Isaiah 26; Isaiah 27; Philippians 2

Isaiah 26

1 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city. Salvation is established as walls and ramparts.

2 Open the gates so a righteous nation can come in- one that remains faithful.

3 You will keep in perfect peace the mind [that is] dependent [on You], for it is trusting in You.

4 Trust in the Lord forever, because in Yah, the Lord, is an everlasting rock!

5 For He has humbled those who live in lofty places- an inaccessible city. He brings it down; He brings it down to the ground; He throws it to the dust.

6 Feet trample it, the feet of the humble, the steps of the poor.

7 The path of the righteous is level; You clear a straight path for the righteous.

8 Yes, Lord, we wait for You in the path of Your judgments. Our desire is for Your name and renown.

9 I long for You in the night; yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks You, for when Your judgments are [in] the land, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

10 [But if] the wicked is shown favor, he does not learn righteousness. In a righteous land he acts unjustly and does not see the majesty of the Lord.

11 Lord, Your hand is lifted up [to take action], but they do not see it. They will see [Your] zeal for [Your] people, and they will be put to shame. The fire for Your adversaries will consume them!

12 Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our work for us.

13 Lord, our God, other lords than You have ruled over us, but we remember Your name alone.

14 The dead do not live; departed spirits do not rise up. Indeed, You have visited and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.

15 You have added to the nation, Lord. You have added to the nation; You are honored. You have expanded all the borders of the land.

16 Lord, they went to You in their distress; they poured out whispered [prayers because] Your discipline [fell] on them.

17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pains, so we were before You, Lord.

18 We became pregnant, we writhed in pain; we gave birth to wind. We have won no victories on earth, and the earth's inhabitants have not fallen.

19 Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For you will be covered with the morning dew, and the earth will bring forth the departed spirits.

20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and close your doors behind you. Hide for a little while until the wrath has passed.

21 For look, the Lord is coming from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal the blood shed on it and will no longer conceal her slain.

Isaiah 27

1 On that day the Lord with His harsh, great, and strong sword, will bring judgment on Leviathan, the fleeing serpent-Leviathan, the twisting serpent. He will slay the monster that is in the sea.

2 On that day sing about a desirable vineyard:

3 I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it regularly. I guard it night and day so that no one disturbs it.

4 I am not angry, but if it produces thorns and briers for Me, I will fight against it, trample it, and burn it to the ground.

5 Or let it take hold of My strength; let it make peace with Me- make peace with Me.

6 In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bloom and fill the whole world with fruit.

7 Did the Lord strike Israel as He struck the one who struck Israel? Was he killed like those killed by Him?

8 You disputed with her by banishing and driving her away. He removed [her] with His severe storm on the day of the east wind.

9 Therefore Jacob's iniquity will be purged in this way, and the result of the removal of his sin will be this: when he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.

10 For the fortified city will be deserted, pastures abandoned and forsaken like a wilderness. Calves will graze there, and there they will spread out and strip its branches.

11 When its branches dry out, they will be broken off. Women will come and make fires with them, for they are not a people with understanding. Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them, and their Creator will not be gracious to them.

12 On that day the Lord will thresh grain from the Euphrates River as far as the Wadi of Egypt, and you Israelites will be gathered one by one.

13 On that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those lost in the land of Assyria will come, as well as those dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they will worship the Lord at Jerusalem on the holy mountain.

Philippians 2

1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,

2 fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal.

3 Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.

4 Everyone should look out not [only] for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

5 Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage.

7 Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form,

8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death-even to death on a cross.

9 For this reason God also highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow- of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth-

11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

13 For it is God who is working in you, [enabling you] both to will and to act for His good purpose.

14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing,

15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world.

16 Hold firmly the message of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn't run in vain or labor for nothing.

17 But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

18 In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.

19 Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I also may be encouraged when I hear news about you.

20 For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests;

21 all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

22 But you know his proven character, because he has served with me in the gospel ministry like a son with a father.

23 Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.

24 And I am convinced in the Lord that I myself will also come quickly.

25 But I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus-my brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier, as well as your messenger and minister to my need-

26 since he has been longing for all of you and was distressed because you heard that he was sick.

27 Indeed, he was so sick that he nearly died. However, God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have one grief on top of another.

28 For this reason, I am very eager to send him so that you may rejoice when you see him again and I may be less anxious.

29 Therefore, welcome him in the Lord with all joy and hold men like him in honor,

30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up what was lacking in your ministry to me.