10But the Lord says: “Now I will stand up.
Now I will show my power and might.
11You Assyrians produce nothing but dry grass and stubble.
Your own breath will turn to fire and consume you.
12Your people will be burned up completely,
like thornbushes cut down and tossed in a fire.
13Listen to what I have done, you nations far away!
And you that are near, acknowledge my might!”
14The sinners in Jerusalem shake with fear.
Terror seizes the godless.
“Who can live with this devouring fire?” they cry.
“Who can survive this all-consuming fire?”
15Those who are honest and fair,
who refuse to profit by fraud,
who stay far away from bribes,
who refuse to listen to those who plot murder,
who shut their eyes to all enticement to do wrong—
16these are the ones who will dwell on high.
The rocks of the mountains will be their fortress.
Food will be supplied to them,
and they will have water in abundance.
17Your eyes will see the king in all his splendor,
and you will see a land that stretches into the distance.
18You will think back to this time of terror, asking,
“Where are the Assyrian officers
who counted our towers?
Where are the bookkeepers
who recorded the plunder taken from our fallen city?”
19You will no longer see these fierce, violent people
with their strange, unknown language.
20Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals.
You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure.
It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut
and whose stakes are firmly fixed.
21The Lord will be our Mighty One.
He will be like a wide river of protection
that no enemy can cross,
that no enemy ship can sail upon.
22For the Lord is our judge,
our lawgiver, and our king.
He will care for us and save us.
23The enemies’ sails hang loose
on broken masts with useless tackle.
Their treasure will be divided by the people of God.
Even the lame will take their share!
24The people of Israel will no longer say,
“We are sick and helpless,”
for the Lord will forgive their sins.
1Come here and listen, O nations of the earth.
Let the world and everything in it hear my words.
2For the Lord is enraged against the nations.
His fury is against all their armies.
He will completely destroy*34:2 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; similarly in 34:5. them,
dooming them to slaughter.
3Their dead will be left unburied,
and the stench of rotting bodies will fill the land.
The mountains will flow with their blood.
4The heavens above will melt away
and disappear like a rolled-up scroll.
The stars will fall from the sky
like withered leaves from a grapevine,
or shriveled figs from a fig tree.
5And when my sword has finished its work in the heavens,
it will fall upon Edom,
the nation I have marked for destruction.
6The sword of the Lord is drenched with blood
and covered with fat—
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of rams prepared for sacrifice.
Yes, the Lord will offer a sacrifice in the city of Bozrah.
He will make a mighty slaughter in Edom.
7Even men as strong as wild oxen will die—
the young men alongside the veterans.
The land will be soaked with blood
and the soil enriched with fat.
8For it is the day of the Lord’s revenge,
the year when Edom will be paid back for all it did to Israel.*34:8 Hebrew to Zion.
9The streams of Edom will be filled with burning pitch,
and the ground will be covered with fire.
10This judgment on Edom will never end;
the smoke of its burning will rise forever.
The land will lie deserted from generation to generation.
No one will live there anymore.
11It will be haunted by the desert owl and the screech owl,
the great owl and the raven.*34:11 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.
For God will measure that land carefully;
he will measure it for chaos and destruction.
12It will be called the Land of Nothing,
and all its nobles will soon be gone.*34:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
13Thorns will overrun its palaces;
nettles and thistles will grow in its forts.
The ruins will become a haunt for jackals
and a home for owls.
14Desert animals will mingle there with hyenas,
their howls filling the night.
Wild goats will bleat at one another among the ruins,
and night creatures*34:14 Hebrew Lilith, possibly a reference to a mythical demon of the night. will come there to rest.
15There the owl will make her nest and lay her eggs.
She will hatch her young and cover them with her wings.
And the buzzards will come,
each one with its mate.
16Search the book of the Lord,
and see what he will do.
Not one of these birds and animals will be missing,
and none will lack a mate,
for the Lord has promised this.
His Spirit will make it all come true.
17He has surveyed and divided the land
and deeded it over to those creatures.
They will possess it forever,
from generation to generation.
1Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days.
The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses.
2Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers
and singing and joy!
The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon,
as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon.
There the Lord will display his glory,
the splendor of our God.
3With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands,
and encourage those who have weak knees.
4Say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, and do not fear,
for your God is coming to destroy your enemies.
He is coming to save you.”
5And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind
and unplug the ears of the deaf.
6The lame will leap like a deer,
and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!
Springs will gush forth in the wilderness,
and streams will water the wasteland.
7The parched ground will become a pool,
and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.
Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish
where desert jackals once lived.
8And a great road will go through that once deserted land.
It will be named the Highway of Holiness.
Evil-minded people will never travel on it.
It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways;
fools will never walk there.
9Lions will not lurk along its course,
nor any other ferocious beasts.
There will be no other dangers.
Only the redeemed will walk on it.
10Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem*35:10 Hebrew Zion. singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
and they will be filled with joy and gladness.
1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign,*36:1 The fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign was 701 b.c. King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them.
3These are the officials who went out to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian.
4Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah:
“This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?
7“But perhaps you will say to me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God!’ But isn’t he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn’t Hezekiah tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?
8“I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them!
11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff, “Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew,*36:11 Hebrew in the dialect of Judah; also in 36:13. for the people on the wall will hear.”
12But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, “Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”
13Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria!
16“Don’t listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me—open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well.
18“Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will rescue us!’ Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria?
21But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them, “Do not answer him.”
22Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief of staff had said.
13For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
16So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
19When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
22But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1O God, listen to my complaint.
Protect my life from my enemies’ threats.
2Hide me from the plots of this evil mob,
from this gang of wrongdoers.
3They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim their bitter words like arrows.
4They shoot from ambush at the innocent,
attacking suddenly and fearlessly.
5They encourage each other to do evil
and plan how to set their traps in secret.
“Who will ever notice?” they ask.
6As they plot their crimes, they say,
“We have devised the perfect plan!”
Yes, the human heart and mind are cunning.
7But God himself will shoot them with his arrows,
suddenly striking them down.
8Their own tongues will ruin them,
and all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
9Then everyone will be afraid;
they will proclaim the mighty acts of God
and realize all the amazing things he does.
10The godly will rejoice in the Lord
and find shelter in him.
And those who do what is right
will praise him.
24The father of godly children has cause for joy.
What a pleasure to have children who are wise.*23:24 Hebrew to have a wise son.