The Oracle concerning Tyre

231 The word about Tyre. Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish, because your strong place is made waste; on the way back from the land of Kittim the news is given to them. 2 Send out a cry of grief, you men of the sea-land, traders of Zidon, who go over the sea, whose representatives are on great waters; 3 Who get in the seed of Shihor, whose wealth is the trade of the nations. 4 Be shamed, O Zidon: for the sea, the strong place of the sea has said, I have not been with child, or given birth; I have not taken care of young men, or kept watch over the growth of virgins. 5 When the news comes to Egypt they will be bitterly pained at the fate of Tyre. 6 Go over to Tarshish; give cries of sorrow, O men of the sea-land. 7 Is this the town which was full of joy, whose start goes back to times long past, whose wanderings took her into far-off countries? 8 By whom was this purposed against Tyre, the crowning town, whose traders are chiefs, whose business men are honoured in the land? 9 It was the purpose of the Lord of armies to put pride to shame, to make sport of the glory of those who are honoured in the earth. 10 Let your land be worked with the plough, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer any harbour. 11 His hand is stretched out over the sea, the kingdoms are shaking: the Lord has given orders about Canaan, to make waste its strong places. 12 And he said, There is no more joy for you, O crushed virgin daughter of Zidon: up! go over to Kittim; even there you will have no rest. 13 ... 14 Let a cry of sorrow go up, O ships of Tarshish: because your strong place is made waste.

15 And it will be in that day that Tyre will go out of mind for seventy years, that is, the days of one king: after the end of seventy years it will be for Tyre as in the song of the loose woman. 16 Take an instrument of music, go about the town, O loose woman who has gone out from the memory of man; make sweet melody with songs, so that you may come back to men's minds. 17 And it will be after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will have mercy on Tyre, and she will go back to her trade, acting as a loose woman with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 And her goods and her trade will be holy to the Lord: they will not be kept back or stored up; for her produce will be for those living in the Lord's land, to give them food for their needs, and fair clothing.

The LORD's Judgment on the Earth

241 See, the Lord is making the earth waste and unpeopled, he is turning it upside down, and sending the people in all directions. 2 And it will be the same for the people as for the priest; for the servant as for his master; and for the woman-servant as for her owner; the same for the one offering goods for a price as for him who takes them; the same for him who gives money at interest and for him who takes it; the same for him who lets others have the use of his property as for those who make use of it. 3 The earth will be completely waste and without men; for this is the word of the Lord. 4 The earth is sorrowing and wasting away, the world is full of grief and wasting away, the high ones of the earth come to nothing. 5 The earth has been made unclean by those living in it; because the laws have not been kept by them, the orders have been changed, and the eternal agreement has been broken. 6 For this cause the earth is given up to the curse, and those in it are judged as sinners: for this cause those living on the earth are burned up, and the rest are small in number. 7 The new wine is thin, the vine is feeble, and all the glad-hearted make sounds of grief. 8 The pleasing sound of all instruments of music has come to an end, and the voices of those who are glad. 9 There is no more drinking of wine with a song; strong drink will be bitter to those who take it. 10 The town is waste and broken down: every house is shut up, so that no man may come in. 11 There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; there is an end of all delight, the joy of the land is gone. 12 In the town all is waste, and in the public place is destruction.

13 For it will be in the heart of the earth among the peoples, like the shaking of an olive-tree, as the last of the grapes after the getting-in is done. 14 But those will be making sounds of joy; they will be crying loudly from the sea for the glory of the Lord. 15 Give praise to the Lord in the east, to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the sea-lands.

16 From the farthest part of the earth comes the sound of songs, glory to the upright. But I said, I am wasting away, wasting away, the curse is on me! The false ones go on in their false way, yes, they go on acting falsely. 17 Fear, and death, and the net, are come on you, O people of the earth. 18 And it will be that he who goes in flight from the sound of fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for the windows on high are open, and the bases of the earth are shaking. 19 The earth is completely broken, it is parted in two, it is violently moved. 20 The earth will be moving uncertainly, like a man overcome by drink; it will be shaking like a tent; and the weight of its sin will be on it, crushing it down so that it will not get up again. 21 And in that day the Lord will send punishment on the army of the high ones on high, and on the kings of the earth on the earth. 22 And they will be got together, like prisoners in the prison-house; and after a long time they will have their punishment. 23 Then the moon will be veiled, and the sun put to shame; for the Lord of armies will be ruling in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his judges he will let his glory be seen.

Praise for the LORD's Favor

251 O Lord, you are my God; I will give praise to you, I will give honour to your name; for you have done great acts of power; your purposes in the past have been made true and certain in effect. 2 For you have made a town a waste place: a strong town a mass of broken walls; the tower of the men of pride has come to an end; it will never be put up again. 3 For this cause will the strong people give glory to you, the town of the cruel ones will be in fear of you. 4 For you have been a strong place for the poor and the crushed in their trouble, a safe place from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the wrath of the cruel ones is like a winter storm. 5 As heat by the shade of a cloud, the noise of the men of pride has been made quiet by you; as heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the cruel ones has been stopped.

6 And in this mountain will the Lord of armies make for all peoples a feast of good things, a feast of wines long stored, of good things sweet to the taste, of wines long kept and tested. 7 And in this mountain he will put an end to the shade covering the face of all peoples, and the veil which is stretched over all nations. 8 He has put an end to death for ever; and the Lord God will take away all weeping; and he will put an end to the shame of his people in all the earth: for the Lord has said it.

9 And in that day it will be said, See, this is our God; we have been waiting for him, and he will be our saviour: this is the Lord in whom is our hope; we will be glad and have delight in his salvation. 10 For in this mountain will the hand of the Lord come to rest, and Moab will be crushed down in his place, even as the dry stems of the grain are crushed under foot in the waste place. 11 And if he puts out his hands, like a man stretching out his hands in swimming, the Lord will make low his pride, however expert his designs. 12 And the strong tower of your walls has been broken by him, made low, and crushed even to the dust.

Salutation

11 Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, with the Bishops and Deacons of the church: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul's Prayer for the Philippian Christians

3 I give praise to my God at every memory of you, 4 And in all my prayers for you all, making my request with joy, 5 Because of your help in giving the good news from the first day till now; 6 For I am certain of this very thing, that he by whom the good work was started in you will make it complete till the day of Jesus Christ:

7 So it is right for me to take thought for you all in this way, because I have you in my heart; for in my chains, and in my arguments before the judges in support of the good news, making clear that it is true, you all have your part with me in grace. 8 For God is my witness, how my love goes out to you all in the loving mercies of Christ Jesus.

9 And my prayer is that you may be increased more and more in knowledge and experience; 10 So that you may give your approval to the best things; that you may be true and without wrongdoing till the day of Christ; 11 Being full of the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

To Me to Live Is Christ

12 Now it is my purpose to make clear to you, brothers, that the cause of the good news has been helped by my experiences; 13 So that it became clear through all the Praetorium, and to all the rest, that I was a prisoner on account of Christ; 14 And most of the brothers in the Lord, taking heart because of my chains, are all the stronger to give the word of God without fear. 15 Though some are preaching Christ out of envy and competition, others do it out of a good heart: 16 These do it from love, conscious that I am responsible for the cause of the good news: 17 But those are preaching Christ in a spirit of competition, not from their hearts, but with the purpose of giving me pain in my prison. 18 What then? only that in every way, falsely or truly, the preaching of Christ goes on; and in this I am glad, and will be glad. 19 For I am conscious that this will be for my salvation, through your prayer and the giving out of the stored wealth of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 In the measure of my strong hope and belief that in nothing will I be put to shame, but that without fear, as at all times, so now will Christ have glory in my body, by life or by death.

21 For to me life is Christ and death is profit. 22 But if I go on living in the flesh—if this is the fruit of my work—then I do not see what decision to make. 23 I am in a hard position between the two, having a desire to go away and be with Christ, which is very much better: 24 Still, to go on in the flesh is more necessary because of you. 25 And being certain of this, I am conscious that I will go on, yes, and go on with you all, for your growth and joy in the faith; 26 So that your pride in me may be increased in Christ Jesus through my being present with you again.

27 Only let your behaviour do credit to the good news of Christ, so that if I come and see you or if I am away from you, I may have news of you that you are strong in one spirit, working together with one soul for the faith of the good news; 28 Having no fear of those who are against you; which is a clear sign of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God; 29 Because to you it has been given in the cause of Christ not only to have faith in him, but to undergo pain on his account: 30 Fighting the same fight which you saw in me, and now have word of in me.