A Song of Trust in the LORD's Protection

261 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah : "We have a strong city ; He sets up walls and ramparts for security . 2 "Open the gates , that the righteous nation may enter , The one that remains faithful . 3 "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace , Because he trusts in You. 4 " Trust in the Lord forever , For in GOD the Lord , we have an everlasting Rock .

5 "For He has brought low those who dwell on high , the unassailable city ; He lays it low , He lays it low to the ground , He casts it to the dust . 6 " The foot will trample it, The feet of the afflicted , the steps of the helpless ." 7 The way of the righteous is smooth ; O Upright One , make the path of the righteous level . 8 Indeed , while following the way of Your judgments , O Lord , We have waited for You eagerly ; Your name , even Your memory , is the desire of our souls . 9 At night my soul longs for You, Indeed , my spirit within me seeks You diligently ; For when the earth experiences Your judgments The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness . 10 Though the wicked is shown favor , He does not learn righteousness ; He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness , And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord . 11 O Lord , Your hand is lifted up yet they do not see it. They see Your zeal for the people and are put to shame ; Indeed , fire will devour Your enemies .

12 Lord , You will establish peace for us, Since You have also performed for us all our works . 13 O Lord our God , other masters besides You have ruled us; But through You alone we confess Your name . 14 The dead will not live , the departed spirits will not rise ; Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And You have wiped out all remembrance of them. 15 You have increased the nation , O Lord , You have increased the nation , You are glorified ; You have extended all the borders of the land . 16 O Lord , they sought You in distress ; They could only whisper a prayer , Your chastening was upon them. 17 As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth , She writhes and cries out in her labor pains , Thus were we before e You, O Lord . 18 We were pregnant , we writhed in labor, We gave birth , as it seems, only to wind . We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth , Nor were inhabitants of the world born . 19 Your dead will live ; Their corpses will rise . You who lie in the dust , awake and shout for joy , For your dew is as the dew of the dawn , And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits .

20 Come , my people , enter into your rooms And close your doors behind you; Hide for a little while Until indignation runs its course . 21 For behold , the Lord is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity ; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer cover her slain .

The Deliverance and Ingathering of Israel

271 In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent , With His fierce and great and mighty sword , Even Leviathan the twisted serpent ; And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea . 2 In that day , "A vineyard of wine , sing of it! 3 "I, the Lord , am its keeper ; I water it every moment . So that no one will damage it, I guard it night and day . 4 "I have no wrath . Should someone give Me briars and thorns in battle , Then I would step on them, I would burn them completely . 5 "Or let him rely on My protection , Let him make peace with Me, Let him make peace with Me." 6 In the days to come Jacob will take root , Israel will blossom and sprout , And they will fill the whole world with fruit .

7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them? Or like the slaughter of His slain , have they been slain ? 8 You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away . With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the east wind . 9 Therefore through this Jacob's iniquity will be forgiven ; And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin : When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones ; When Asherim and incense altars will not stand . 10 For the fortified city is isolated , A homestead forlorn and forsaken like the desert ; There the calf will graze , And there it will lie down and feed on its branches . 11 When its limbs are dry , they are broken off; Women come and make a fire with them, For they are not a people of discernment , Therefore e their Maker will not have compassion on them. And their Creator will not be gracious to them. 12 In that day the Lord will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt , and you will be gathered up one by one , O sons of Israel . 13 It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown , and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem .

Christ's Humiliation and Exaltation

21 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ , if there is any consolation of love , if there is any fellowship of the Spirit , if any affection and compassion , 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind , maintaining the same love , united in spirit , intent on one purpose . 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit , but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves ; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others . 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus , 6 who , although He existed in the form of God , did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped , 7 but emptied Himself , taking the form of a bond-servant , and being made in the likeness of men . 8 Being found in appearance as a man , He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death , even death on a cross . 9 For this reason also , God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name , 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW , of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth , 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord , to the glory of God the Father .

Shining as Lights in the World

12 So then , my beloved , just as you have always obeyed , not as in my presence only , but now much more in my absence , work out your salvation with fear and trembling ; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure .

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing ; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent , children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation , among whom you appear as lights in the world , 16 holding fast the word of life , so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain . 17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith , I rejoice and share my joy with you all . 18 You too , I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.

Timothy and Epaphroditus

19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly , so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition e . 20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare . 21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus . 22 But you know of his proven worth , that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father . 23 Therefore I hope to send him immediately , as soon as I see how things go with me; 24 and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly . 25 But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus , my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier , who is also your messenger and minister to my need ; 26 because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick . 27 For indeed he was sick to the point of death , but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so e that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow . 28 Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. 29 Receive him then in the Lord with all joy , and hold men like him in high regard ; 30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ , risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.