Isaiah 26; Isaiah 27; Philippians 2

1 On that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: Ours is a strong city! God makes salvation its walls and ramparts.

2 Open the gates and let a righteous nation enter, a nation that keeps faith.

3 Those with sound thoughts you will keep in peace, in peace because they trust in you.

4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD is a rock for all ages.

5 He has thrown down those living on high, and he will level the lofty town, leveling it down to the earth; he will bring it down to dust.

6 The feet trample it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.

7 The way of the righteous is level; you clear a path for the righteous.

8 In the path of your justice, LORD, we wait for you; with all our being, we long for your name and your acclaim.

9 At night I long for you with my whole being; my spirit within me watches for you. When your judgments are at work in the earth, those living in the world learn righteousness.

10 When the wicked are favored, they don't learn righteousness; even among those who do right they do wrong, and they fail to see the LORD's majesty.

11 LORD, your hand is lifted up, but they don't see. Let them see and shrink back because of your zeal for your people; your burning anger that consumes your enemies.

12 LORD, grant us peace, because all that we have done has been your doing.

13 LORD our God, other masters besides you have ruled us, but we will profess your name alone.

14 The dead don't live; ghosts don't rise. Indeed, you have punished and destroyed them, and abolished all memory of them.

15 You've enlarged the nation, LORD. You've enlarged the nation; you are glorified. You've expanded all the land's boundaries.

16 LORD, in distress they sought you out; they poured out prayers to you when you disciplined them.

17 As a pregnant woman close to childbirth is in labor pains, crying out in her pangs, so were we because of you, LORD.

18 We were pregnant, we writhed, but we gave birth to wind. We have achieved no victories on earth; the inhabitants of the earth never fall.

19 Your dead will live, their corpses will rise, and those who dwell in the dust will shout for joy. Your shadow is a shadow of light, but you will bring down the ghosts into the underworld.

20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Take cover, for in a little while the fury will be over.

21 Look! The LORD is going out from his place to bring the iniquity of the ruler of the earth down upon him. The earth will uncover its blood and will conceal its slain no longer.

1 On that day, the LORD will take a great sword, harsh and mighty, and will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the writhing serpent, and will kill the dragon that is in the sea.

2 On that day: Sing about a delightful vineyard!

3 I, the LORD, am its guardian. Every moment I water it; night and day I guard it from attack.

4 I'm not angry, but if it yields thorns and thistles for me, I will march to battle against it; I will torch it completely.

5 Or let them cling to me for refuge; let them make peace with me; let them make peace with me.

6 In coming days, Jacob will take root; Israel will blossom and sprout and fill the whole world with produce.

7 Did God strike Israel as he struck those who struck him? Was Israel killed as his killers were killed?

8 By frightening Jerusalem, by sending her away, you contended with her, expelling with a fierce blast on the day of the east wind.

9 By this Jacob's guilt is reconciled, and this was how his sins were finally removed: he made all the altar stones like shattered chalk, sacred poles and incense altars that couldn't stand.

10 The fortified city lies alone, a hut forsaken, abandoned like the desert. Calves graze there; they lie down there and feed on its boughs.

11 When its branches are dry, they are broken. Women come and set fire to it. These people have no understanding; therefore, their maker won't have compassion; the one who formed them won't be gracious.

12 On that day, the LORD will beat grain from the channel of the Euphrates up to the Valley of Egypt. You will be collected, Israelites, one by one.

13 On that day, a great trumpet will be played. Those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come. They will bow to the LORD at his holy mountain in Jerusalem.

1 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort in love, any sharing in the Spirit, any sympathy,

2 complete my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, being united, and agreeing with each other.

3 Don't do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves.

4 Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others.

5 Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus:

6 Though he was in the form of God, he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.

7 But he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave and by becoming like human beings. When he found himself in the form of a human,

8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

9 Therefore, God highly honored him and gave him a name above all names,

10 so that at the name of Jesus everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow

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

12 Therefore, my loved ones, just as you always obey me, not just when I am present but now even more while I am away, carry out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

13 God is the one who enables you both to want and to actually live out his good purposes.

14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing

15 so that you may be blameless and pure, innocent children of God surrounded by people who are crooked and corrupt. Among these people you shine like stars in the world

16 because you hold on to the word of life. This will allow me to say on the day of Christ that I haven't run for nothing or worked for nothing.

17 But even if I am poured out like a drink offering upon the altar of service for your faith, I am glad. I'm glad with all of you.

18 You should be glad about this in the same way. Be glad with me!

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to see you soon so that I may be encouraged by hearing about you.

20 I have no one like him. He is a person who genuinely cares about your well-being.

21 All the others put their own business ahead of Jesus Christ's business.

22 You know his character, how he labors with me for the gospel like a son works with his father.

23 So he is the one that I hope to send as soon as I find out how things turn out here for me.

24 I trust in the Lord that I also will visit you soon.

25 I think it is also necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. He is my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier; and he is your representative who serves my needs.

26 He misses you all, and he was upset because you heard he was sick.

27 In fact, he was so sick that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him—and not just on him but also on me, because his death would have caused me great sorrow.

28 Therefore, I am sending him immediately so that when you see him again you can be glad and I won't worry.

29 So welcome him in the Lord with great joy and show great respect for people like him.

30 He risked his life and almost died for the work of Christ, and he did this to make up for the help you couldn't give me.