171 The oracle concerning Damascus . "Behold , Damascus is about to be removed from being a city And will become a fallen ruin . 2 "The cities of Aroer are forsaken ; They will be for flocks to lie down in, And there will be no one to frighten them. 3 "The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim , And sovereignty from Damascus And the remnant of Aram ; They will be like the glory of the sons of Israel ," Declares the Lord of hosts .
4 Now in that day the glory of Jacob will fade , And the fatness of his flesh will become lean . 5 It will be even like the reaper gathering the standing grain , As his arm harvests the ears , Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain In the valley of Rephaim .
6 Yet gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree , Two or three olives on the topmost e bough , Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree , Declares the Lord , the God of Israel . 7 In that day man will have regard for his Maker And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel . 8 He will not have regard for the altars , the work of his hands , Nor will he look to that which his fingers have made , Even the Asherim and incense stands .
9 In that day their strong cities will be like forsaken places in the forest , Or like branches which they abandoned before e the sons of Israel ; And the land will be a desolation . 10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation And have not remembered the rock of your refuge . Therefore e you plant delightful plants And set them with vine slips of a strange god. 11 In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in, And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom ; But the harvest will be a heap In a day of sickliness and incurable pain .
12 Alas , the uproar of many peoples Who roar like the roaring of the seas , And the rumbling of nations Who rush on like the rumbling of mighty waters ! 13 The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters , But He will rebuke them and they will flee far away , And be chased like chaff in the mountains before the wind , Or like whirling dust before a gale . 14 At evening time , behold , there is terror ! Before morning they are no more . Such will be the portion of those who plunder us And the lot of those who pillage us.
181 Alas , oh land of whirring wings Which lies beyond e the rivers of Cush , 2 Which sends envoys by the sea , Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters . Go , swift messengers , to a nation tall and smooth , To a people feared far e and wide , A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide . 3 All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth , As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains , you will see it, And as soon as the trumpet is blown , you will hear it. 4 For thus the Lord has told me, "I will look from My dwelling place quietly Like dazzling heat in the sunshine , Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest ." 5 For before the harvest , as soon as the bud blossoms And the flower becomes a ripening grape , Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives And remove and cut away the spreading branches . 6 They will be left together for mountain birds of prey , And for the beasts of the earth ; And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them. 7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts From a people tall and smooth , Even from a people feared far e and wide , A powerful and oppressive nation , Whose land the rivers divide - To the place of the name of the Lord of hosts , even Mount Zion .
191 The oracle concerning Egypt . Behold , the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt ; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence , And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. 2 "So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians ; And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor , City against city and kingdom against kingdom . 3 "Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy , So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to mediums and spiritists . 4 "Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master , And a mighty king will rule over them," declares the Lord GOD of hosts . 5 The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry . 6 The canals will emit a stench , The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; The reeds and rushes will rot away . 7 The bulrushes by the Nile , by the edge of the Nile And all the sown fields by the Nile Will become dry , be driven away , and be no more . 8 And the fishermen will lament , And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn , And those who spread nets on the waters will pine away . 9 Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected . 10 And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed ; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul . 11 The princes of Zoan are mere fools ; The advice of Pharaoh's wisest advisers has become stupid . How can you men say to Pharaoh , "I am a son of the wise , a son of ancient kings "? 12 Well then , where are your wise men ? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the Lord of hosts Has purposed against Egypt . 13 The princes of Zoan have acted foolishly , The princes of Memphis are deluded ; Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes Have led Egypt astray . 14 The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of distortion ; They have led Egypt astray in all that it does , As a drunken man staggers in his vomit . 15 There will be no work for Egypt Which its head or tail , its palm branch or bulrush , may do . 16 In that day the Egyptians will become like women , and they will tremble and be in dread because e of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts , which He is going to wave over them. 17 The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt ; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because e of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is purposing against them.
18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the Lord of hosts ; one will be called the City of Destruction . 19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt , and a pillar to the Lord near its border . 20 It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt ; for they will cry to the Lord because e of oppressors , and He will send them a Savior and a Champion , and He will deliver them. 21 Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt , and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day . They will even worship with sacrifice and offering , and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt , striking but healing ; so they will return to the Lord , and He will respond to them and will heal them. 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria , and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria , and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians . 24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria , a blessing in the midst of the earth , 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed , saying , "Blessed is Egypt My people , and Assyria the work of My hands , and Israel My inheritance ."
17 So e then e do not be foolish , but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine , for that is dissipation , but be filled with the Spirit , 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs , singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord ; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God , even the Father ;
21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ .
22 Wives , be subject to your own husbands , as to the Lord . 23 For the husband is the head of the wife , as Christ also is the head of the church , He Himself being the Savior of the body . 24 But as the church is subject to Christ , so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything . 25 Husbands , love your wives , just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word , 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory , having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing ; but that she would be holy and blameless . 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies . He who loves his own wife loves himself ; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh , but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church , 30 because we are members of His body . 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE , AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME e ONE FLESH . 32 This mystery is great ; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church . 33 Nevertheless , each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself , and the wife must see to it that she respects 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.
