Isaiah 17; Isaiah 18; Isaiah 19; Ephesians 5:17-33

1 Here is a message the LORD gave me about Damascus. He said, "Damascus will not be a city anymore. Instead, all of its buildings will be knocked down.

2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted. They will be left to the flocks that lie down there. No one will make them afraid.

3 Ephraim's people will no longer have cities with high walls around them. Royal power will disappear from Damascus. Those who are left alive in Aram will be like the glory of the people of Israel," announces the LORD who rules over all.

4 "In days to come, the glory of Jacob's people will fade. Their strength will get weaker and weaker.

5 It will be as when a worker cuts and gathers grain in the Valley of Rephaim. He gathers up stalks with his arms. Only a few heads of grain are left.

6 In the same way, only a few people will be left alive. It will be as when workers knock olives off the trees. Only two or three olives are left on the highest branches. Four or five at most are left on the limbs that produce fruit," announces the Lord, the God of Israel.

7 In days to come, men will look to their Maker for help. They will turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.

8 They won't trust in the altars they made with their own hands. They won't pay any attention to the poles they used to worship the goddess Asherah. And they won't depend on the incense altars they made with their own fingers.

9 At that time the strong cities in Israel will be deserted. They will be as they were when the Israelites drove the Canaanites out of them. They will be like places that are taken over by bushes and weeds. The whole land will become dry and empty.

10 Israel, you have forgotten God, who saves you. You have not remembered the Rock, who keeps you safe. You might set out the finest plants. You might plant vines from other lands.

11 The plants might start to grow on the day you set them out. The vines might begin to bud on the morning you plant them. But even if they do, there won't be any harvest. Instead, there will be sickness and pain that won't go away.

12 How terrible it looks for us! Many nations are marching against us. The noise of their armies is like the sound of the ocean. They are making a lot of noise. It sounds like huge waves crashing on the shore.

13 It sounds like the roar of rushing waters. But when the LORD speaks out against them, they run far away. The wind blows them away like straw on the hills. A strong wind drives them along like tumbleweeds.

14 In the evening, the nations terrify us. But before morning comes, they are gone. That's what happens to those who steal our goods. That's what happens to those who take what belongs to us.

1 How terrible it will be for the land whose armies are like large numbers of flying insects! That land is along the rivers of Cush.

2 Its people send messengers on the Nile River. They travel over the water in papyrus boats. Messengers, hurry back home! Go back to your people, who are tall and have smooth skin. Everyone is afraid of them. They are warriors. Their language is different from ours. Their land is divided up by rivers.

3 Pay attention, all you people of the world! Listen, all you who live on earth! Banners will be lifted up on the mountains. And you will see them. Trumpets will be blown. And you will hear them.

4 The LORD says to me, "I will look down from heaven, where I live. I will be as quiet as summer heat in the sunshine. I will be as quiet as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."

5 A farmer cuts off new growth with pruning knives. He cuts down spreading branches and takes them away. He does it before the grapes are harvested. That's when the blooms are gone and the grapes are ripe. In the same way, the LORD will cut off the nations that are gathered against his people.

6 Their dead bodies will be left for the birds of the mountains to eat. They will be left for the wild animals. The birds will eat the dead bodies all summer long. The wild animals will eat them all through the winter.

7 At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD who rules over all. The people who are tall and have smooth skin will bring them. Everyone is afraid of those people. They are warriors. Their language is different from ours. Their land is divided up by rivers. They will bring their gifts to Mount Zion. That's where the LORD who rules over all has put his Name.

1 Here is a message the LORD gave me about Egypt. The LORD is coming to Egypt. He's riding on a cloud that moves very fast. The statues of the gods in Egypt tremble with fear because of him. The hearts of the people there melt away inside them.

2 The LORD says, "I will stir up one Egyptian against another. Relatives will fight against relatives. Neighbors will fight against one another. Cities will fight against cities. Kingdoms will fight against one another.

3 The people of Egypt will lose hope. I will keep them from doing what they plan to do. They will ask their gods for advice. They will turn to the spirits of dead people for help. They will go to people who get messages from those who have died. They will ask for advice from people who talk to the spirits of the dead.

4 I will hand the Egyptians over to a mean and unkind master. A powerful king will rule over them," announces the Lord. He is the LORD who rules over all.

5 The waters of the Nile River will dry up. The bottom of it will be cracked and dry.

6 Its waterways will stink. And the streams of Egypt will get smaller and smaller until they dry up. The tall grass that grows along the river will dry up.

7 So will the plants along the banks of the Nile. Even the planted fields along the Nile will dry up. Everything that grows there will blow away and disappear.

8 The fishermen will moan. All those who drop hooks into the Nile will sob. Those who throw their nets on the water will become very sad.

9 Those who make clothes out of flax will lose hope. So will those who weave fine linen.

10 Those who work with cloth will be unhappy. And all those who work for money will be sick at heart.

11 The officials of the city of Zoan are very foolish. Pharaoh's wise men give advice that doesn't make any sense. How can they dare to say to Pharaoh, "We're among the wise men"? How can they say to him, "We're like the advisers to the kings of long ago"?

12 Pharaoh, where are your wise men now? Let them tell you what the LORD who rules over all has planned against Egypt.

13 The officials of Zoan have become foolish. The leaders of Memphis have been lied to. The most important leaders in Egypt have led its people down the wrong path.

14 The LORD has given them a spirit that makes them feel dizzy. They make Egypt unsteady in everything it does. Egypt is like a person who drinks too much. He throws up and then walks around in the mess he's made.

15 No one in Egypt can do anything to help them. Its elders and important leaders can't help them. Its prophets and priests can't do anything. Those who rule over others can't help. And those who bow down to them can't help either.

16 In days to come, the people of Egypt will be as terrified as women. The LORD who rules over all will raise his hand against them. Then they will tremble with fear.

17 The people of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians. Everyone in Egypt who hears the name of Judah will be terrified. That's because of what the LORD who rules over all is planning to do to them.

18 At that time the people of five cities in Egypt will use the Hebrew language when they worship the LORD who rules over all. They will take an oath. And they will promise to be faithful to him. One of those cities is called The City of the Sun.

19 At that time there will be an altar to the LORD in the middle of Egypt. There will be a monument to him at its border.

20 They will remind people that the LORD who rules over all is worshiped in Egypt. The people there will cry out to the LORD because of those who treat them badly. He will send someone to stand up for them and save them. And he will set them free.

21 So the LORD will make himself known to the people of Egypt. At that time they will recognize that he is the Lord. They will worship him by bringing sacrifices and grain offerings to him. They will make promises to the Lord. And they will keep them.

22 The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague. But then he will heal them. They will turn to the Lord. And he will answer their prayers and heal them.

23 At that time there will be a wide road from Egypt to Assyria. The people of Assyria will go to Egypt. And the people of Egypt will go to Assyria. The people of Egypt and Assyria will worship the LORD together.

24 At that time Egypt, Assyria and Israel will be a blessing to the whole earth.

25 The LORD who rules over all will bless those three nations. He will say, "Let the Egyptians be blessed. They are my people. Let the Assyrians be blessed. My hands created them. And let the Israelites be blessed. They are my very own people."

17 So don't be foolish. Instead, understand what the Lord wants.

18 Don't fill yourself up with wine. Getting drunk will lead to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

19 Speak to each other with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.

20 Always give thanks to God the Father for everything. Give thanks to him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

21 Follow the lead of one another because of your respect for Christ.

22 Wives, follow the lead of your husbands as you follow the Lord.

23 The husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the church. The church is Christ's body. He is its Savior.

24 The church follows the lead of Christ. In the same way, wives should follow the lead of their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives. Love them just as Christ loved the church. He gave himself up for her.

26 He did it to make her holy. He made her clean by washing her with water and the word.

27 He did it to bring her to himself as a brightly shining church. He wants a church that has no stain or wrinkle or any other flaw. He wants a church that is holy and without blame.

28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives. They should love them as they love their own bodies. Any man who loves his wife loves himself.

29 After all, people have never hated their own bodies. Instead, they feed and care for their bodies. And that is what Christ does for the church.

30 We are parts of his body.

31 Scripture says, "That's why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. The two will become one."(Genesis 2:24)

32 That is a deep mystery. But I'm talking about Christ and the church.

33 A husband also must love his wife. He must love her just as he loves himself. And a wife must respect her husband.