Isaiah 11; Isaiah 12; Isaiah 13; Ephesians 4

1 A new branch will grow from a stump of a tree; so a new king will come from the family of Jesse.

2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon that king. The Spirit will give him wisdom and understanding, guidance and power. the Lord.

3 This king will be glad to obey the Lord. He will not judge by the way things look or decide by what he hears.

4 But he will judge the poor honestly; he will be fair in his decisions for the poor people of the land. At his command evil people will be punished, and by his words the wicked will be put to death.

5 Goodness and fairness will give him strength, like a belt around his waist.

6 Then wolves will live in peace with lambs, and leopards will lie down to rest with goats. Calves, lions, and young bulls will eat together, and a little child will lead them.

7 Cows and bears will eat together in peace. Their young will lie down to rest together. Lions will eat hay as oxen do.

8 A baby will be able to play near a cobra's hole, and a child will be able to put his hand into the nest of a poisonous snake.

9 They will not hurt or destroy each other on all my holy mountain, because the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the sea is full of water.

10 At that time the new king from the family of Jesse will stand as a banner for all peoples. The nations will come together around him, and the place where he lives will be filled with glory.

11 At that time the Lord will again reach out and take his people who are left alive in Assyria, North Egypt, South Egypt, Cush, Elam, Babylonia, Hamath, and all the islands of the sea.

12 God will raise a banner as a sign for all nations, and he will gather the people of Israel who were forced from their country. from all parts of the earth.

13 At that time Israel will not be jealous anymore, and Judah will have no more enemies. Israel will not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not hate Israel.

14 But Israel and Judah will attack the Philistines on the west. Together they will take the riches from the people of the east. They will conquer Edom and Moab, and the people of Ammon will be under their control.

15 The Lord will dry up the Red Sea of Egypt. and dry it up with a scorching wind. He will divide it into seven small rivers so that people can walk across them with their sandals on.

16 So God's people who are left alive will have a way to leave Assyria, just like the time the Israelites came out of Egypt.

1 At that time you will say: "I praise you, Lord! You were angry with me, but you are not angry with me now! You have comforted me.

2 God is the one who saves me; I will trust him and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord gives me strength and makes me sing. He has saved me."

3 You will receive your salvation with joy as you would draw water from a well.

4 At that time you will say, "Praise the Lord and worship him. Tell everyone what he has done and how great he is.

5 Sing praise to the Lord, because he has done great things. Let all the world know what he has done.

6 Shout and sing for joy, you people of Jerusalem, because the Holy One of Israel does great things before your eyes."

1 God showed Isaiah son of Amoz this message about Babylon:

2 Raise a flag on the bare mountain. Call out to the men. Raise your hand to signal them to enter through the gates for important people.

3 I myself have commanded those people whom I have separated as mine. I have called those warriors to carry out my anger. They rejoice and are glad to do my will.

4 Listen to the loud noise in the mountains, the sound of many people. Listen to the noise among the kingdoms, the sound of nations gathering together. his army together for battle.

5 This army is coming from a faraway land, from the edge of the horizon. to destroy the whole country.

6 Cry, because the Lord's day of judging is near; the Almighty is sending destruction.

7 People will be weak with fear, and their courage will melt away.

8 Everyone will be afraid. Pain and hurt will grab them; they will hurt like a woman giving birth to a baby. They will look at each other in fear, with their faces red like fire.

9 Look, the Lord's day of judging is coming -- a terrible day, a day of God's anger. He will destroy the land and the sinners who live in it.

10 The stars will not show their light; the skies will be dark. The sun will grow dark as it rises, and the moon will not give its light.

11 The Lord says, "I will punish the world for its evil and wicked people for their sins. I will cause proud people to lose their pride, and I will destroy the pride of those who are cruel to others.

12 People will be harder to find than pure gold; there will be fewer people than there is fine gold in Ophir.

13 I will make the sky shake, and the earth will be moved from its place by the anger of the Lord All-Powerful at the time of his burning anger.

14 "Then the people from Babylon will run away like hunted deer or like sheep who have no shepherd. Everyone will turn back to his own people; each will run back to his own land.

15 Everyone who is captured will be killed; everyone who is caught will be killed with a sword.

16 Their little children will be beaten to death in front of them. Their houses will be robbed and their wives raped.

17 "Look, I will cause the armies of Media to attack Babylon. They do not care about silver or delight in gold.

18 Their soldiers will shoot the young men with arrows; they will show no mercy on children, nor will they feel sorry for little ones.

19 Babylon is the most beautiful of all kingdoms, and the Babylonians are very proud of it. like Sodom and Gomorrah.

20 No one will ever live there or settle there again. No Arab will put a tent there; no shepherd will bring sheep there.

21 Only desert animals will live there, and their houses will be full of wild dogs. Owls will live there, and wild goats will leap about in the houses.

22 Wolves will howl within the strong walls, and wild dogs will bark in the beautiful buildings. The end of Babylon is near; its time is almost over."

1 I am in prison because I belong to the Lord. God chose you to be his people, so I urge you now to live the life to which God called you.

2 Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love.

3 You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way.

4 There is one body and one Spirit, and God called you to have one hope.

5 There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.

6 There is one God and Father of everything. He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything.

7 Christ gave each one of us the special gift of grace, showing how generous he is.

8 That is why it says in the Scriptures, "When he went up to the heights, he led a parade of captives, and he gave gifts to people."

9 When it says, "He went up," what does it mean? It means that he first came down to the earth.

10 So Jesus came down, and he is the same One who went up above all the heaven. Christ did that to fill everything with his presence.

11 And Christ gave gifts to people -- he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God's people.

12 Christ gave those gifts to prepare God's holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger.

13 This work must continue until we are all joined together in the same faith and in the same knowledge of the Son of God. We must become like a mature person, growing until we become like Christ and have his perfection.

14 Then we will no longer be babies. We will not be tossed about like a ship that the waves carry one way and then another. We will not be influenced by every new teaching we hear from people who are trying to fool us. They make plans and try any kind of trick to fool people into following the wrong path.

15 No! Speaking the truth with love, we will grow up in every way into Christ, who is the head.

16 The whole body depends on Christ, and all the parts of the body are joined and held together. Each part does its own work to make the whole body grow and be strong with love.

17 In the Lord's name, I tell you this. Do not continue living like those who do not believe. Their thoughts are worth nothing.

18 They do not understand, and they know nothing, because they refuse to listen. So they cannot have the life that God gives.

19 They have lost all feeling of shame, and they use their lives for doing evil. They continually want to do all kinds of evil.

20 But what you learned in Christ was not like this.

21 I know that you heard about him, and you are in him, so you were taught the truth that is in Jesus.

22 You were taught to leave your old self -- to stop living the evil way you lived before. That old self becomes worse, because people are fooled by the evil things they want to do.

23 But you were taught to be made new in your hearts,

24 to become a new person. That new person is made to be like God -- made to be truly good and holy.

25 So you must stop telling lies. Tell each other the truth, because we all belong to each other in the same body.

26 When you are angry, do not sin, and be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day.

27 Do not give the devil a way to defeat you.

28 Those who are stealing must stop stealing and start working. They should earn an honest living for themselves. Then they will have something to share with those who are poor.

29 When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need -- words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will do good to those who listen to you.

30 And do not make the Holy Spirit sad. The Spirit is God's proof that you belong to him. God gave you the Spirit to show that God will make you free when the final day comes.

31 Do not be bitter or angry or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil.

32 Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ.