9 iAs the Father has loved me, jso have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 kIf you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as lI have kept mmy Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, nthat my joy may be in you, and that oyour joy may be full.
12 p“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 qGreater love has no one than this, rthat someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are smy friends tif you do what I command you. 15 uNo longer do I call you servants,1 for the servant wdoes not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for xall that I have heard from my Father yI have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but zI chose you and appointed you that you should go and abear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that bwhatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, cso that you will love one another.
To the Church in Sardis
1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him iwho has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“‘I know your works. You have the reputation jof being alive, kbut you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works lcomplete in the sight of my God. 3 mRemember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, nI will come olike a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not psoiled their garments, and they will walk with me qin white, for they are rworthy. 5 sThe one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never tblot his name out of uthe book of life. vI will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
To the Church in Philadelphia
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of wthe holy one, xthe true one, ywho has the key of David, zwho opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you aan open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of bthe synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, cI will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that dI have loved you. 10 eBecause you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try fthose who dwell on the earth. 11 gI am coming soon. hHold fast what you have, so that no one may seize iyour crown. 12 jThe one who conquers, I will make him ka pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him lthe name of my God, and mthe name of the city of my God, mthe new Jerusalem, nwhich comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own onew name. 13 pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?
1 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold that they yrefine.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted from the ore.
3 Man puts an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit
the ore in zgloom and adeep darkness.
4 He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
they are forgotten by travelers;
they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
5 As for the earth, bout of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
6 Its stones are the place of csapphires,1
and it has dust of gold.
7 “That path no bird of prey knows,
and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
8 dThe proud beasts have not trodden it;
ethe lion has not passed over it.
9 “Man puts his hand to fthe flinty rock
and overturns mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.
11 He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
12 g“But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its worth,
and it is not found in hthe land of the living.
14 iThe deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 It jcannot be bought for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
16 It cannot be valued in kthe gold of lOphir,
in precious monyx or nsapphire.
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of ocoral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above oppearls.
19 qThe topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 “From where, then, does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of rall living
and concealed from the birds of the air.
22 sAbaddon and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
23 t“God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.
24 For he ulooks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he vgave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
and wa way for the lightning of the thunder,
27 then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.
28 And he said to man,
‘Behold, xthe fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to yturn away from evil is understanding.’”
The Lord’s Relentless Judgment on Israel
1 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
bhe was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt cthrough Baal and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
and dmake for themselves metal images,
idols skillfully made of their silver,
eall of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of them,
“Those who offer human sacrifice fkiss calves!”
3 Therefore they shall be glike the morning mist
or glike the dew that goes early away,
hlike the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
or ilike smoke from a window.
4 But jI am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
kyou know no God but me,
and lbesides me there is no savior.
5 mIt was I who knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought;
6 nbut when they had grazed,1 they became full,
othey were filled, and their heart was lifted up;
otherefore they forgot me.
7 So pI am to them like a lion;
qlike a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
8 I will fall upon them rlike a bear robbed of her cubs;
I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
sas a wild beast would rip them open.
9 He destroys2 you, O Israel,
for you are against me, against tyour helper.
10 uWhere now is your king, to save you in all your cities?
Where are all your rulers—
those of whom vyou said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 wI gave you a king in my anger,
and xI took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is ybound up;
his sin is ykept in store.
13 zThe pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the right time he does not present himself
aat the opening of the womb.
14 bI shall ransom them from the power of Sheol;
bI shall redeem them from Death.3
cO dDeath, where are your plagues?
cO dSheol, where is your sting?
eCompassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Though fhe may flourish among his brothers,
gthe east wind, the wind of the Lord, shall come,
rising from the wilderness,
hand his fountain shall dry up;
his spring shall be parched;
it shall strip ihis treasury
of every precious thing.
16 4 Samaria jshall bear her guilt,
because kshe has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
ltheir little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
and their mpregnant women ripped open.
A Plea to Return to the Lord
1 nReturn, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for oyou have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2 Take with you words
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all iniquity;
accept pwhat is good,
and we will pay with bulls
3 rAssyria shall not save us;
swe will not ride on horses;
and twe will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
uIn you the orphan finds mercy.”
4 I vwill heal their apostasy;
wI will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
5 xI will be like the dew to Israel;
yhe shall blossom like the lily;
he shall take root like the trees zof Lebanon;
6 his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be alike the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
7 They shall return and bdwell beneath my6 shadow;
they shall flourish like the grain;
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O cEphraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.7
I am like an evergreen cypress;
dfrom me comes your fruit.
9 eWhoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and fthe upright walk in them,
fbut transgressors stumble in them.
