no more;

That men may know that God rules in Jacob

To the ends of the earth. Selah.

14They return at evening, they howl like a dog,

And go around the city.

15They wander about for food

And growl if they are not satisfied.

16But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength;

Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning,

For You have been my stronghold

And a refuge in the day of my distress.

17O my strength, I will sing praises to You;

For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.

13Do not hold back discipline from the child,

Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

14You shall strike him with the rod

And rescue his soul from Sheol.