Ezekiel 25 - 26, 2 Timothy 3 - 4, Proverbs 3

Prophesy Against Ammon

25And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ²“Son of man, set your face toward the ^asons of Ammon and prophesy against them ³and say to the sons of Ammon, ‘Hear the word of Lord Yahweh! Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because you said, ‘^aAha!’ against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into exile, ⁴therefore, behold, I am going to give you to the ^asons of the east for a possession, and they will set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they will ^beat your fruit and drink your milk. ⁵“I will make ^aRabbah a pasture for camels and the sons of Ammon a resting place for flocks. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh.” ⁶‘For thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because you have ^aclapped your hands and stamped your feet and ^bwere glad with all the scorn of your soul against the land of Israel, ⁷therefore, behold, I have ^astretched out My hand against you, and I will give you for ^bplunder to the nations. And I will ^ccut you off from the peoples and ^dmake you perish from the lands; I will destroy you. Thus you will ^eknow that I am Yahweh.”

Prophesy Against Moab

⁸‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because ^aMoab and Seir say, ‘Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations,’ ⁹therefore, behold, I am going to open the flank of Moab by its cities, by its cities which are on its ¹frontiers, the glory of the land, ^aBeth-jeshimoth, ^bBaal-meon, and ^cKiriathaim, ¹⁰and I will give it for a possession along with the sons of Ammon to the ^asons of the east, so that the sons of Ammon will not be remembered among the nations. ¹¹“Thus I will execute judgments on Moab, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

Prophesy Against Edom

¹²‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because ^aEdom has acted against the house of Judah by taking vengeance and has incurred grievous guilt and avenged themselves upon them,” ¹³therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “I will also ^astretch out My hand against Edom and ^bcut off man and beast from it. And I will lay it waste; from ^cTeman even to ^dDedan they will fall by the sword. ¹⁴“^aI will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel. Therefore, they will act in Edom ^baccording to My anger and according to My wrath; thus they will know My vengeance,” declares Lord Yahweh.

Prophesy Against Philistia

¹⁵‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because the Philistines have acted in ^arevenge and have taken vengeance with scorn of soul to bring ruin with everlasting enmity,” ¹⁶therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will ^astretch out My hand against the Philistines and cut off the ^bCherethites and cause the remnant of the seacoast to perish. ¹⁷“So I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful reproofs; and they will ^aknow that I am Yahweh when I lay My vengeance on them.”’”

Prophesy Against Tyre

26Now it happened in the eleventh year, on the first of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ²“Son of man, because ^aTyre has said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the ^bgateway of the peoples is broken; it has ¹^,^copened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,’ ³therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up ^amany nations against you, as the ^bsea brings up its waves. ⁴‘They will ^amake the walls of Tyre a ruin and pull down her towers; and I will scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock. ⁵‘She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ declares Lord Yahweh, ‘and she will become ^aplunder for the nations. ⁶‘Also her ^adaughters who are ¹on the mainland will be killed by the sword, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’”

⁷For thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^aking of kings, with horses, ^bchariots, horsemen, and an assembly, a great number of people. ⁸“He will kill your daughters ¹on the mainland with the sword; and he will make ^asiege walls against you, cast up a ^bramp against you, and raise up a large shield against you. ⁹“The blow of his battering rams he will direct against your walls, and with his swords he will tear down your towers. ¹⁰“Because of the abundance of his ^ahorses, the fine dust raised by them will cover you; your walls will ^bshake at the noise of horsemen and ¹wagons and chariots when he ^centers your gates as men enter a city that is breached. ¹¹“With the hoofs of his ^ahorses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword; and your strong pillars will ^bcome down to the ground. ¹²“Also they will make a spoil of your wealth and a plunder of your ^amerchandise, and ^bpull down your walls and tear down your ^cdesirable houses, and ¹throw your stones and your timbers and your debris ^dinto the water. ¹³“So I will cause the tumult of your ^asongs to cease, and the sound of your ^bharps will be heard no more. ¹⁴“I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be ^abuilt no more, for I ^bYahweh have spoken,” declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁵Thus says Lord Yahweh to Tyre, “Shall not the ^acoastlands ^bshake at the sound of your downfall when the wounded groan, when the killing occurs in your midst? ¹⁶“Then all the princes of the sea will ^ago down from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will ^bclothe themselves with ¹trembling; they will sit on the ground, ^ctremble every moment, and be appalled at you. ¹⁷“They will take up a ^alamentation over you and say to you, ‘^bHow you have perished, O inhabited one,From the seas, O city that was praised,Which was ^cstrong on the sea,She and her inhabitants,Who ¹imposed ²her terrorOn all her inhabitants!

¹⁸‘Now the ^acoastlands will trembleOn the day of your downfall;Yes, the coastlands which are by the seaWill be dismayed at your ^bdeparture.’”

¹⁹For thus says Lord Yahweh, “When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities which are not inhabited, when I ^abring up the deep over you and the great waters cover you, ²⁰then I will bring you down with those who ^ago down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you inhabit the ^blower parts of the earth, like the ancient waste places, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not ¹be inhabited; but I will set ^cglory in the land of the living. ²¹“I will ¹bring ^aterrors on you, and you will be no more; though you will be sought, ^byou will never be found again,” declares Lord Yahweh.

Difficult Times Will Come

3But know this, that ^ain the last days difficult times will come. ²For men will be ^alovers of self, ^blovers of money, ^cboastful, ^darrogant, ^eblasphemers, ^fdisobedient to parents, ^gungrateful, ^hunholy, ³^aunloving, irreconcilable, ¹^,^bmalicious gossips, without self-control, without gentleness, ^cwithout love for good, ⁴^atreacherous, ^breckless, ^cconceited, ^dlovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵holding to a form of ¹^,^agodliness, but having ^bdenied its power. ^cKeep away from such men as these. ⁶For among them are those who ¹^,^aenter into households and take captive ²^,^bweak women weighed down with sins, being led on by ^cvarious desires, ⁷always learning and never able to ^acome to the ¹full knowledge of the truth. ⁸Just as ^aJannes and Jambres ^bopposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, ^cmen of depraved mind, disqualified in regard to the faith. ⁹But they will not make further progress, for their ^afolly will be obvious to all, just ^bas theirs was also.

¹⁰But you ^afollowed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, ^blove, ¹perseverance, ¹¹^apersecutions, and ^bsufferings, such as happened to me at ^cAntioch, at ^dIconium, and at ^eLystra. What ^fpersecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! ¹²Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus ^awill be persecuted.

¹³But evil men and impostors ^awill proceed from bad to worse, ^bdeceiving and being deceived.

¹⁴But you, ^acontinue in the things you learned and became convinced of, knowing from whom you learned them, ¹⁵and that ^afrom childhood you have known ^bthe sacred writings which are able to ^cmake you wise unto ^dsalvation through faith which is in ^eChrist Jesus. ¹⁶^aAll Scripture is ¹God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for ²training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that ^athe man of God may be equipped, having been ^bthoroughly equipped for every good work.

Preach the Word

4^aI solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to ^bjudge the living and the dead, and by His ^cappearing and His kingdom: ²preach ^athe word; be ready in season and out of season; ^breprove, rebuke, exhort, with ¹great ^cpatience and teaching. ³For ^athe time will come when they will not endure ^bsound doctrine, but wanting to have ¹their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, ⁴and ^awill turn away their ears from the truth and ^bwill turn aside to myths.

⁵But you, ^abe sober in all things, ^bendure hardship, do the work of an ^cevangelist, fulfill your ^dministry.

⁶For I am already being ^apoured out as a drink offering, and the time of ^bmy departure has come. ⁷^aI have fought the good fight, I have finished ^bthe course, I have kept ^cthe faith. ⁸In the future there ^ais laid up for me ^bthe crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on ^cthat day, and not only to me, but also to ^dall who have loved His ^eappearing.

Personal Concerns

⁹^aBe diligent to come to me soon, ¹⁰for ^aDemas, having loved ^bthis present age, has deserted me and gone to ^cThessalonica; Crescens has gone to ¹^,^dGalatia, ^eTitus to Dalmatia. ¹¹^aOnly ^bLuke is with me. Pick up ^cMark and bring him with you, ^dfor he is useful to me for service. ¹²But ^aTychicus I sent to ^bEphesus. ¹³When you come bring the cloak which I left at ^aTroas with Carpus, and the scrolls, especially the parchments. ¹⁴^aAlexander the coppersmith showed me much harm; ^bthe Lord will award him according to his deeds. ¹⁵Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our words.

¹⁶At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me. ^aMay it not be counted against them. ¹⁷But the Lord stood with me and ^astrengthened me, so that through me ^bthe preaching might be ^cfulfilled, and that all ^dthe Gentiles might hear. And I was ^erescued out of ^fthe lion’s mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will ^asave me unto His ^bheavenly kingdom; ^cto ¹Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹Greet Prisca and ^aAquila, and ^bthe household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰^aErastus remained at ^bCorinth, but ^cTrophimus I left sick at ^dMiletus. ²¹^aBe diligent to come before ^bwinter. Eubulus greets you, also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.

²²^aThe Lord be with your spirit. ^bGrace be with ¹all of you.

Trust, Fear, and Honor Yahweh

3My son, ^ado not forget my ¹law,But let your heart ^bguard my commandments;²For ^alength of days and years of lifeAnd peace they will add to you.³Do not let ^alovingkindness and truth forsake you;^bBind them around your neck,^cWrite them on the tablet of your heart.⁴So you will ^afind favor and ^bgood insightIn the eyes of God and man.⁵^aTrust in Yahweh with all your heartAnd ^bdo not lean on your own understanding.⁶In all your ways ¹^,^aacknowledge Him,And He will ^bmake your paths straight.⁷^aDo not be wise in your own eyes;^bFear Yahweh and turn away from evil.⁸It will be ^ahealing to your ¹bodyAnd ^brefreshment to your bones.⁹^aHonor Yahweh from your wealthAnd from the ^bfirst of all your produce;¹⁰So your ^abarns will be filled with plentyAnd your ^bvats will burst with new wine.¹¹^aMy son, do not reject the ¹discipline of YahwehOr loathe His reproof,¹²For ^awhom Yahweh loves He reproves,Even ^bas a father reproves the son in whom he delights.¹³^aHow blessed is the man who finds wisdomAnd the man who obtains discernment.¹⁴For her ^aprofit is better than the profit of silverAnd her produce better than fine gold.¹⁵She is ^amore precious than ¹pearls;And nothing you desire compares with her.¹⁶^aLength of days is in her right hand;In her left hand are ^briches and glory.¹⁷Her ^aways are pleasant waysAnd all her pathways are ^bpeace.¹⁸She is a ^atree of life to those who seize her,And all those who hold her fast are blessed.¹⁹Yahweh ^aby wisdom founded the earth,By discernment He ^bestablished the heavens.²⁰By His knowledge the ^adeeps were split upAnd the ^bskies drip with dew.²¹My son, ^alet them not deviate from your eyes;Guard sound wisdom and discretion,²²So they will be ^alife for your soulAnd ^bgrace for your neck.²³Then you will ^awalk in your way securelyAnd your foot will not ^bstumble.²⁴When you ^alie down, you will not be in dread;You will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant.²⁵^aDo not be afraid of sudden dreadNor of the ^bstorm of the wicked when it comes;²⁶For Yahweh will be ¹your confidenceAnd will ^akeep your foot from being caught.²⁷^aDo not withhold good from ¹those to whom it is due,When it is in your hand to do it.²⁸^aDo not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,And tomorrow I will give it,”When it is there with you.²⁹^aDo not devise ¹harm against your neighbor,While he lives securely beside you.³⁰^aDo not contend with a man without cause,If he has dealt you no ¹harm.³¹^aDo not envy a man of violenceAnd do not choose any of his ways.³²For the ^adevious one is an abomination to Yahweh;But His ^bsecret council is with the upright.³³The ^acurse of Yahweh is on the house of the wicked one,But He ^bblesses the abode of the righteous.³⁴Though ^aHe scoffs at the scoffers,Yet ^bHe gives grace to the humble.³⁵^aThe wise will inherit glory,But ¹fools raise up disgrace.