Isaiah 11; Isaiah 12; Isaiah 13; Ephesians 4

Isaiah 11

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.

2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness.

3 And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord, He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears.

4 But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

5 And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins.

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them.

7 The calf and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 And the sucking child shall play on other hole of the asp: and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk.

9 They shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea.

10 In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious.

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, which shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Phetros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Sennaar, and from Emath, and from the islands of the sea.

12 And he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the dispersed of Juda from the four quarters of the earth.

13 And the envy of Ephraim shall be taken away, and the enemies of Juda shall perish: Ephraim shall not envy Juda, and Juda shall not fight against Ephraim.

14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines by the sea, they together shall spoil the children of the east: Edom, till Moab shall be under the rule of their hand, and the children of Ammon shall be obedient.

15 And the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and shall lift up his hand over the river in the strength of his spirit: and he shall strike it in the seven streams, so that men may pass through it in their shoes.

16 And there shall be a highway for the remnant of my people, which shall be left from the Assyrians: as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

Isaiah 12

1 And thou shalt say in that day: I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, for thou wast angry with me: thy wrath is turned away, and thou hast comforted me.

2 Behold, God is my saviour, I will deal confidently, and will not fear: because the Lord is my strength, and my praise, and he is become my salvation.

3 Thou shall draw waters with joy out of the saviour’s fountains:

4 And you shall say in that day: Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make his works known among the people: remember that his name is high.

5 Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath done great things: shew this forth in all the earth.

6 Rejoice, and praise, O thou habitation of Sion: for great is he that is in the midst of thee, the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 13

1 The burden of Babylon which Isaias the son of Amos saw.

2 Upon the dark mountain lift ye up a banner, exalt the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers go into the gates.

3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, and have called my strong ones in my wrath, them that rejoice in my glory.

4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as it were of many people, the noise of the sound of kings, of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts hath given charge to the troops of war.

5 To them that come from a country afar off, from the end of heaven: the Lord and the instruments of his wrath, to destroy the whole land.

6 Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near: it shall come as a destruction from the Lord.

7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every heart of man shall melt,

8 And shall be broken. Gripings and pains, shall take hold of them, they shall be in pain as a woman in labour. Every one shall be amazed at his neighbour, their countenances shall be as faces burnt.

9 Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

10 For the stars of heaven, and their brightness shall not display their light: the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not shine with her light.

11 And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wicked for their iniquity: and I will make the pride of infidels to cease, and will bring down the arrogancy of the mighty.

12 A man shall be more precious than gold, yea a man than the finest of gold.

13 For this I will trouble the heaven: and the earth shall be moved out of her place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of his fierce wrath.

14 And they shall be as a doe fleeing away, and as a sheep: and there shall be none to gather them together: every man shall turn to his own people, and every one shall flee to his own land.

15 Every one that shall be found, shall be slain: and every one that shall come to their aid, shall fall by the sword.

16 Their inhabitants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes: their houses shall be pillaged, and their wives shall be ravished.

17 Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold:

18 But with their arrows they shall kill the children, and shall have no pity upon the sucklings of the womb, and their eye shall not spare their sons.

19 And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha.

20 It shall no more be inhabited for ever, and it shall not be founded unto generation and generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch his tents there, nor shall shepherds rest there.

21 But wild beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with serpents, and ostriches shall dwell there, and the hairy ones shall dance there:

22 And owls shall answer one another there, in the houses thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure.

Ephesians 4

1 I therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called:

2 With all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity.

3 Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4 One body and one Spirit: as you are called in one hope of your calling.

5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.

7 But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the giving of Christ.

8 Wherefore he saith: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive: he gave gifts to men.

9 Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

10 He that descended is the same also that ascended above all the heavens: that he might fill all things.

11 And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors:

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the word of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Until we all meet into the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ:

14 That henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive.

15 But doing the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in him who is the head, even Christ:

16 From whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in charity.

17 This then I say and testify in the Lord: That henceforward you walk not as also the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind:

18 Having their understanding darkened: being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts.

19 Who despairing have given themselves up to lasciviousness, unto the working of all uncleanness, unto covetousness.

20 But you have not so learned Christ:

21 If so be that you have heard him and have been taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus:

22 To put off, according to former conversation, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desire of error.

23 And be renewed in spirit of your mind:

24 And put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth.

25 Wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth, every man with his neighbour. For we are members one of another.

26 Be angry: and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger.

27 Give not place to the devil.

28 He that stole, let him now steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have something to give to him that suffereth need.

29 Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth: but that which is good, to the edification of faith: that it may administer grace to the hearers.

30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God: whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness and anger and indignation and clamour and blasphemy be put away from you, with all malice.

32 And be ye kind one to another: merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ.