Isaiah 9; Isaiah 10; Ephesians 3

1 But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.

3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased its joy; they rejoice before thee as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken as on the day of Mid'ian.

5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and for evermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

8 The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will light upon Israel;

9 and all the people will know, E'phraim and the inhabitants of Sama'ria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:

10 "The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place."

11 So the LORD raises adversaries against them, and stirs up their enemies.

12 The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still.

13 The people did not turn to him who smote them, nor seek the LORD of hosts.

14 So the LORD cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day--

15 the elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;

16 for those who lead this people lead them astray, and those who are led by them are swallowed up.

17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for every one is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still.

18 For wickedness burns like a fire, it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.

19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is burned, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no man spares his brother.

20 They snatch on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours his neighbor's flesh,

21 Manas'seh E'phraim, and E'phraim Manas'seh, and together they are against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still.

1 Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression,

2 to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

3 What will you do on the day of punishment, in the storm which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?

4 Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away and his hand is stretched out still.

5 Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury!

6 Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

7 But he does not so intend, and his mind does not so think; but it is in his mind to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few;

8 for he says: "Are not my commanders all kings?

9 Is not Calno like Car'chemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Sama'ria like Damascus?

10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Sama'ria,

11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols as I have done to Sama'ria and her images?"

12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride.

13 For he says: "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.

14 My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped."

15 Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!

16 Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire.

17 The light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame; and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day.

18 The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the LORD will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down.

20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean upon him that smote them, but will lean upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

22 For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.

23 For the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.

24 Therefore thus says the Lord, the LORD of hosts: "O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they smite with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did.

25 For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction.

26 And the LORD of hosts will wield against them a scourge, as when he smote Mid'ian at the rock of Oreb; and his rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt.

27 And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck." He has gone up from Rimmon,

28 he has come to Ai'ath; he has passed through Migron, at Michmash he stores his baggage;

29 they have crossed over the pass, at Geba they lodge for the night; Ramah trembles, Gib'e-ah of Saul has fled.

30 Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim! Hearken, O La'ishah! Answer her, O An'athoth!

31 Madme'nah is in flight, the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.

32 This very day he will halt at Nob, he will shake his fist at the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low.

34 He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall.

1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles--

2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you,

3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.

4 When you read this you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ,

5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

6 that is, how the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given me by the working of his power.

8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

9 and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things;

10 that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.

11 This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,

12 in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him.

13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man,

17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God.

20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,

21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.