The Lord’s Faithless Bride

1 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^b“Son of man, ^cmake known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an ^dAmorite and your mother a ^eHittite. 4 And as for your birth, ^fon the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, ^gbut you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, ^fon the day that you were born.

6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing ^hin your blood, I said to you ^hin your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you ^hin your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 ⁱI made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall ^jand arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet ^kyou were naked and bare.

8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and ^lI spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you ^mand entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, ⁿand you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and ^oanointed you with oil. 10 ^pI clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.¹ 11 ^qAnd I adorned you with ornaments and ^rput bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. ^sYou ate fine flour and honey and oil. ^tYou grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And ^uyour renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.

15 ^v“But you trusted in your beauty ^wand played the whore² because of your renown ^xand lavished your whorings³ on any passerby; your beauty⁴ became his. 16 You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be.⁵ 17 You also took ^yyour beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and ^zmade for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. 18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, ^aand set my oil and my incense before them. 19 ^bAlso my bread that I gave you—^sI fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for ^ca pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. 20 ^dAnd you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and ^ethese you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter 21 that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? 22 And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember ^fthe days of your youth, ^gwhen you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.

23 “And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord God), 24 you built yourself ^ha vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. 25 At the head of every street ⁱyou built your lofty place and made ^jyour beauty an abomination, ^koffering yourself⁶ to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. 26 ^wYou also played the whore ^lwith the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, ^mmultiplying your whoring, ⁿto provoke me to anger. 27 Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you ^oand diminished your allotted portion ^pand delivered you to the greed of your enemies, ^qthe daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28 ^wYou played the whore also ^rwith the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied. 29 You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land ^tof Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.

30 “How sick is your heart,⁷ declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, 31 building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, ^ubecause you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, ^vbut you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. 34 So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and ^vyou gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

35 “Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: 36 Thus says the Lord God, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, ^wand because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, 37 therefore, behold, ^xI will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and ^yall those you hated. ^zI will gather them against you from every side ^aand will uncover your nakedness to them, that ^bthey may see all your nakedness. 38 ^cAnd I will judge you ^das women who commit adultery and ^eshed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. 39 And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your ^fvaulted chamber and break down ^gyour lofty places. ^hThey shall strip you of your clothes and take ⁱyour beautiful jewels and leave you ^jnaked and bare. 40 ^kThey shall bring up a crowd against you, ^land they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. 41 ^lAnd they shall ^mburn your houses and ⁿexecute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. ^oI will make you stop playing the whore, and ^pyou shall also give payment no more. 42 ^qSo will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry. 43 Because you have not remembered ^rthe days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, ^sI have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not ^tcommitted lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

44 “Behold, everyone ^uwho uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ 45 You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of ^vyour sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. ^wYour mother was a Hittite and ^wyour father an Amorite. 46 And ^xyour elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and ^yyour younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. 47 ^zNot only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time ^ayou were more corrupt than they in all your ways. 48 ^bAs I live, declares the Lord God, your sister ^cSodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, ^dexcess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and ^edid an abomination before me. So ^fI removed them, when I saw it. 51 ^gSamaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and ^hhave made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. 52 ⁱBear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

53 ^j“I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst, 54 that you may bear your disgrace ^kand be ashamed of all that you have done, ^lbecoming a consolation to them. 55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, ^jand Samaria and her daughters shall return ^mto their former state, ^jand you and your daughters shall return ^mto your former state. 56 Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth ⁿin the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become ^oan object of reproach for the daughters of Syria⁸ and all those around her, and for ^pthe daughters of the Philistines, ^qthose all around who despise you. 58 ^rYou bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the Lord.

The Lord’s Everlasting Covenant

59 “For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you ^swho have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, 60 yet ^tI will remember my covenant with you ^uin the days of your youth, ^vand I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61 ^wThen you will remember your ways ^xand be ashamed when you take ^yyour sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you ^zas daughters, but not on account of⁹ the covenant with you. 62 I will establish my covenant with you, ^aand you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that you may remember and be confounded, and ^bnever open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”

Ayin

Greeting

1 Paul and Timothy, servants¹ of Christ Jesus,

To all the ^asaints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the ^boverseers² and ^cdeacons:³

2 ^dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 ^eI thank my God ^fin all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 ^gbecause of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began ^ha good work in you ⁱwill bring it to completion at ^jthe day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you ^kin my heart, for you are all ^lpartakers with me of grace,⁴ both ^min my imprisonment and in ⁿthe defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For ^oGod is my witness, ^phow I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that ^qyour love may abound more and more, ^rwith knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, ^sand so be pure and blameless ^tfor the day of Christ, 11 filled ^uwith the fruit of righteousness that comes ^vthrough Jesus Christ, ^wto the glory and praise of God.

The Advance of the Gospel

12 I want you to know, brothers,⁵ that what has happened to me has really ^xserved to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard⁶ and ^yto all the rest that ^zmy imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold ^ato speak the word⁷ without fear.

15 ^bSome indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, ^cknowing that I am put here for ^dthe defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ ^eout of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

To Live Is Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that ^fthrough your prayers and ^gthe help of ^hthe Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope ⁱthat I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full ^jcourage now as always Christ ^kwill be honored in my body, ^lwhether by life or by death. 21 For to me ^mto live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 ⁿI am hard pressed between the two. My desire is ^oto depart and ^pbe with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 ^qConvinced of this, ^rI know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your ^sprogress and ^tjoy in the faith, 26 so that in me ^uyou may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

27 Only ^vlet your manner of life be ^wworthy⁸ of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you ^xthat you are standing firm in one spirit, with ^yone mind ^zstriving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is ^aa clear sign to them of their destruction, but ^bof your salvation, and that from God. 29 For ^cit has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also ^bsuffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same ^dconflict that ^eyou saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Christ’s Example of Humility

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from ^flove, any ^gparticipation in the Spirit, any ^haffection and sympathy, 2 ⁱcomplete my joy by being ^jof the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from ^kselfish ambition or ^lconceit, but in ^mhumility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you ⁿlook not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 ^oHave this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,⁹ 6 ^pwho, though he was in ^qthe form of God, did not count equality with God ^ra thing to be grasped,¹⁰ 7 but ^semptied himself, by taking the form of a ^tservant,^{11 u}being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by ^vbecoming obedient to the point of death, ^weven death on a cross. 9 ^xTherefore ^yGod has ^zhighly exalted him and bestowed on him ^athe name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus ^bevery knee should bow, ^cin heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and ^devery tongue confess that Jesus Christ is ^eLord, to the glory of God the Father.

Lights in the World

12 Therefore, my beloved, ^fas you have always ^gobeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for ^hit is God who works in you, both to will and to work for ⁱhis good pleasure.

14 Do all things ^jwithout grumbling or ^kdisputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, ^lchildren of God ^mwithout blemish ⁿin the midst of ^oa crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine ^pas lights in the world, 16 holding fast to ^qthe word of life, so that in ^rthe day of Christ ^sI may be proud that ^tI did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be ^upoured out as a drink offering upon ^vthe sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Timothy and Epaphroditus

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus ^wto send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one ^xlike him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all ^yseek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s^{12 z}proven worth, how ^aas a son¹³ with a father ^bhe has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and ^cI trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you ^dEpaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and ^efellow soldier, and your messenger and ^fminister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So ^greceive him in the Lord with all joy, and ^hhonor such men, 30 for he nearly died^{14 i}for the work of Christ, risking his life ^jto complete what was lacking in your service to me.