The Glorious Future

32 Behold, a (A)king will reign righteously,
And officials will rule justly.
Each will be like a (B)refuge from the wind
And a shelter from the storm,
Like [a](C)streams of water in a dry country,
Like the (D)shade of a [b]huge rock in an exhausted land.
Then (E)the eyes of those who see will not be [c]blinded,
And the ears of those who hear will listen.
The [d]mind of the (F)rash will discern the [e]truth,
And the tongue of the stammerers will hurry to speak clearly.
No longer will the (G)fool be called noble,
Or the rogue be spoken of as generous.
For a fool speaks nonsense,
And his heart [f](H)inclines toward wickedness:
To practice (I)ungodliness and to speak error against the Lord,
To [g](J)keep the hungry person unsatisfied
And [h]to withhold drink from the thirsty.
As for a rogue, his weapons are evil;
He (K)devises wicked schemes
To (L)destroy the poor with [i]slander,
(M)Even though the needy one speaks [j]what is right.
But (N)the noble person devises noble plans;
And by noble plans he stands.

Rise up, you (O)women who are at ease,
And hear my voice;
(P)Listen to my word,
You complacent daughters.
10 Within a year and a few days
You will be troubled, you complacent daughters;
(Q)For the vintage is ended,
And the fruit gathering will not come.
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease;
(R)Be troubled, you complacent daughters;
(S)Strip, undress, and put sackcloth on your waist,
12 (T)Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,
13 (U)For the land of my people in which thorns and briars will come up;
Indeed, for all the joyful houses and for the (V)jubilant city.
14 For (W)the palace has been neglected, the [k]populated (X)city abandoned.
[l]Hill and watch-tower have become (Y)caves forever,
A delight for (Z)wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15 Until the (AA)Spirit is poured out upon us from on high,
And the wilderness becomes a (AB)fertile field,
And the fertile field is considered as a forest.
16 Then (AC)justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness will remain in the fertile field.
17 And the (AD)work of righteousness will be peace,
And the service of righteousness, (AE)quietness and [m]confidence forever.
18 Then my people will live in a (AF)peaceful settlement,
In secure dwellings, and in undisturbed (AG)resting places;
19 And it will (AH)hail when the (AI)forest comes down,
And (AJ)the city will be utterly laid low.
20 How (AK)blessed will you be, you who sow beside all waters,
Who [n]let the ox and the donkey out freely.

The Judgment of God

33 Woe (AL)to you, destroyer,
While you were not destroyed;
And he (AM)who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.
As soon as you finish destroying, (AN)you will be destroyed;
As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will (AO)deal treacherously with you.
Lord, (AP)be gracious to us; we have (AQ)waited for You.
Be [o]their [p](AR)strength every morning,
Our salvation also in the (AS)time of distress.
At the sound of a roar, (AT)peoples flee;
At the (AU)lifting up of Yourself, nations disperse.
Your plunder is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
Like an infestation of locusts, people storm it.
The Lord is (AV)exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has (AW)filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
And He will be the [q](AX)stability of your times,
A (AY)wealth of salvation, wisdom, and (AZ)knowledge;
The (BA)fear of the Lord is his treasure.
Behold, their brave men cry out [r]in the streets,
The [s](BB)ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
The highways are desolate, [t]the (BC)traveler has ceased,
He has (BD)broken the covenant, he has despised the cities,
He has no regard for mankind.
(BE)The land mourns and wastes away,
(BF)Lebanon is shamed and withers;
(BG)Sharon is like a desert plain,
And Bashan and Carmel [u]lose their foliage.
10 “Now (BH)I will arise,” says the Lord,
“Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up.
11 You have (BI)conceived [v]chaff, you will give birth to stubble;
[w]My (BJ)breath will consume you like a fire.
12 The peoples will be burned to lime,
(BK)Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.

13 “You who are far away, (BL)hear what I have done;
And you who are near, [x]acknowledge My might.”
14 (BM)Sinners in Zion are terrified;
(BN)Trembling has seized the godless.
“Who among us can live with (BO)the consuming fire?
Who among us can live with everlasting (BP)burning?”
15 One who (BQ)walks righteously and speaks with integrity,
One who rejects [y]unjust gain
And shakes his hands so that they hold no bribe;
One who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed
And (BR)shuts his eyes from looking at evil;
16 He will dwell on the heights,
(BS)His refuge will be the [z]impregnable rock;
(BT)His bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.

17 Your eyes will see (BU)the King in His beauty;
They will see (BV)a distant land.
18 Your heart will meditate on (BW)terror:
“Where is (BX)one who counts?
Where is one who weighs?
Where is one who counts the towers?”
19 You will no longer see a fierce people,
A people of [aa](BY)unintelligible speech [ab]which no one comprehends,
Of a stammering tongue [ac]which no one understands.
20 (BZ)Look at Zion, the city of our appointed feasts;
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an (CA)undisturbed settlement,
(CB)A tent which will not be folded;
Its stakes will never be pulled up,
Nor any of its ropes be torn apart.
21 But there the majestic One, the Lord, will be for us
A place of (CC)rivers and wide canals
On which no boat with oars will go,
And on which no mighty ship will pass—
22 For the Lord is our (CD)judge,
The Lord is (CE)our lawgiver,
The Lord is (CF)our king;
(CG)He will save us—
23 Your ship’s tackle hangs slack;
It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly,
Nor spread out the sail.
Then the (CH)prey of an abundant spoil will be divided;
(CI)Those who limp will take the plunder.
24 And no resident will say, “I am (CJ)sick”;
The people who live [ad]there will be (CK)forgiven their wrongdoing.

God’s Wrath against Nations

34 Come near, (CL)you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples!
(CM)Let the earth and [ae]all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
For the Lords (CN)anger is against all the nations,
And His wrath against all their armies.
He has [af](CO)utterly destroyed them,
He has turned them over to (CP)slaughter.
So their slain will be (CQ)thrown out,
And their corpses [ag]will give off their (CR)stench,
And the mountains will [ah]be drenched with their (CS)blood.
And (CT)all the heavenly [ai]lights will [aj]wear away,
And the (CU)sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
All its [ak]lights will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
Or as one withers from the fig tree.
For (CV)My sword has drunk its fill in heaven;
Behold it shall descend for judgment upon (CW)Edom,
And upon the people whom I have (CX)designated for destruction.
The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
It drips with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the Lord has a sacrifice in (CY)Bozrah,
And a great slaughter in the land of (CZ)Edom.
(DA)Wild oxen will also [al]fall with them
And (DB)young bulls with strong ones;
So their land will be (DC)soaked with blood,
And their dust [am]become greasy with fat.
For the Lord has a day of (DD)vengeance,
A year of retribution for the [an]cause of Zion.
[ao]Its streams will be turned into pitch,
And its loose earth into (DE)brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.
10 It will (DF)not be extinguished night or day;
Its (DG)smoke will go up forever.
From (DH)generation to generation it will be desolate;
(DI)None will pass through it forever and ever.
11 But [ap](DJ)pelican and hedgehog will possess it,
And [aq]owl and raven will dwell in it;
And He will stretch over it the (DK)line of [ar]desolation
And the [as]plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is (DL)no one there
Whom they may proclaim king—
And all its officials will be (DM)nothing.
13 Thorns will come up in its (DN)fortified towers,
Weeds and thistles in its fortified cities;
It will also be a haunt of (DO)jackals
And a habitat of ostriches.
14 The desert (DP)creatures will meet with the [at]wolves,
The [au](DQ)goat also will cry to its kind.
Yes, the [av]night-bird will settle there
And will find herself a resting place.
15 The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there,
And it will hatch and gather them under its [aw]protection.
Yes, (DR)the [ax]hawks will be gathered there,
Every one with its kind.

16 Seek from the (DS)book of the Lord, and read:

Not one of these will be missing;
None will lack its mate.
For [ay](DT)His mouth has commanded,
And His Spirit has gathered them.
17 He has cast the (DU)lot for them,
And His hand has divided it to them by the (DV)measuring line.
They shall possess it forever;
From (DW)generation to generation they will dwell in it.

Zion’s Happy Future

35 The (DX)wilderness and the desert will rejoice,
And the [az](DY)desert will shout for joy and blossom;
Like the crocus
It will (DZ)blossom profusely
And (EA)rejoice with joy and jubilation.
The (EB)glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
The majesty of (EC)Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the (ED)glory of the Lord,
The majesty of our God.
(EE)Strengthen the [ba]exhausted, and make the [bb]feeble strong.
Say to those with (EF)anxious heart,
“Take courage, fear not.
Behold, your God will come with (EG)vengeance;
The (EH)retribution of God will come,
But He will (EI)save you.”
Then the (EJ)eyes of those who are blind will be opened,
And the ears of those who are deaf will be unstopped.
Then those who (EK)limp will leap like a deer,
And the (EL)tongue of those who cannot speak will shout for joy.
For waters will burst forth in the (EM)wilderness,
And streams in the [bc]desert.
The [bd]scorched land will become a pool
And the thirsty ground (EN)springs of water;
In the (EO)haunt of jackals, its resting place,
Grass becomes reeds and rushes.
(EP)A highway will be there, (EQ)a roadway,
And it will be called the Highway of (ER)Holiness.
The unclean will not travel on it,
But it will be for the one who walks that way,
And (ES)fools will not wander on it.
No (ET)lion will be there,
Nor will any vicious animal go up on it;
[be]They will not be found there.
But (EU)the redeemed will walk there,
10 And (EV)the redeemed of the Lord will return
And come to Zion with joyful shouting,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And (EW)sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 32:2 Lit canals
  2. Isaiah 32:2 Lit heavy
  3. Isaiah 32:3 Or turned away
  4. Isaiah 32:4 Lit heart
  5. Isaiah 32:4 Lit knowledge
  6. Isaiah 32:6 Or does
  7. Isaiah 32:6 Lit make empty the hungry soul
  8. Isaiah 32:6 Lit he deprives the thirsty
  9. Isaiah 32:7 Lit words of falsehood
  10. Isaiah 32:7 Lit justly
  11. Isaiah 32:14 Lit multitude of the
  12. Isaiah 32:14 Or Ophel
  13. Isaiah 32:17 Or security
  14. Isaiah 32:20 Lit send out the foot of the ox
  15. Isaiah 33:2 Some ancient versions our
  16. Isaiah 33:2 Lit arm
  17. Isaiah 33:6 Or faithfulness
  18. Isaiah 33:7 Lit outside
  19. Isaiah 33:7 Lit messengers
  20. Isaiah 33:8 Lit one who passes along the way
  21. Isaiah 33:9 Lit shake off
  22. Isaiah 33:11 Lit dry grass
  23. Isaiah 33:11 One ancient version; MT Your breath will
  24. Isaiah 33:13 Lit know
  25. Isaiah 33:15 Lit gain of extortioners
  26. Isaiah 33:16 Lit stronghold of rock
  27. Isaiah 33:19 Lit deepness of lip
  28. Isaiah 33:19 Lit from hearing
  29. Isaiah 33:19 Lit there is no understanding
  30. Isaiah 33:24 Lit in it
  31. Isaiah 34:1 Lit its fullness
  32. Isaiah 34:2 Lit put under the ban
  33. Isaiah 34:3 Lit their stench will go up
  34. Isaiah 34:3 Lit dissolve
  35. Isaiah 34:4 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
  36. Isaiah 34:4 Lit rot
  37. Isaiah 34:4 Lit host; i.e., sun, stars, etc.
  38. Isaiah 34:7 Lit go down
  39. Isaiah 34:7 Lit made fat
  40. Isaiah 34:8 Or controversy
  41. Isaiah 34:9 I.e., Edom’s
  42. Isaiah 34:11 Or owl; or jackdaw
  43. Isaiah 34:11 Or great horned owl
  44. Isaiah 34:11 Or formlessness
  45. Isaiah 34:11 Lit stones of void
  46. Isaiah 34:14 Or howling creatures
  47. Isaiah 34:14 Or goat demon
  48. Isaiah 34:14 Or a demon; Heb Lilith
  49. Isaiah 34:15 Lit shade
  50. Isaiah 34:15 Or kites
  51. Isaiah 34:16 As in DSS; MT My
  52. Isaiah 35:1 Or Arabah
  53. Isaiah 35:3 Lit slack hands
  54. Isaiah 35:3 Lit tottering knees
  55. Isaiah 35:6 Or Arabah
  56. Isaiah 35:7 Or mirage
  57. Isaiah 35:9 Lit It

The Sin of Partiality

(A)My brothers and sisters, (B)do not hold your faith in our (C)glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of (D)personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your [a]assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in (E)bright clothes, and a poor man in (F)dirty clothes also comes in, and you [b]pay special attention to the one who is wearing the (G)bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges (H)with evil [c]motives? Listen, (I)my beloved brothers and sisters: did (J)God not choose the poor [d]of this world to be (K)rich in faith and (L)heirs of the kingdom which He (M)promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and [e]personally (N)drag you into [f]court? (O)Do they not blaspheme the good name [g]by which you have been called?

If, however, you (P)are fulfilling the [h]royal law according to the Scripture, “(Q)You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you (R)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators. 10 For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet (S)stumbles in one point, has become (T)guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “(U)Do not commit adultery,” also said, “(V)Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do murder, you have become a violator of the Law. 12 So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by (W)the law of freedom. 13 For (X)judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy [i]triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Works

14 (Y)What use is it, (Z)my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can [j]that faith save him? 15 (AA)If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “(AB)Go in peace, [k]be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 In the same way, (AC)faith also, if it has no works, is [l]dead, being by itself.

18 (AD)But someone [m]may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your (AE)faith without the works, and I will (AF)show you my faith (AG)by my works.” 19 You believe that [n](AH)God is one. (AI)You do well; (AJ)the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to acknowledge, (AK)you foolish person, that (AL)faith without works is useless? 21 (AM)Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that (AN)faith was working with his works, and [o]as a result of the (AO)works, faith was [p]perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “(AP)And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a (AQ)friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was (AR)Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also (AS)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also (AT)faith without works is dead.

Footnotes

  1. James 2:2 Or synagogue
  2. James 2:3 Lit look at
  3. James 2:4 Lit reasonings
  4. James 2:5 Lit to the
  5. James 2:6 Lit they themselves
  6. James 2:6 Lit courts
  7. James 2:7 Lit which has been called upon you
  8. James 2:8 Or law of our King
  9. James 2:13 Lit boasts against
  10. James 2:14 Lit the
  11. James 2:16 Or warm yourselves and fill yourselves
  12. James 2:17 Or dead by its own standards
  13. James 2:18 Lit will
  14. James 2:19 One early ms there is one God
  15. James 2:22 Or by the deeds
  16. James 2:22 Or completed

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