Isaiah 9; Isaiah 10; Ephesians 3

1 But suddenly there will be no more gloom for the land that suffered. In the past God made the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali hang their heads in shame, but in the future those lands will be made great. They will stretch from the road along the Mediterranean Sea to the land beyond the Jordan River and north to Galilee, the land of people who are not Israelites.

2 Before those people lived in darkness, but now they have seen a great light. They lived in a dark land, but a light has shined on them.

3 God, you have caused the nation to grow and made the people happy. And they have shown their happiness to you, like the joy during harvest time, like the joy of people taking what they have won in war.

4 Like the time you defeated Midian, you have taken away their heavy load and the heavy pole from their backs and the rod the enemy used to punish them.

5 Every boot that marched in battle and every uniform stained with blood has been thrown into the fire.

6 A child has been born to us; God has given a son to us. He will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.

7 Power and peace will be in his kingdom and will continue to grow forever. and over David's kingdom. He will make it strong by ruling with justice and goodness from now on and forever. because of his strong love for his people.

8 The Lord sent a message against the people of Jacob; it says that God will judge Israel.

9 Then everyone in Israel, even the leaders in Samaria, will know that God has sent it. Those people are proud and brag by saying,

10 "These bricks have fallen, but we will build again with cut stones. These small trees have been chopped down, but we will put great cedars there."

11 But the Lord has brought the enemies of Rezin against them; he has stirred up their enemies against them.

12 The Arameans came from the east and the Philistines from the west, and they ate up Israel with their armies. But the Lord was still angry; his hand was still raised to punish the people.

13 But the people did not return to the one who had struck them; they did not follow the Lord All-Powerful.

14 So the Lord cut off Israel's head and tail, taking away both the branch and stalk in one day.

15 The older leaders and important men were the head, and the prophets who speak lies were the tail.

16 Those who led the people led them in the wrong direction, and those who followed them were destroyed.

17 So the Lord is not happy with the young people, nor will he show mercy to the orphans and widows. are very evil; they all speak lies. But the Lord is still angry; his hand is still raised to strike down the people.

18 Evil is like a small fire. First, it burns weeds and thorns. Next, it burns the larger bushes in the forest, and they all go up in a column of smoke.

19 The Lord All-Powerful is angry, so the land will be burned. The people are like fuel for the fire; no one will try to save his brother or sister.

20 People will grab something on the right, but they will still be hungry. They will eat something on the left, but they will not be filled. Then they will each turn and eat their own children.

21 The people of Manasseh will fight against the people of Ephraim, and Ephraim will fight against Manasseh. Then both of them will turn against Judah. But the Lord is still angry; his hand is still raised to strike down the people.

1 How terrible it will be for those who make unfair laws, and those who write laws that make life hard for people.

2 They are not fair to the poor, and they rob my people of their rights. They allow people to steal from widows and to take from orphans what really belongs to them.

3 How will you explain the things you have done? What will you do when your destruction comes from far away? Where will you run for help? Where will you hide your riches then?

4 You will have to bow down among the captives or fall down among the dead bodies. But the Lord is still angry; his hand is still raised to strike down the people.

5 God says, "How terrible it will be for the king of Assyria. I use him like a rod to show my anger; in anger I use Assyria like a club.

6 I send it to fight against a nation that is separated from God. I am angry with those people, so I command Assyria to fight against them, to take their wealth from them, to trample them down like dirt in the streets.

7 But Assyria's king doesn't understand that I am using him; he doesn't know he is a tool for me. He only wants to destroy other people and to defeat many nations.

8 The king of Assyria says to himself, 'All of my commanders are like kings.

9 The city Calno is like the city Carchemish. The city Hamath is like the city Arpad. The city Samaria is like the city Damascus.

10 I defeated those kingdoms that worship idols, and those idols were more than the idols of Jerusalem and Samaria.

11 As I defeated Samaria and her idols, I will also defeat Jerusalem and her idols.'"

12 When the Lord finishes doing what he planned to Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish Assyria. The king of Assyria is very proud, and his pride has made him do these evil things, so God will punish him.

13 The king of Assyria says this: "By my own power I have done these things; by my wisdom I have defeated many nations. I have taken their wealth, and, like a mighty one, I have taken their people.

14 I have taken the riches of all these people, like a person reaching into a bird's nest. I have taken these nations, like a person taking eggs. Not one raised a hand or opened its mouth to stop me."

15 An ax is not better than the person who swings it. A saw is not better than the one who uses it. A stick cannot control the person who picks it up. A club cannot pick up the person!

16 So the Lord God All-Powerful will send a terrible disease upon Assyria's soldiers. like a fire burning until everything is gone.

17 God, the Light of Israel, will be like a fire; the Holy One will be like a flame. He will be like a fire that suddenly burns the weeds and thorns.

18 The fire burns away the great trees and rich farmlands, destroying everything. It will be like a sick person who wastes away.

19 The trees left standing will be so few that even a child could count them.

20 At that time some people will be left alive in Israel from the family of Jacob. They will not continue to depend on the person who defeated them. They will learn truly to depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

21 Those who are left alive in Jacob's family will again follow the powerful God.

22 Israel, your people are many, like the grains of sand by the sea. But only a few of them will be left alive to return to the Lord. God has announced that he will destroy the land completely and fairly.

23 The Lord God All-Powerful will certainly destroy this land, as he has announced.

24 This is what the Lord God All-Powerful says: "My people living in Jerusalem, don't be afraid of the Assyrians, who beat you with a rod and raise a stick against you, as Egypt did.

25 After a short time my anger against you will stop, and then I will turn my anger to destroying them."

26 Then the Lord All-Powerful will beat the Assyrians with a whip as he defeated Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise his stick over the waters as he did in Egypt.

27 Then the troubles that Assyria puts on you will be removed, and the load they make you carry will be taken away.

28 The army of Assyria will enter near Aiath. Its soldiers will walk through Migron. They will store their food in Micmash.

29 The army will go over the pass. The soldiers will sleep at Geba. The people of Ramah will be afraid, and the people at Gibeah of Saul will run away.

30 Cry out, Bath Gallim! Laishah, listen!

31 The people of Madmenah are running away; the people of Gebim are hiding.

32 This day the army will stop at Nob. They will shake their fist at Mount Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

33 Watch! The Lord God All-Powerful with his great power will chop them down like a great tree. Those who are great will be cut down; those who are important will fall to the ground.

34 He will cut them down as a forest is cut down with an ax. will fall by the power of the Mighty One.

1 So I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus for you who are not Jews.

2 Surely you have heard that God gave me this work through his grace to help you.

3 He let me know his secret by showing it to me. I have already written a little about this.

4 If you read what I wrote then, you can see that I truly understand the secret about the Christ.

5 People who lived in other times were not told that secret. But now, through the Spirit, God has shown that secret to his holy apostles and prophets.

6 This is that secret: that through the Good News those who are not Jews will share with the Jews in God's blessing. They belong to the same body, and they share together in the promise that God made in Christ Jesus.

7 By God's special gift of grace given to me through his power, I became a servant to tell that Good News.

8 I am the least important of all God's people, but God gave me this gift -- to tell those who are not Jews the Good News about the riches of Christ, which are too great to understand fully.

9 And God gave me the work of telling all people about the plan for his secret, which has been hidden in him since the beginning of time. He is the One who created everything.

10 His purpose was that through the church all the rulers and powers in the heavenly world will now know God's wisdom, which has so many forms.

11 This agrees with the purpose God had since the beginning of time, and he carried out his plan through Christ Jesus our Lord.

12 In Christ we can come before God with freedom and without fear. We can do this through faith in Christ.

13 So I ask you not to become discouraged because of the sufferings I am having for you. My sufferings are for your glory.

14 So I bow in prayer before the Father

15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name.

16 I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his Spirit.

17 I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love.

18 And I pray that you and all God's holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ's love -- how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is.

19 Christ's love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.

20 With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine.

21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen.