Isaiah 26; Isaiah 27; Philippians 2

1 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city. Its walls and fortifications provide safety.

2 Open the gates, and let the righteous nation come in, the nation that remains faithful.

3 With perfect peace you will protect those whose minds cannot be changed, because they trust you.

4 Trust the LORD always, because the LORD, the LORD alone, is an everlasting rock.

5 He has brought down those who live high in the towering city. He levels it. He levels it to the ground and throws it into the dust.

6 Feet trample it, the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor.

7 The path of the righteous is level. O Upright One, you make the road of the righteous smooth.

8 Certainly, we wait with hope for you, O LORD, [as we follow] the path of your guiding principles. We want to remember you and your name.

9 With my soul I long for you at night. Yes, with my spirit I eagerly look for you. When your guiding principles are on earth, those who live in the world learn to do what is right.

10 Although the wicked are shown pity, they do not learn to do what is right. They do what is wrong in the upright land and do not see the majesty of the LORD.

11 O LORD, your power is visible, but they do not see it. They will see how devoted your people are, and they will be put to shame. Your burning anger will destroy your enemies.

12 O LORD, you will establish peace for us, since you have done everything for us.

13 O LORD, our God, you are not the only master to rule us, but we acknowledge only you.

14 The wicked are dead. They are no longer alive. The spirits of the dead won't rise. You have punished them, destroyed them, and wiped out all memory of them.

15 You have expanded the nation, O LORD. You have expanded the nation. You are honored. You have extended all the land's boundaries.

16 O LORD, the people have come to you in trouble. They were humbled by oppression, by your discipline upon them.

17 O LORD, when we are with you, we are like pregnant women ready to give birth. They writhe and cry out in their labor pains.

18 We were pregnant; we writhed with labor pains only to give birth to the wind. We weren't able to bring salvation to the land, and no new people were born on earth.

19 Your dead will live. Their corpses will rise. Those who lie dead in the dust will wake up and shout for joy, because your dew is a refreshing dew, and the earth will revive the spirits of the dead.

20 My people, go to your rooms, and shut the doors behind you. Hide for a little while until his fury has ended.

21 The LORD is going to come out from his dwelling place to punish those who live on earth for their sins. The earth will uncover the blood shed on it and will no longer cover up its dead bodies.

1 On that day the LORD will use his fierce and powerful sword to punish Leviathan, that slippery snake, Leviathan, that twisting snake. He will kill that monster which lives in the sea.

2 On that day sing about a delightful vineyard.

3 I, the LORD, watch over it. I water it continually. I watch over it day and night so that no one will harm it.

4 I am no longer angry. If only thorns and briars would confront me! I would fight them in battle and set all of them on fire.

5 Or else let them come to me for protection. Let them make peace with me. Yes, let them make peace with me.

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

7 Will the LORD hurt Israel as he hurt others who hurt them? Will he kill them as he killed others?

8 He punished Israel by sending it away. He removed it with a fierce blast from the east winds.

9 In this way the wrongdoings of the descendants of Jacob are covered up. This is the way they will turn from their sins-- when they turn all the altar stones into powdered chalk and no poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah or incense altars are left standing.

10 The fortified city is isolated. The homestead is left deserted, abandoned like the desert. Calves will graze there. They will lie down. They will feed on the branches.

11 When the branches are dried up, they will be broken off. Women will come and build a fire with them. These people don't understand [these things]. That is why their maker won't have compassion on them, and their Creator won't have pity on them.

12 On that day the LORD will begin his threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates River to the brook of Egypt. People of Israel, you will be gathered one by one.

13 On that day a ram's horn will be blown loudly. Those who are dying in Assyria and those who are banished to Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

1 So then, as Christians, do you have any encouragement? Do you have any comfort from love? Do you have any spiritual relationships? Do you have any sympathy and compassion?

2 Then fill me with joy by having the same attitude and the same love, living in harmony, and keeping one purpose in mind.

3 Don't act out of selfish ambition or be conceited. Instead, humbly think of others as being better than yourselves.

4 Don't be concerned only about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others.

5 Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Although he was in the form of God and equal with God, he did not take advantage of this equality.

7 Instead, he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, by becoming like other humans, by having a human appearance.

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

9 This is why God has given him an exceptional honor-- the name honored above all other names--

10 so that at the name of Jesus everyone in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will kneel

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

12 My dear friends, you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I'm absent. In the same way continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

13 It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please him.

14 Do everything without complaining or arguing.

15 Then you will be blameless and innocent. You will be God's children without any faults among people who are crooked and corrupt. You will shine like stars among them in the world

16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. Then I can brag on the day of Christ that my effort was not wasted and that my work produced results.

17 My life is being poured out as a part of the sacrifice and service [I offer to God] for your faith. Yet, I am filled with joy, and I share that joy with all of you.

18 For this same reason you also should be filled with joy and share that joy with me.

19 I hope that the Lord Jesus will allow me to send Timothy to you soon so that I can receive some encouraging news about you.

20 I don't have anyone else like Timothy. He takes a genuine interest in your welfare.

21 Everyone else looks after his own interests, not after those of Jesus Christ.

22 But you know what kind of person Timothy proved to be. Like a father and son we worked hard together to spread the Good News.

23 I hope to send him as soon as I see how things are going to turn out for me.

24 But the Lord gives me confidence that I will come [to visit you] soon.

25 I feel that I must send Epaphroditus--my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier--back to you. You sent him as your personal representative to help me in my need.

26 He has been longing to see all of you and is troubled because you heard that he was sick.

27 Indeed, he was so sick that he almost died. But God had mercy not only on him but also on me and kept me from having one sorrow on top of another.

28 So I'm especially eager to send him to you. In this way you will have the joy of seeing him again and I will feel relieved.

29 Give him a joyful Christian welcome. Make sure you honor people like Epaphroditus highly.

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