Through the Bible – Day 275

Bible text(s)

Isaiah 19

Egypt will be punished

₁This is a message about Egypt:

The LORD comes to Egypt,

riding swiftly on a cloud.

The people are weak from fear.

Their idols tremble

as he approaches and says,

₂“I will punish Egypt

with civil war—

neighbours, cities, and kingdoms

will fight each other.

₃“Egypt will be discouraged

when I confuse their plans.

They will try to get advice

from their idols,

from the spirits of the dead,

and from fortune-tellers.

₄I will put the Egyptians

under the power of a cruel,

heartless king.

I, the LORD All-Powerful,

have promised this.”

Trouble along the Nile

₅The River Nile will dry up

and become parched land.

₆Its streams will stink,

Egypt will have no water,

and the reeds and tall grass

will dry up.

₇Fields along the Nile

will be completely barren;

every plant will disappear.

₈Those who fish in the Nile

will be discouraged

and mourn.

₉None of the cloth makers

will know what to do,

and they will turn pale.

₁₀Weavers will be confused;

paid workers will cry and mourn.

Egypt's helpless leaders

₁₁The king's officials in Zoan

are foolish themselves

and give stupid advice.

How can they say to him,

“We are very wise,

and our families go back

to kings of long ago”?

₁₂Where are those wise men now?

If they can, let them say

what the LORD All-Powerful

intends for Egypt.

₁₃The royal officials in Zoan

and in Memphis

are foolish and deceived.

The leaders in every state

have given bad advice

to the nation.

₁₄The LORD has confused Egypt;

its leaders have made it stagger

and vomit like a drunkard.

₁₅No one in Egypt can do a thing,

no matter who they are.

₁₆When the LORD All-Powerful punishes Egypt with his mighty arm, the Egyptians will become terribly weak and will tremble with fear. ₁₇They will be so terrified of Judah that they will be frightened by the very mention of its name. This will happen because of what the LORD All-Powerful is planning against Egypt.

The LORD will bless Egypt, Assyria, and Israel

₁₈The time is coming when Hebrew will be spoken in five Egyptian cities, and their people will become followers of the LORD. One of these cities will be called City of the Sun.

₁₉In the heart of Egypt an altar will be set up for the LORD; at its border a shrine will be built to honour him. ₂₀These will remind the Egyptians that the LORD All-Powerful is with them. And when they are in trouble and ask for help, he will send someone to rescue them from their enemies. ₂₁The LORD will show the Egyptians who he is, and they will know and worship the LORD. They will bring him sacrifices and offerings, and they will keep their promises to him. ₂₂After the LORD has punished Egypt, the people will turn to him. Then he will answer their prayers, and the Egyptians will be healed.

₂₃At that time a good road will run from Egypt to Assyria. The Egyptians and the Assyrians will travel back and forth from Egypt to Assyria, and they will worship together. ₂₄Israel will join with these two countries. They will be a blessing to everyone on earth, ₂₅then the LORD All-Powerful will bless them by saying,

“The Egyptians are my people.

I created the Assyrians

and chose the Israelites.”

Isaiah 20

Isaiah acts out the defeat of Egypt and Ethiopia

₁King Sargon of Assyria gave orders for his army commander to capture the city of Ashdod. ₂About this same time the LORD had told me, “Isaiah, take off everything, including your sandals!” I did this and went around naked and barefoot ₃for three years.

Then the LORD said:

What Isaiah has done is a warning to Egypt and Ethiopia. ₄Everyone in these two countries will be led away naked and barefoot by the king of Assyria. Young or old, they will be taken prisoner, and Egypt will be disgraced. ₅They will be confused and frustrated, because they depended on Ethiopia and boasted about Egypt. ₆When this happens, the people who live along the coast will say, “Look what happened to them! We ran to them for safety, hoping they would protect us from the king of Assyria. But now, there is no escape for us.”

Isaiah 21

The fall of Babylonia

₁This is a message about a desert beside the sea:

Enemies from a hostile nation

attack like a whirlwind

from the Southern Desert.

₂What a horrible vision

was shown to me—

a vision of betrayal

and destruction.

Tell Elam and Media

to surround and attack

the Babylonians.

The LORD has sworn to end

the suffering they caused.

₃I'm in terrible pain

like a woman giving birth.

I'm shocked and hurt so much

that I can't hear or see.

₄My head spins; I'm horrified!

Early evening, my favourite time,

has become a nightmare.

₅In Babylon the high officials

were having a feast.

They were eating and drinking,

when someone shouted,

“Officers, take your places!

Grab your shields.”

₆The LORD said to me,

“Send guards to find out

what's going on.

₇When they see cavalry troops

and columns of soldiers

on donkeys and camels,

tell them to be ready!”

₈Then a guard said,

“I have stood day and night

on this watchtower, Lord.

₉Now I see column after column

of cavalry troops.”

Straight away someone shouted,

“Babylon has fallen!

Every idol in the city

lies broken on the ground.”

₁₀Then I said, “My people,

you have suffered terribly,

but I have a message for you

from the LORD All-Powerful,

the God of Israel.”

How much longer?

₁₁This is a message about Dumah:

From the country of Seir,

someone shouts to me,

“Guard, how much longer

before daylight?”

₁₂From my guard post, I answered,

“Morning will soon be here,

but night will return.

If you want to know more,

come back later.”

₁₃This is a message for Arabs

who live in the barren desert

in the region of Dedan:

You must order your caravans

₁₄to bring water for those

who are thirsty.

You people of Tema

must bring food

for the hungry refugees.

₁₅They are worn out and weary

from being chased by enemies

with swords and arrows.

₁₆The Lord said to me:

A year from now the glory of the people of Kedar will all come to an end, just as a worker's contract ends after a year. ₁₇Only a few of their warriors will be left with bows and arrows. This is a promise that I, the LORD God of Israel, have made.

Isaiah 19:1-21:17CEVOpen in Bible reader

Philippians 3

Being acceptable to God

₁Finally, my dear friends, be glad that you belong to the Lord. It doesn't bother me to write the same things to you that I have written before. In fact, it is for your own good.

₂Watch out for those people who behave like dogs! They are evil and want to do more than just circumcise you. ₃But we are the ones who are truly circumcised, because we worship by the power of God's Spirit and take pride in Christ Jesus. We don't boast about what we have done, ₄although I could. Others may boast about themselves, but I have more reason to boast than anyone else. ₅I was circumcised when I was eight days old, and I am from the nation of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a true Hebrew. As a Pharisee, I strictly obeyed the Law of Moses. ₆And I was so eager that I even made trouble for the church. I did everything the Law demands in order to please God.

₇But Christ has shown me that what I once thought was valuable is worthless. ₈Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as rubbish. All I want is Christ ₉and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. ₁₀All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, ₁₁so that somehow I also may be raised to life.

Running towards the goal

₁₂I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. ₁₃My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. ₁₄I run towards the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done. ₁₅All of us who are mature should think in this same way. And if any of you think differently, God will make it clear to you. ₁₆But we must keep going in the direction that we are now headed.

₁₇My friends, I want you to follow my example and learn from others who closely follow the example we set for you. ₁₈I often warned you that many people are living as enemies of the cross of Christ. And now with tears in my eyes, I warn you again ₁₉that they are headed for hell! They worship their stomachs and boast about the disgusting things they do. All they can think about are the things of this world.

₂₀But we are citizens of heaven and are eagerly waiting for our Saviour to come from there. Our Lord Jesus Christ ₂₁has power over everything, and he will make these poor bodies of ours like his own glorious body.

Philippians 3:1-21CEVOpen in Bible reader