171 The word about Damascus. See, they have made Damascus a town no longer; it has become a waste place. 2 Her towns are unpeopled for ever; there the flocks take their rest in peace, without fear. 3 The strong tower has gone from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus: the rest of Aram will come to destruction, and be made like the glory of the children of Israel, says the Lord of armies.
4 And it will be in that day that the glory of Jacob will be made small, and the strength of his body will become feeble. 5 And it will be like a man cutting the growth of his grain, pulling together the heads of the grain with his arm; even as when they get in the grain in the valley of Rephaim.
6 But it will be like a man shaking an olive-tree, something will still be there, two or three berries on the top of the highest branch, four or five on the outside branches of a fertile tree, says the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 In that day a man's heart will be turned to his Maker, and his eyes to the Holy One of Israel. 8 He will not be looking to the altars, the work of his hands, or to the wood pillars or to the sun-images which his fingers have made.
9 In that day your towns will be like the waste places of the Hivites and the Amorites which the children of Israel took for a heritage, and they will come to destruction. 10 For you have not given honour to the God of your salvation, and have not kept in mind the Rock of your strength; for this cause you made a garden of Adonis, and put in it the vine-cuttings of a strange god; 11 In the day of your planting you were watching its growth, and in the morning your seed was flowering: but its fruit is wasted away in the day of grief and bitter sorrow.
12 Ah! the voice of peoples, like the loud sounding of the seas, and the thundering of great nations rushing on like the bursting out of waters! 13 But he will put a stop to them, and make them go in flight far away, driving them like the waste of the grain on the tops of the mountains before the wind, and like the circling dust before the storm. 14 In the evening there is fear, and in the morning they are gone. This is the fate of those who take our goods, and the reward of those who violently take our property for themselves.
181 Ho! land of the sounding of wings, on the other side of the rivers of Ethiopia: 2 Which sends its representatives by the sea, even in ships of papyrus on the waters. Go back quickly, O representatives, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people causing fear through all their history; a strong nation, crushing down its haters, whose land is cut through by rivers. 3 All you peoples of the world, and you who are living on the earth, when a flag is lifted up on the mountains, give attention; and when the horn is sounded, give ear. 4 For this is what the Lord has said to me: I will be quiet, watching from my place; like the clear heat when the sun is shining, like a mist of dew in the heat of summer. 5 For before the time of getting in the grapes, after the opening of the bud, when the flower has become a grape ready for crushing, he will take away the small branches with knives, cutting down and taking away the wide-stretching branches. 6 They will be for the birds of the mountains, and for the beasts of the earth: the birds will come down on them in the summer, and the beasts of the earth in the winter. 7 In that time an offering will be made to the Lord of armies from a people tall and smooth, causing fear through all their history; a strong nation, crushing down its haters, whose land is cut through by rivers, an offering taken to the place of the name of the Lord of armies, even Mount Zion.
191 The word about Egypt. See, the Lord is seated on a quick-moving cloud, and is coming to Egypt: and the false gods of Egypt will be troubled at his coming, and the heart of Egypt will be turned to water. 2 And I will send the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they will be fighting every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; town against town, and kingdom against kingdom. 3 And the spirit of Egypt will be troubled in her, and I will make her decisions without effect: and they will be turning to the false gods, and to those who make hollow sounds, and to those who have control of spirits, and to those who are wise in secret arts. 4 And I will give the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a hard king will be their ruler, says the Lord, the Lord of armies. 5 And the waters of the sea will be cut off, and the river will become dry and waste: 6 And the rivers will have an evil smell; the stream of Egypt will become small and dry: all the water-plants will come to nothing. 7 The grass-lands by the Nile, and everything planted by the Nile, will become dry, or taken away by the wind, and will come to an end. 8 The fishermen will be sad, and all those who put fishing-lines into the Nile will be full of grief, and those whose nets are stretched out on the waters will have sorrow in their hearts. 9 And all the workers in linen thread, and those who make cotton cloth, will be put to shame. 10 And the makers of twisted thread will be crushed, and those who ... will be sad in heart. 11 The chiefs of Zoan are completely foolish; the wisest guides of Pharaoh have become like beasts: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the offspring of early kings? 12 Where, then, are your wise men? let them make clear to you, let them give you knowledge of the purpose of the Lord of armies for Egypt. 13 The chiefs of Zoan have become foolish, the chiefs of Noph are tricked, the heads of her tribes are the cause of Egypt's wandering out of the way. 14 The Lord has sent among them a spirit of error: and by them Egypt is turned out of the right way in all her doings, as a man overcome by wine is uncertain in his steps. 15 And in Egypt there will be no work for any man, head or tail, high or low, to do. 16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women: and the land will be shaking with fear because of the waving of the Lord's hand stretched out over it. 17 And the land of Judah will become a cause of great fear to Egypt; whenever its name comes to mind, Egypt will be in fear before the Lord of armies because of his purpose against it.
18 In that day there will be five towns in the land of Egypt using the language of Canaan, and making oaths to the Lord of armies; and one of them will be named, The Town of the Sun. 19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at the edge of the land. 20 And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of armies in the land of Egypt: when they are crying out to the Lord because of their cruel masters, then he will send them a saviour and a strong one to make them free. 21 And the Lord will give the knowledge of himself to Egypt, and the Egyptians will give honour to the Lord in that day; they will give him worship with offerings and meal offerings, and will take an oath to the Lord and give effect to it. 22 And the Lord will send punishment on Egypt, and will make them well again; and when they come back to the Lord he will give ear to their prayer and take away their disease. 23 In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt will come into Assyria; and the Egyptians will give worship to the Lord together with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third together with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the earth: 25 Because of the blessing of the Lord of armies which he has given them, saying, A blessing on Egypt my people, and on Assyria the work of my hands, and on Israel my heritage.
17 For this reason, then, do not be foolish, but be conscious of the Lord's pleasure. 18 And do not take overmuch wine by which one may be overcome, but be full of the Spirit; 19 Joining with one another in holy songs of praise and of the Spirit, using your voice in songs and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving praise at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father;
21 Letting yourselves be ruled by one another in the fear of Christ.
22 Wives, be under the authority of your husbands, as of the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body. 24 And as the church is under Christ's authority, so let wives be under the rule of their husbands in all things. 25 Husbands, have love for your wives, even as Christ had love for the church, and gave himself for it; 26 So that he might make it holy, having made it clean with the washing of water by the word, 27 And might take it for himself, a church full of glory, not having one mark or fold or any such thing; but that it might be holy and complete. 28 Even so it is right for husbands to have love for their wives as for their bodies. He who has love for his wife has love for himself: 29 For no man ever had hate for his flesh; but he gives it food and takes care of it, even as Christ does for the church; 30 Because we are parts of his body. 31 For this cause will a man go away from his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This is a great secret: but my words are about Christ and the church. 33 But do you, everyone, have love for his wife, even as for himself; and let the wife see that she has respect for her husband.
(Read Ephesians 5:15-21)
Another remedy against sin, is care, or caution, it being impossible else to maintain purity of heart and life. Time is a talent given us by God, and it is misspent and lost when not employed according to his design. If we have lost our time heretofore, we must double our diligence for the future. Of that time which thousands on a dying bed would gladly redeem at the price of the whole world, how little do men think, and to what trifles they daily sacrifice it! People are very apt to complain of bad times; it were well if that stirred them more to redeem time. Be not unwise. Ignorance of our duty, and neglect of our souls, show the greatest folly. Drunkenness is a sin that never goes alone, but carries men into other evils; it is a sin very provoking to God. The drunkard holds out to his family and to the world the sad spectacle of a sinner hardened beyond what is common, and hastening to perdition. When afflicted or weary, let us not seek to raise our spirits by strong drink, which is hateful and hurtful, and only ends in making sorrows more felt. But by fervent prayer let us seek to be filled with the Spirit, and to avoid whatever may grieve our gracious Comforter. All God's people have reason to sing for joy. Though we are not always singing, we should be always giving thanks; we should never want disposition for this duty, as we never want matter for it, through the whole course of our lives. Always, even in trials and afflictions, and for all things; being satisfied of their loving intent, and good tendency. God keeps believers from sinning against him, and engages them to submit one to another in all he has commanded, to promote his glory, and to fulfil their duties to each other.
(Read Ephesians 5:22-33)
The duty of wives is, submission to their husbands in the Lord, which includes honouring and obeying them, from a principle of love to them. The duty of husbands is to love their wives. The love of Christ to the church is an example, which is sincere, pure, and constant, notwithstanding her failures. Christ gave himself for the church, that he might sanctify it in this world, and glorify it in the next, that he might bestow on all his members a principle of holiness, and deliver them from the guilt, the pollution, and the dominion of sin, by those influences of the Holy Spirit, of which baptismal water was the outward sign. The church and believers will not be without spot or wrinkle till they come to glory. But those only who are sanctified now, shall be glorified hereafter. The words of Adam, mentioned by the apostle, are spoken literally of marriage; but they have also a hidden sense in them, relating to the union between Christ and his church. It was a kind of type, as having resemblance. There will be failures and defects on both sides, in the present state of human nature, yet this does not alter the relation. All the duties of marriage are included in unity and love. And while we adore and rejoice in the condescending love of Christ, let husbands and wives learn hence their duties to each other. Thus the worst evils would be prevented, and many painful effects would be avoided.
