Spirit-Powered Living

Saying 16

¹⁹ Listen, my son, and be wise,
   and set your heart on the right path:
²⁰ Do not join those who drink too much wine
   or gorge themselves on meat,
²¹ for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
   and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Saying 17

²² Listen to your father, who gave you life,
   and do not despise your mother when she is old.
²³ Buy the truth and do not sell it—
   wisdom, instruction and insight as well.
²⁴ The father of a righteous child has great joy;
   a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.
²⁵ May your father and mother rejoice;
   may she who gave you birth be joyful!

Saying 18

²⁶ My son, give me your heart
   and let your eyes delight in my ways,
²⁷ for an adulterous woman is a deep pit,
   and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
²⁸ Like a bandit she lies in wait
   and multiplies the unfaithful among men.

Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ

4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called ; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸ This is why it says:

“When he ascended on high,
   he took many captives
   and gave gifts to his people.”

⁹ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

The Glory of Zion

60 “Arise, shine, for your light has come,
   and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
² See, darkness covers the earth
   and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
   and his glory appears over you.
³ Nations will come to your light,
   and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

⁴ “Lift up your eyes and look about you:
   All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
   and your daughters are carried on the hip.
⁵ Then you will look and be radiant,
   your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
   to you the riches of the nations will come.
⁶ Herds of camels will cover your land,
   young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come,
   bearing gold and incense
   and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
⁷ All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you,
   the rams of Nebaioth will serve you;
they will be accepted as offerings on my altar,
   and I will adorn my glorious temple.

⁸ “Who are these that fly along like clouds,
   like doves to their nests?
⁹ Surely the islands look to me;
   in the lead are the ships of Tarshish,
bringing your children from afar,
   with their silver and gold,
to the honour of the Lord your God,
   the Holy One of Israel,
   for he has endowed you with splendour.

¹⁰ “Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
   and their kings will serve you.
Though in anger I struck you,
   in favour I will show you compassion.
¹¹ Your gates will always stand open,
   they will never be shut, day or night,
so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations —
   their kings led in triumphal procession.
¹² For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish;
   it will be utterly ruined.

¹³ “The glory of Lebanon will come to you,
   the juniper, the fir and the cypress together,
to adorn my sanctuary;
   and I will glorify the place for my feet.
¹⁴ The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you;
   all who despise you will bow down at your feet
and will call you the City of the Lord,
   Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵ “Although you have been forsaken and hated,
   with no one traveling through,
I will make you the everlasting pride
   and the joy of all generations.
¹⁶ You will drink the milk of nations
   and be nursed at royal breasts.
Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Saviour,
   your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
¹⁷ Instead of bronze I will bring you gold,
   and silver in place of iron.
Instead of wood I will bring you bronze,
   and iron in place of stones.
I will make peace your governor
   and well-being your ruler.
¹⁸ No longer will violence be heard in your land,
   nor ruin or destruction within your borders,
but you will call your walls Salvation
   and your gates Praise.
¹⁹ The sun will no more be your light by day,
   nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
   and your God will be your glory.
²⁰ Your sun will never set again,
   and your moon will wane no more;
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
   and your days of sorrow will end.
²¹ Then all your people will be righteous
   and they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot I have planted,
   the work of my hands,
for the display of my splendour.
²² The least of you will become a thousand,
   the smallest a mighty nation.
I am the Lord;
   in its time I will do this swiftly.”

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
   because the Lord has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,
² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
   ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
   instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
   instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
   instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   a planting of the Lord
   for the display of his splendour.

⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins
   and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
   that have been devastated for generations.
⁵ Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
   foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
⁶ And you will be called priests of the Lord,
   you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
   and in their riches you will boast.

⁷ Instead of your shame
   you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
   you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
   and everlasting joy will be yours.

⁸ “For I, the Lord, love justice;
   I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
   and make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹ Their descendants will be known among the nations
   and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
   that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

¹⁰ I delight greatly in the Lord;
   my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
   and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
   and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the soil makes the young plant come up
   and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
   and praise spring up before all nations.

Zion’s New Name

62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
   for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,
   her salvation like a blazing torch.
² The nations will see your vindication,
   and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
   that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
³ You will be a crown of splendour in the Lord’s hand,
   a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
⁴ No longer will they call you Deserted,
   or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,
   and your land Beulah;
for the Lord will take delight in you,
   and your land will be married.
⁵ As a young man marries a young woman,
   so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
   so will your God rejoice over you.

⁶ I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem;
   they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the Lord,
   give yourselves no rest,
⁷ and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem
   and makes her the praise of the earth.

⁸ The Lord has sworn by his right hand
   and by his mighty arm:
“Never again will I give your grain
   as food for your enemies,
and never again will foreigners drink the new wine
   for which you have toiled;
⁹ but those who harvest it will eat it
   and praise the Lord,
and those who gather the grapes will drink it
   in the courts of my sanctuary.”

¹⁰ Pass through, pass through the gates!
   Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!
   Remove the stones.
   Raise a banner for the nations.

¹¹ The Lord has made proclamation
   to the ends of the earth:
“Say to Daughter Zion,
   ‘See, your Saviour comes!
See, his reward is with him,
   and his recompense accompanies him.’”
¹² They will be called the Holy People,
   the Redeemed of the Lord;
and you will be called Sought After,
   the City No Longer Deserted.