Isaiah 28; Isaiah 29; Philippians 3

1 How terrible it will be for the city of Samaria! It sits on a hill like a crown of flowers. The leaders of Ephraim are drunk. They take pride in their city. It sits above a valley that has rich soil. How terrible it will be for the glorious beauty of that fading flower!

2 The Lord will bring the strong and powerful king of Assyria against Samaria. The Lord will throw that city down to the ground with great force. It will be like a hailstorm. It will be like a wind that destroys everything. It will be like a driving rain and a flooding storm.

3 That city is like a crown. The leaders of Ephraim are drunk. They take pride in their city. But its enemies will walk all over it.

4 It sits on a hill above a rich valley. It's like a crown of flowers whose glorious beauty is fading away. But it will become like a fig that is ripe before harvest. As soon as someone sees it, he picks it and swallows it.

5 At that time the LORD who rules over all will be like a glorious crown. He will be like a beautiful wreath for those of his people who will be left alive.

6 He will help those who are fair when they judge. He will give strength to those who turn back their enemies at the city gate.

7 Israel's leaders are drunk from wine. They can't walk straight. They are drunk from beer. They are unsteady on their feet. Priests and prophets drink beer. They can't walk straight. They are mixed up from drinking too much wine. They drink too much beer. They are unsteady on their feet. The prophets see visions but don't really understand them. The priests aren't able to make good decisions.

8 They throw up. All of the tables are covered with the mess they've made. There isn't one spot on the tables that isn't smelly and dirty.

9 My people are making fun of me. They say, "Who does he think he's trying to teach? Who does he think he's explaining his message to? Is it to children who do not need their mother's milk anymore? Is it to those who have just been taken from her breast?

10 Here is how he teaches. Do this and do that. Do that and do this. Obey this rule and obey that rule. Obey that rule and obey this rule. Learn a little here and learn a little there."

11 All right then, these people won't listen to me. So God will speak to them. He will speak by using people who speak unfamiliar languages. He will speak by using the mouths of strangers.

12 He said to his people, "I am offering you a resting place. Let those who are tired rest." He continued, "I am offering you a place of peace and quiet." But they wouldn't listen.

13 So then, here is what the LORD's message will become to them. Do this and do that. Do that and do this. Obey this rule and obey that rule. Obey that rule and obey this rule. Learn a little here and learn a little there. So when they try to go forward, they'll fall back and be wounded. They'll be trapped and captured.

14 Listen to the LORD's message, you who make fun of the truth. Listen, you who rule over these people in Jerusalem.

15 You brag, "We have entered into a covenant with death. We have made an agreement with the grave. When a terrible plague comes to punish us, it can't touch us. That's because we depend on lies to keep us safe. We hide behind what isn't true."

16 So the LORD and King speaks. He says, "Look! I am laying a stone in Zion. It is a stone that has been tested. It is the most important stone for a firm foundation. The one who trusts in that stone will never be shaken.

17 I will use a measuring line to prove that you have not been fair. I will use a plumb line to prove that you have not done what is right. Hail will sweep away the lies you depend on to keep you safe. Water will flood your hiding place.

18 Your covenant with death will be called off. The agreement you made with the grave will not stand. When the terrible plague comes to punish you, you will be beaten down by it.

19 As often as it comes, it will carry you away. Morning after morning, day and night, it will come to punish you." If you understand this message, it will bring you absolute terror.

20 You will be like someone whose bed is too short to lie down on. You will be like those whose blankets are too small to wrap themselves in.

21 The LORD will rise up to judge, just as he did at Mount Perazim. He will get up to act, just as he did in the Valley of Gibeon. He'll do his work, but it will be strange work. He'll carry out his task, but it will be an unexpected one.

22 Now stop making fun of me. If you don't, your chains will become heavier. The LORD who rules over all has spoken to me. The Lord has told me he has ordered that the whole land be destroyed.

23 Listen and hear my voice. Pay attention to what I'm saying.

24 When a farmer plows in order to plant, does he plow without stopping? Does he keep on breaking up the soil and making the field level?

25 When he's made the surface even, doesn't he plant caraway seeds? Doesn't he scatter cummin? Doesn't he plant wheat in its proper place? Doesn't he plant barley where it belongs? Doesn't he plant spelt along the edge of the field?

26 His God directs him. He teaches him the right way to do his work.

27 Caraway seeds are beaten out with a rod. They aren't separated out under a threshing sled. Cummin seeds are beaten out with a stick. The wheel of a cart isn't rolled over them.

28 Grain must be ground up to make bread. A farmer separates it out. But he doesn't go on doing it forever. He drives the wheels of a threshing cart over it. But he doesn't let the horses grind it to dust.

29 All of those insights come from the LORD who rules over all. His advice is wonderful. His wisdom is glorious.

1 Jerusalem, how terrible it will be for you! Ariel, you are the city where David settled. The years will come and go. Keep on celebrating your regular feasts.

2 The LORD says, "Ariel, I will surround you. Jerusalem, I will get ready to attack you. Your people will sob. They will sing songs of sadness. I will make you like the front of an altar that is covered with blood.

3 I will be like an army that is camped against you on all sides. I will surround you with towers in order to attack you. I will build my ramps all around you and set up my ladders.

4 You will be brought down to the grave. You will speak from deep down inside the ground. Your words will be barely heard out of the dust. Your voice will sound like the voice of a ghost coming from under the ground. Your words will sound like a whisper out of the dust."

5 Jerusalem, all of your enemies will become like fine dust. Their terrifying armies will become like straw that the wind blows away. All of a sudden, in an instant,

6 the LORD who rules over all will come. He will come with thunder, earthquakes and a lot of noise. He'll bring windstorms and rainstorms with him. He'll send a blazing fire that will burn everything up.

7 Armies from all of the nations will fight against Ariel. They will attack it and its fort. They'll surround it completely. But suddenly those armies will disappear like a dream. They will vanish like a vision in the night.

8 They will be like a hungry person who dreams he is eating. But when he wakes up, he's still hungry. They will be like a thirsty person who dreams he is drinking. But when he wakes up, he is weak. His thirst hasn't been satisfied. In the same way, the armies from all of the nations that fight against Mount Zion will disappear.

9 People of Jerusalem, be shocked and amazed. Make yourselves blind so you can't see anything. Get drunk, but not from wine. Be unsteady on your feet, but not because of beer.

10 The LORD has made you fall into a deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of your prophets. He has covered the heads of your seers so they can't see.

11 For you, this whole vision is like words that are sealed up in a scroll. Suppose you give it to someone who can read. And suppose you say to him, "Please read this for us." Then he'll answer, "I can't. It's sealed up."

12 Or suppose you give the scroll to someone who can't read. And suppose you say, "Please read this for us." Then he'll answer, "I don't know how to read."

13 The Lord says, "These people worship me only with their words. They honor me by what they say. But their hearts are far away from me. Their worship doesn't mean anything to me. They teach nothing but human rules.

14 So once more I will shock these people with many wonderful acts. I will destroy the wisdom of those who think they are so wise. I will do away with the cleverness of those who think they are so smart."

15 How terrible it will be for people who do everything they can to hide their plans from the LORD! They do their work in darkness. They think, "Who sees us? Who will know?"

16 They turn everything upside down. How silly they are to think that potters are like the clay they work with! Can what is made say to the one who made it, "You didn't make me"? Can the pot say to the potter, "You don't know anything"?

17 In a very short time, Lebanon will be turned into rich farm lands. The rich farm lands will seem like a forest.

18 At that time those who can't hear will hear what is read from the scroll. Those who are blind will come out of gloom and darkness. They will be able to see.

19 Those who aren't proud will once again find their joy in the Lord. And those who are in need will find their joy in the Holy One of Israel.

20 Those who don't show any pity will vanish. Those who make fun of others will disappear. All those who look for ways to do what is evil will be cut off.

21 Without any proof, they claim that a man is guilty. In court they try to trap the one who speaks up for others. By using dishonest witnesses they keep those who aren't guilty from being treated fairly.

22 Long ago the LORD saved Abraham from trouble. Now he says to Jacob's people, "You will not be ashamed anymore. Your faces will no longer grow pale with fear.

23 You will see your children living among you. I myself will give you those children. Then you will honor my name. You will recognize how holy I am. I am the Holy One of Jacob. You will have great respect for me. I am the God of Israel.

24 I will give understanding to you who find yourselves going down the wrong path. You who are always speaking against others will accept what I teach you."

1 Finally, my brothers and sisters, be joyful because you belong to the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write about some important matters to you again. If you know about them, you will have a safe path to follow.

2 Watch out for those dogs. They do evil things. When they circumcise, it is nothing more than a useless cutting of the body.

3 But we have been truly circumcised. We worship God by the power of his Spirit. We brag about what Christ Jesus has done. We don't put our trust in our weak human nature.

4 I have many reasons to trust in my human nature. Others may think they have reasons to trust in theirs. But I have even more.

5 I was circumcised on the eighth day. I am part of the people of Israel. I am from the tribe of Benjamin. I am a pure Hebrew. As far as the law is concerned, I am a Pharisee.

6 As far as being committed is concerned, I opposed and attacked the church. As far as keeping the Law is concerned, I kept it perfectly.

7 I thought things like that were for my benefit. But now I consider them to be nothing because of Christ.

8 Even more, I consider everything to be nothing compared to knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. To know him is the best thing of all. Because of him I have lost everything. But I consider all of it to be garbage so I can get to know Christ.

9 I want to be joined to him. For me, being right with God does not come from the law. It comes because I believe in Christ. It comes from God. It is received by faith.

10 I want to know Christ better. I want to know the power that raised him from the dead. I want to share in his sufferings. I want to become like him by sharing in his death.

11 Then by God's grace I will rise from the dead.

12 I have not yet received all of those things. I have not yet been made perfect. But I move on to take hold of what Christ Jesus took hold of me for.

13 Brothers and sisters, I don't consider that I have taken hold of it yet. But here is the one thing I do. I forget what is behind me. I push hard toward what is ahead of me.

14 I move on toward the goal to win the prize. God has appointed me to win it. The heavenly prize is Christ Jesus himself.

15 All of us who are grown up in the faith should see things that way. Maybe you think differently about something. But God will make it clear to you.

16 Only let us live up to what we have already reached.

17 Brothers and sisters, join with others in following my example. Pay close attention to those who live in keeping with the pattern we gave you.

18 I have told you those things many times before. Now I say it again with tears in my eyes. Many people live like enemies of the cross of Christ.

19 The only thing they have coming to them is death. Their stomach is their god. They brag about what they should be ashamed of. They think only about earthly things.

20 But we are citizens of heaven. And we can hardly wait for a Savior from there. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

21 He has the power to bring everything under his control. By his power he will change our earthly bodies. They will become like his glorious body.