Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem
1 For behold, the sLord God of hosts
is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
support and supply,1
all tsupport of bread,
and all support of water;
2 uthe mighty man and the soldier,
the judge and the prophet,
the diviner and the elder,
3 the captain of fifty
and the man of rank,
the counselor and the skillful magician
and the expert in charms.
4 vAnd I will make boys their princes,
and infants2 shall rule over them.
5 wAnd the people will oppress one another,
every one his fellow
and every one his neighbor;
the youth will be insolent to the elder,
and the despised to the honorable.
6 For xa man will take hold of his brother
in the house of his father, saying:
“You have a cloak;
you shall be our leader,
and this heap of ruins
shall be under your rule”;
7 in that day he will speak out, saying:
in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
you shall not make me
leader of the people.”
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled,
and Judah has fallen,
because their zspeech and their deeds are against the Lord,
9 For the look on their faces bears witness against them;
they proclaim their sin blike Sodom;
they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
cFor they have brought evil on themselves.
10 dTell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
efor they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
11 fWoe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
12 My people—ginfants are their oppressors,
and women rule over them.
O my people, hyour guides mislead you
and they have swallowed up5 the course of your paths.
13 The Lord ihas taken his place to contend;
he stands to judge peoples.
14 The Lord will enter into judgment
with the jelders and princes of his people:
“It is you who khave devoured6 the vineyard,
lthe spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What do you mean by mcrushing my people,
by grinding the face of the poor?”
declares the Lord God of hosts.
16 The Lord said:
nBecause othe daughters of Zion are haughty
and walk with outstretched necks,
glancing wantonly with their eyes,
mincing along as they go,
ptinkling with their feet,
17 therefore the Lord qwill strike with a scab
the heads of othe daughters of Zion,
and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts.
18 In that day the Lord will take away rthe finery of the anklets, the sheadbands, and the tcrescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20 the uheaddresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21 the signet rings and vnose rings; 22 the wfestal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.
24 Instead of xperfume there will be rottenness;
and instead of a ybelt, a rope;
and instead of zwell-set hair, abaldness;
and instead of a rich robe, a bskirt of sackcloth;
and cbranding instead of beauty.
25 Your men shall fall by the sword
and your mighty men in battle.
26 And dher gates shall lament and mourn;
empty, she shall esit on the ground.
1 fAnd seven women gshall take hold of fone man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; htake away our reproach.”
The Branch of the Lord Glorified
2 In that day ithe branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and jthe fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 kAnd he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called lholy, everyone who has mbeen recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when nthe Lord shall have washed away the filth of othe daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by pa spirit of burning.7 5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies qa cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be ra canopy. 6 sThere will be a tbooth for shade by day from the heat, and ufor a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
Paul’s Visions and His Thorn
1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and xrevelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man yin Christ who fourteen years ago was zcaught up to athe third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, bGod knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into cparadise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, bGod knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, dexcept of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, eI would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So fto keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,1 ga thorn was given me in the flesh, ha messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 iThree times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, j“My grace is sufficient for you, for kmy power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that lthe power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 mFor the sake of Christ, then, nI am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For owhen I am weak, then I am strong.
Concern for the Corinthian Church
11 pI have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was qnot at all inferior to these super-apostles, reven though I am nothing. 12 sThe signs of a true apostle were performed among you twith utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. 13 For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that uI myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!
14 Here vfor the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for wI seek not what is yours but you. For xchildren are not obligated to save up for their parents, but yparents for their children. 15 zI will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If aI love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But granting that bI myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. 17 Did I take advantage of you cthrough any of those whom I sent to you? 18 dI urged Titus to go, and sent ethe brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?
19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is fin the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and gall for your upbuilding, beloved. 20 For I fear that perhaps hwhen I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. 21 I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those iwho sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, jsexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.
