Isaiah 3; Isaiah 4; Galatians 6

1 See now, the Lord, the LORD of Armies, is going to take from Jerusalem and Judah every kind of support and their entire supply of food and water.

2 [He will take their] heroes and soldiers, judges and prophets, fortunetellers and statesmen,

3 military leaders and civilian leaders, counselors, skilled workers, and experts in magic.

4 "I will make boys their leaders. Children will govern them."

5 People will oppress each other, and everyone will oppress his neighbor. The young will make fun of the old, and common people will make fun of their superiors.

6 A person will grab one of his relatives from his father's family and say, "You have a coat. You'll be our leader. This pile of ruins will be under your control."

7 When that day comes the relative will cry out, "I'm not a doctor! I don't have any food or a coat in my home. Don't make me a leader of our family."

8 Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because what they say and what they do is against the LORD. They are defiant in his honored presence.

9 The look on their faces will be held against them. They boast about their sins, which are like [those of the people of] Sodom. They don't even bother to hide them. How horrible it will be for these people, because they have brought disaster on themselves.

10 Tell the righteous that blessings will come to them. They will taste the fruit of their labor.

11 How horrible it will be for the wicked! Disaster will strike them. What they have done will be done to them.

12 "Children will oppress my people. Women will rule them. My people, your guides mislead you, and you don't know which way to go."

13 The LORD takes his place in the courtroom. He stands to judge his people.

14 The LORD presents his case to the respected leaders and the officials of his people: "You have burned down the vineyard! Your houses are filled with goods stolen from the poor."

15 The Almighty LORD of Armies asks, "How can you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor [into the ground]?"

16 The LORD adds, "The women of Zion are arrogant. They walk with their noses in the air, making seductive glances, taking short little steps, jingling the ankle bracelets on their feet."

17 The Lord will cause sores [to appear] on the heads of the women of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.

18 On that day the Lord will take away their fine things: jingling anklets, headbands, crescent-shaped necklaces,

19 pendants, bracelets, scarfs,

20 hats, ankle bracelets, blouses, perfume boxes, charms,

21 signet rings, nose rings,

22 fine robes, coats, shawls, purses,

23 mirrors, underwear, headdresses, and veils.

24 Instead of the smell of perfume, there will be the smell of decay. They will wear ropes instead of belts. They will have bald heads instead of beautiful hair. They will wear sackcloth instead of expensive clothes. Their beauty will be scarred.

25 [Women,] your warriors will die in combat. Your mighty men will die in battle.

26 The gates of Zion will cry and grieve, and Zion will sit on the ground, exhausted.

1 When that day comes, seven women will grab one man and say, "We'll eat our own food and provide our own clothes. Just let us marry you for your name. Take away our disgrace."

2 When that day comes, the branch of the LORD will be beautiful and wonderful. The fruit of the land will be the pride and joy of Israel's survivors.

3 Then whoever is left in Zion and whoever remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.

4 The Lord will wash away the filth of Zion's people. He will clean bloodstains from Jerusalem with a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning.

5 The LORD will create a cloud of smoke during the day and a glowing flame of fire during the night over the whole area of Mount Zion and over the assembly. His glory will cover everything.

6 It will be a shelter from the heat during the day as well as a refuge and hiding place from storms and rain.

1 Brothers and sisters, if a person gets trapped by wrongdoing, those of you who are spiritual should help that person turn away from doing wrong. Do it in a gentle way. At the same time watch yourself so that you also are not tempted.

2 Help carry each other's burdens. In this way you will follow Christ's teachings.

3 So if any one of you thinks you're important when you're really not, you're only fooling yourself.

4 Each of you must examine your own actions. Then you can be proud of your own accomplishments without comparing yourself to others.

5 Assume your own responsibility.

6 The person who is taught God's word should share all good things with his teacher.

7 Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you'll harvest.

8 If you plant in [the soil of] your corrupt nature, you will harvest destruction. But if you plant in [the soil of] your spiritual nature, you will harvest everlasting life.

9 We can't allow ourselves to get tired of living the right way. Certainly, each of us will receive [everlasting life] at the proper time, if we don't give up.

10 Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone, especially for the family of believers.

11 Look at how large the letters [in these words] are because I'm writing this myself.

12 These people who want to make a big deal out of a physical thing are trying to force you to be circumcised. Their only aim is to avoid persecution because of the cross of Christ.

13 It's clear that not even those who had themselves circumcised did this to follow Jewish laws. Yet, they want you to be circumcised so that they can brag about what was done to your body.

14 But it's unthinkable that I could ever brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his cross my relationship to the world and its relationship to me have been crucified.

15 Certainly, it doesn't matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.

16 Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God.

17 From now on, don't make any trouble for me! After all, I carry the scars of Jesus on my body.

18 May the good will of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters! Amen.