321 See, a king will be ruling in righteousness, and chiefs will give right decisions. 2 And a man will be as a safe place from the wind, and a cover from the storm; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a waste land. 3 And the eyes of those who see will not be shut, and those who have hearing will give ear to the word. 4 The man of sudden impulses will become wise in heart, and he whose tongue is slow will get the power of talking clearly. 5 The foolish man will no longer be named noble, and they will not say of the false man that he is a man of honour. 6 For the foolish man will say foolish things, having evil thoughts in his heart, working what is unclean, and talking falsely about the Lord, to keep food from him who is in need of it, and water from him whose soul is desiring it. 7 The designs of the false are evil, purposing the destruction of the poor man by false words, even when he is in the right. 8 But the noble-hearted man has noble purposes, and by these he will be guided.
9 Give ear to my voice, you women who are living in comfort; give attention to my words, you daughters who have no fear of danger. 10 In not much more than a year, you, who are not looking for evil, will be troubled: for the produce of the vine-gardens will be cut off, and there will be no getting in of the grapes. 11 Be shaking with fear, you women who are living in comfort; be troubled, you who have no fear of danger: take off your robes and put on clothing of grief. 12 Have sorrow for the fields, the pleasing fields, the fertile vine; 13 And for the land of my people, where thorns will come up; even for all the houses of joy in the glad town. 14 For the fair houses will have no man living in them; the town which was full of noise will become a waste; the hill and the watchtower will be unpeopled for ever, a joy for the asses of the woods, a place of food for the flocks; 15 Till the spirit comes on us from on high, and the waste land becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is changed into a wood. 16 Then in the waste land there will be an upright rule, and righteousness will have its place in the fertile field. 17 And the work of righteousness will be peace; and the effect of an upright rule will be to take away fear for ever. 18 And my people will be living in peace, in houses where there is no fear, and in quiet resting-places. 19 But the tall trees will come down with a great fall, and the town will be low in a low place. 20 Happy are you who are planting seed by all the waters, and sending out the ox and the ass.
331 Ho! you who make waste those who did not make you waste; acting falsely to those who were not false to you. When you have come to an end of wasting, you will be made waste, and after your false acts, they will do the same to you. 2 O Lord, have mercy on us; for we have been waiting for your help: be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of trouble. 3 At the loud noise the peoples have gone in flight; at your coming up the nations have gone in all directions. 4 And the goods taken in war will be got together like the massing of young locusts; men will be rushing on them like the rushing of locusts. 5 The Lord is lifted up; his place is on high: he has made Zion full of righteousness and true religion. 6 And she will have no more fear of change, being full of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is her wealth. 7 See, the men of war are sorrowing outside the town: those who came looking for peace are weeping bitterly. 8 The highways are waste, no man is journeying there: the agreement is broken, he has made sport of the towns, he has no thought for man. 9 The earth is sorrowing and wasting away; Lebanon is put to shame and has become waste; Sharon is like the Arabah; and in Bashan and Carmel the leaves are falling. 10 Now will I come forward, says the Lord; now will I be lifted up; now will my power be seen. 11 Your designs will be without profit, and their effect will be nothing: you will be burned up by the fire of my breath. 12 And the peoples will be like the burning of chalk: as thorns cut down, which are burned in the fire.
13 Give ear, you who are far off, to what I have done: see my power, you who are near. 14 The sinners in Zion are full of fear; the haters of God are shaking with wonder. Who among us may keep his place before the burning fire? who among us may see the eternal burnings? 15 He whose ways are true, and whose words are upright; he who gives no thought to the profits of false acts, whose hands have not taken rewards, who will have no part in putting men to death, and whose eyes are shut against evil; 16 He will have a place on high: he will be safely shut in by the high rocks: his bread will be given to him; his waters will be certain. 17 Your eyes will see the king in his glory: they will be looking on a far-stretching land. 18 Your heart will give thought to the cause of your fear: where is the scribe, where is he who made a record of the payments, where is he by whom the towers were numbered? 19 Never again will you see the cruel people, a people whose tongue has no sense for you; whose language is strange to you. 20 Let your eyes be resting on Zion, the town of our holy feasts: you will see Jerusalem, a quiet resting-place, a tent which will not be moved, whose tent-pins will never be pulled up, and whose cords will never be broken. 21 But there the Lord will be with us in his glory, ... wide rivers and streams; where no boat will go with blades, and no fair ship will be sailing. 22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our king; he will be our saviour. 23 Your cords have become loose; they were not able to make strong the support of their sails, the sail was not stretched out: then the blind will take much property, the feeble-footed will make division of the goods of war. 24 And the men of Zion will not say, I am ill: for its people will have forgiveness for their sin.
11 Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the purpose of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and true brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3 We give praise to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, making prayer for you at all times, 4 After hearing of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have for all the saints, 5 Through the hope which is in store for you in heaven; knowledge of which was given to you before in the true word of the good news, 6 Which has come to you; and which in all the world is giving fruit and increase, as it has done in you from the day when it came to your ears and you had true knowledge of the grace of God; 7 As it was given to you by Epaphras, our well-loved helper, who is a true servant of Christ for us, 8 And who, himself, made clear to us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, we, from the day when we had word of it, keep on in prayer for you, that you may be full of the knowledge of his purpose, with all wisdom and experience of the Spirit, 10 Living uprightly in the approval of the Lord, giving fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 Full of strength in the measure of the great power of his glory, so that you may undergo all troubles with joy;
12 Giving praise to the Father who has given us a part in the heritage of the saints in light; 13 Who has made us free from the power of evil and given us a place in the kingdom of the Son of his love;
14 In whom we have our salvation, the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the unseen God coming into existence before all living things; 16 For by him all things were made, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, authorities, lords, rulers, and powers; all things were made by him and for him; 17 He is before all things, and in him all things have being. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: the starting point of all things, the first to come again from the dead; so that in all things he might have the chief place. 19 For God in full measure was pleased to be in him; 20 Through him uniting all things with himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say, uniting all things which are on earth or in heaven.
21 And you, who in the past were cut off and at war with God in your minds through evil works, he has now made one 22 In the body of his flesh through death, so that you might be holy and without sin and free from all evil before him: 23 If you keep yourselves safely based in the faith, not moved from the hope of the good news which came to you, and which was given to every living being under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant. 24 Now I have joy in my pain because of you, and in my flesh I undergo whatever is still needed to make the sorrows of Christ complete, for the salvation of his body, the church; 25 Of which I became a servant by the purpose of God which was given to me for you, to give effect to the word of God, 26 The secret which has been kept from all times and generations, but has now been made clear to his saints, 27 To whom God was pleased to give knowledge of the wealth of the glory of this secret among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 Whom we are preaching; guiding and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that every man may be complete in Christ; 29 And for this purpose I am working, using all my strength by the help of his power which is working in me strongly.
