New Testament·Galatians 3:20–4:12
20A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one. 21Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law. 22But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe. 23Before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
4What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything. 2He is subject to guardians and trustees until the date set by his father. 3So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world. 4But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons. 6And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God. 8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and worthless principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11I fear for you, that my efforts for you may have been in vain. 12I beg you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.
Old Testament·Isaiah 30–32
1“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin. 2They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade. 3But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace. 4For though their princes are at Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes, 5everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them. They cannot be of help; they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.” 6This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them. 7Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still. 8Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever. 9These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction. 10They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions. 11Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!” 12Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, trusting in oppression and relying on deceit, 13this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly— in an instant! 14It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.” 15For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence— but you were not willing.” 16“No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster. 17A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill. 18Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him. 19O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you. 20The Lord will give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but your Teacher will no longer hide Himself—with your own eyes you will see Him. 21And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.” 22So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!” 23Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures. 24The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork. 25And from every high mountain and every raised hill, streams of water will flow in the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted. 27Behold, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense smoke. His lips are full of fury, and His tongue is like a consuming fire. 28His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray. 29You will sing as on the night of a holy festival, and your heart will rejoice like one who walks to the music of a flute, going up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel. 30And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones. 31For Assyria will be shattered at the voice of the LORD; He will strike them with His scepter. 32And with every stroke of the rod of punishment that the LORD brings down on them, the tambourines and lyres will sound as He battles with weapons brandished. 33For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
31Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD. 2Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers. 3But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together. 4For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey— and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their clamor— so the LORD of Hosts will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and its heights. 5Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.” 6Return to the One against whom you have so blatantly rebelled, O children of Israel. 7For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made. 8“Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor. 9Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
32Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. 2Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land. 3Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. 4The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently. 5No longer will a fool be called noble, nor a scoundrel be respected. 6For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink. 7The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just. 8But a noble man makes honorable plans; he stands up for worthy causes. 9Stand up, you complacent women; listen to me. Give ear to my word, you overconfident daughters. 10In a little more than a year you will tremble, O secure ones. For the grape harvest will fail and the fruit harvest will not arrive. 11Shudder, you ladies of leisure; tremble, you daughters of complacency. Strip yourselves bare and put sackcloth around your waists. 12Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines, 13and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers— even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry. 14For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever— the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks— 15until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest. 16Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field. 17The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever. 18Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest. 19But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink to the depths. 20Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters, who let the ox and donkey range freely.
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which is in the public domain.