Through the Bible – Day 276

Bible text(s)

Isaiah 22

Trouble in Vision Valley

₁This is a message

about Vision Valley:

Why are you celebrating

on the flat roofs

of your houses?

₂Your city is filled

with noisy shouts.

Those who lie drunk

in your streets

were not killed in battle.

₃Your leaders ran away,

but they were captured

without a fight.

No matter how far they ran,

they were found and caught.

₄Then I said, “Leave me alone!

Let me cry bitter tears.

My people have been destroyed,

so don't try to comfort me.”

₅The LORD All-Powerful

had chosen a time

for noisy shouts and confusion

to fill Vision Valley,

and for everyone to beg

the mountains for help.

₆The people of Elam and Kir

attacked with chariots

and carried shields.

₇Your most beautiful valleys

were covered with chariots;

your cities were surrounded

by cavalry troops.

₈Judah was left defenceless.

At that time you trusted in the weapons you had stored in Forest Palace. ₉You saw the holes in the outer wall of Jerusalem, and you brought water from the lower pool. ₁₀You counted the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some of them, so you could get stones to repair the city wall. ₁₁Then you built a large tank between the walls to store the water. But you refused to trust the God who planned this long ago and made it happen.

A time to weep

₁₂When all this happened,

the LORD All-Powerful told you

to weep and mourn,

to shave your heads,

and wear sackcloth.

₁₃But instead, you celebrated

by feasting on beef and lamb

and by drinking wine,

because you said,

“Let's eat and drink!

Tomorrow we may die.”

₁₄The LORD All-Powerful

has spoken to me

this solemn promise:

“I won't forgive them for this,

not as long as they live.”

Selfish officials are doomed

₁₅The LORD All-Powerful is sending you with this message for Shebna, the prime minister:

₁₆Shebna, what gives you the right to have a tomb carved out of rock in this burial place of royalty? None of your relatives are buried here. ₁₇You may be powerful, but the LORD is about to snatch you up and throw you away. ₁₈He will roll you into a ball and throw you into a wide open country, where you will die and your chariots will be destroyed. You're a disgrace to those you serve.

₁₉The LORD is going to take away your job! _20-21He will give your official robes and your authority to his servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

Eliakim will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and to the royal family of Judah. ₂₂The LORD will put him in charge of the key that belongs to King David's family. No one will be able to unlock what he locks, and no one will be able to lock what he unlocks. ₂₃The LORD will make him as firm in his position as a tent peg hammered in the ground, and Eliakim will bring honour to his family.

₂₄His children and relatives will be supported by him, like pans hanging from a peg on the wall. ₂₅That peg is fastened firmly now, but some day it will be shaken loose and fall down. Then everything that was hanging on it will be destroyed. This is what the LORD All-Powerful has promised.

Isaiah 23

The city of Tyre will be punished

₁This is a message

from distant islands

about the city of Tyre:

Cry, you seagoing ships!

Tyre and its houses

lie in ruins.

₂Mourn in silence,

you shop owners of Sidon,

you people on the coast.

Your sailors crossed oceans,

making your city rich.

₃Your merchants sailed the seas,

making you wealthy by trading

with nation after nation.

They brought back grain

that grew along the Nile.

₄Sidon, you are a mighty fortress

built along the sea.

But you will be disgraced

like a married woman

who never had children.

₅When Egypt hears about Tyre,

it will tremble.

₆All of you along the coast

had better cry and sail

far across the ocean.

₇Can this be the happy city

that has stood for centuries?

Its people have spread

to distant lands;

₈its merchants were kings

honoured all over the world.

Who planned to destroy Tyre?

₉The LORD All-Powerful planned it

to bring shame and disgrace

to those who are honoured

by everyone on earth.

₁₀People of Tyre,

your harbour is destroyed!

You will have to become farmers

just like the Egyptians.

Tyre will be forgotten

₁₁The LORD's hand has reached

across the sea,

upsetting the nations.

He has given a command

to destroy fortresses

in the land of Canaan.

₁₂The LORD has said

to the people of Sidon,

“Your celebrating is over—

you are crushed.

Even if you escape to Cyprus,

you won't find peace.”

₁₃Look what the Assyrians have done to Babylonia! They have attacked, destroying every palace in the land. Now wild animals live among the ruins. ₁₄Not a fortress will be left standing, so tell all the seagoing ships to mourn.

₁₅The city of Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, which is the lifetime of a king. Then Tyre will be like that evil woman in the song:

₁₆You're gone and forgotten,

you evil woman!

So strut through the town,

singing and playing

your favourite tune

to be remembered again.

₁₇At the end of those seventy years, the LORD will let Tyre get back into business. The city will be like a woman who sells her body to everyone of every nation on earth, ₁₈but none of what is earned will be kept in the city. That money will belong to the LORD, and it will be used to buy more than enough food and good clothes for those who worship the LORD.

Isaiah 24

Messages of hope for the Lord's people who are suffering

The earth will be punished

₁The LORD is going to twist the earth out of shape and turn it into a desert. Everyone will be scattered, ₂including ordinary people and priests, slaves and slave owners, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, the rich and the poor. ₃The earth will be stripped bare and left that way. This is what the LORD has promised.

₄The earth wilts away;

its mighty leaders melt

to nothing.

₅The earth is polluted

because its people

disobeyed the laws of God,

breaking their agreement

that was to last for ever.

₆The earth is under a curse;

its people are dying out

because of their sins.

₇Grapevines have dried up:

wine is almost gone—

mournful sounds are heard

instead of joyful shouts.

₈No one plays tambourines

or stringed instruments;

all noisy celebrating

has come to an end.

₉They no longer sing

as they drink their wine,

and it tastes sour.

₁₀Towns are crushed and in chaos;

houses are locked tight.

₁₁Happy times have disappeared

from the earth,

and people shout in the streets,

“We're out of wine!”

₁₂Cities are destroyed;

their gates are torn down.

₁₃Nations will be stripped bare,

like olive trees or vineyards

after the harvest season.

Praise the God of justice

₁₄People in the west shout;

they joyfully praise

the majesty of the LORD.

₁₅And so, everyone in the east

and those on the islands

should praise the LORD,

the God of Israel.

₁₆From all over the world

songs of praise are heard

for the God of justice.

But I feel awful,

terribly miserable.

Can anyone be trusted?

So many are treacherous!

There's no escape

₁₇Terror, traps, and pits

are waiting for everyone.

₁₈If you are terrified and run,

you will fall into a pit;

if you crawl out of the pit,

you will get caught in a trap.

The sky has split apart

like a window thrown open.

The foundations of the earth

have been shaken;

₁₉the earth is shattered,

ripped to pieces.

₂₀It staggers and shakes

like a drunkard

or a hut in a storm.

It is burdened down with sin;

the earth will fall,

never again to get up.

₂₁On that day the LORD

will punish the powers

in the heavens

and the kings of the earth.

₂₂He will put them in a pit

and keep them prisoner.

Then later on,

he will punish them.

₂₃The moon and sun will both

be embarrassed and ashamed.

The LORD All-Powerful will rule

on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,

where he will show its rulers

his wonderful glory.

Isaiah 22:1-24:23CEVOpen in Bible reader

Philippians 4

₁Dear friends, I love you and long to see you. Please keep on being faithful to the Lord. You are my pride and joy.

Paul encourages the Lord's followers

₂Euodia and Syntyche, you belong to the Lord, so I beg you to stop arguing with each other. ₃And, my true partner, I ask you to help them. These women have worked together with me and with Clement and with the others in spreading the good news. Their names are now written in the book of life.

₄Always be glad because of the Lord! I will say it again: be glad. ₅Always be gentle with others. The Lord will soon be here. ₆Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. ₇Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.

₈Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise. ₉You know the teachings I gave you, and you know what you heard me say and saw me do. So follow my example. And God, who gives peace, will be with you.

Paul thanks the Philippians

₁₀The Lord has made me very grateful that at last you have thought about me once again. Actually, you were thinking about me all along, but you didn't have any chance to show it. ₁₁I am not complaining about having too little. I have learnt to be satisfied with whatever I have. ₁₂I know what it is to be poor or to have plenty, and I have lived under all kinds of conditions. I know what it means to be full or to be hungry, to have too much or too little. ₁₃Christ gives me the strength to face anything.

₁₄It was good of you to help me when I was having such a hard time. ₁₅My friends at Philippi, you remember what it was like when I started preaching the good news in Macedonia. After I left there, you were the only church that became my partner by giving blessings and by receiving them in return. ₁₆Even when I was in Thessalonica, you helped me more than once. ₁₇I am not trying to get something from you, but I want you to receive the blessings that come from giving.

₁₈I have been paid back everything, and with interest. I am completely satisfied with the gifts that you asked Epaphroditus to bring me. They are like a sweet-smelling offering or like the right kind of sacrifice that pleases God. ₁₉I pray that God will take care of all your needs with the wonderful blessings that come from Christ Jesus! ₂₀May God our Father be praised for ever and ever. Amen.

Final greetings

₂₁Give my greetings to all who are God's people because of Christ Jesus.

The Lord's followers here with me send you their greetings.

₂₂All God's people send their greetings, especially those in the service of the Emperor.

₂₃I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless your life!

Philippians 4:1-23CEVOpen in Bible reader