Judah is my bow, and Israel is my arrow. Jerusalem is my sword, and like a warrior, I will brandish it against the Greeks.

我拿犹大作上弦的弓；我拿以法莲为张弓的箭。锡安哪，我要激发你的众子，攻击希腊的众子，使你如勇士的刀。

我为自己把犹大弯紧，我使以法莲如满弓。锡安哪，我要唤起你的儿女，希腊啊，我要攻击你的儿女，使你如勇士的刀。

我为自己把犹大弯紧，我使以法莲如满弓。锡安哪，我要唤起你的儿女，希腊啊，我要攻击你的儿女，使你如勇士的刀。

我必把犹大当弓拉开，把以法莲当箭搭上，使锡安的众子如勇士之剑，去攻打希腊的众子。

我把犹大作我手上拉开的弓，把以法莲作我弓上的箭。锡安哪！我必激动你的众子，去攻击希腊的众子；我必使你像勇士的刀剑。

我拿猶大作上弦的弓；我拿以法蓮為張弓的箭。錫安哪，我要激發你的眾子，攻擊希臘的眾子，使你如勇士的刀。

我為自己把猶大彎緊，我使以法蓮如滿弓。錫安哪，我要喚起你的兒女，希臘啊，我要攻擊你的兒女，使你如勇士的刀。

我為自己把猶大彎緊，我使以法蓮如滿弓。錫安哪，我要喚起你的兒女，希臘啊，我要攻擊你的兒女，使你如勇士的刀。

我必把猶大當弓拉開，把以法蓮當箭搭上，使錫安的眾子如勇士之劍，去攻打希臘的眾子。

我把猶大作我手上拉開的弓，把以法蓮作我弓上的箭。錫安哪！我必激動你的眾子，去攻擊希臘的眾子；我必使你像勇士的刀劍。

我拿猶大做我上弦的弓，拿以法蓮做張了弓的箭。錫安哪，我必激動你的眾子去攻擊希臘的眾子，使你如勇士的刀劍。

我必拉開猶大為弓，把以法蓮搭在弓上。錫安哪，我要激起你的眾子，攻擊希臘的眾子！我必使你如同勇士的刀劍。

我以猶大為已彎之弓、以以法蓮為在弦之矢、錫安歟、我將激爾子、以攻雅完之子、使爾若勇士之劍、

我必以猶大家以法蓮族、為我弓矢、以射敵人、郇邑之民、攻擊雅番子、若武士之劍、足以殲人。

我以猶大為已張之弓、以以法蓮為所發於弓之矢、以以法蓮為所發於弓之矢或作我視以法蓮如矢囊充滿以矢者郇歟、我激爾之民、民原文作子攻雅完之民、民原文作子且使爾若武士之劍、

I will bend Judah as I bend my bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and make you like a warrior’s sword.

I will bend Judah as I bend my bow. I will make Ephraim’s people my arrows. Zion, I will stir up your sons. Greece, they will attack your sons. My people, I will use you as my sword.”

For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s sword.

For I will bend Judah as my bow; I will fill that bow with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece. I will make you like a warrior’s sword.

For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece; And I will make you like a warrior’s sword.

For I have bent Judah, My bow, Fitted the bow with Ephraim, And raised up your sons, O Zion, Against your sons, O Greece, And made you like the sword of a mighty man.”

For I have bent Judah for me, I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and will make thee as the sword of a mighty man.

For I will bend Judah as My bow; I will fill that bow with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece. I will make you like a warrior’s sword.

When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.

I will bend Judah as my bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, my arrow! I will stir up your sons, Zion, against yours, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, like a warrior’s sword.

For indeed I bend Judah as a bow for me. I have filled the bow with Ephraim; and I will stir up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, and will make you like the sword of a mighty man.

He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.

“ My anger burns against your shepherds, and I will punish these leaders. For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has arrived to look after Judah, his flock. He will make them strong and glorious, like a proud warhorse in battle.From Judah will come the cornerstone, the tent peg, the bow for battle, and all the rulers.They will be like mighty warriors in battle, trampling their enemies in the mud under their feet. Since the Lord is with them as they fight, they will overthrow even the enemy’s horsemen.“ I will strengthen Judah and save Israel; I will restore them because of my compassion. It will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the Lord their God, who will hear their cries.The people of Israel will become like mighty warriors, and their hearts will be made happy as if by wine. Their children, too, will see it and be glad; their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.

Put on your sword, O mighty warrior! You are so glorious, so majestic!

Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.”

“ What are these men coming to do?” I asked. The angel replied,“ These four horns— these nations— scattered and humbled Judah. Now these blacksmiths have come to terrify those nations and throw them down and destroy them.”

You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, so they could take them far from their homeland.“ But I will bring them back from all the places to which you sold them, and I will pay you back for everything you have done.I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the people of Arabia, a nation far away. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Those who have been rescued will go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem to rule over the mountains of Edom. And the Lord himself will be king!”

Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit.So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them.They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else.

Praise the Lord, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.

See how the precious children of Jerusalem, worth their weight in fine gold, are now treated like pots of clay made by a common potter.

I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah.On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves.“ On that day,” says the Lord,“ I will cause every horse to panic and every rider to lose his nerve. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of their enemies.And the clans of Judah will say to themselves,‘ The people of Jerusalem have found strength in the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, their God.’“ On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a flame that sets a woodpile ablaze or like a burning torch among sheaves of grain. They will burn up all the neighboring nations right and left, while the people living in Jerusalem remain secure.“ The Lord will give victory to the rest of Judah first, before Jerusalem, so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah.On that day the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem; the weakest among them will be as mighty as King David! And the royal descendants will be like God, like the angel of the Lord who goes before them!

Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.

And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord’s strength, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world.And he will be the source of peace. When the Assyrians invade our land and break through our defenses, we will appoint seven rulers to watch over us, eight princes to lead us.They will rule Assyria with drawn swords and enter the gates of the land of Nimrod. He will rescue us from the Assyrians when they pour over the borders to invade our land.Then the remnant left in Israel will take their place among the nations. They will be like dew sent by the Lord or like rain falling on the grass, which no one can hold back and no one can restrain.The remnant left in Israel will take their place among the nations. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a strong young lion among flocks of sheep and goats, pouncing and tearing as they go with no rescuer in sight.The people of Israel will stand up to their foes, and all their enemies will be wiped out.

Let the praises of God be in their mouths, and a sharp sword in their hands—

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect.He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great.

“ You are my battle ax and sword,” says the Lord.“ With you I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms.

He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress.

“ Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two edged sword:

People from many nations will come and say,“ Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem.The Lord will mediate between peoples and will settle disputes between strong nations far away. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore.

You will be a new threshing instrument with many sharp teeth. You will tear your enemies apart, making chaff of mountains.You will toss them into the air, and the wind will blow them all away; a whirlwind will scatter them. Then you will rejoice in the Lord. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

And then he told them,“ Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.

He will flatter and win over those who have violated the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and will resist him.“ Wise leaders will give instruction to many, but these teachers will die by fire and sword, or they will be jailed and robbed.During these persecutions, little help will arrive, and many who join them will not be sincere.

I chose some of your sons to be prophets and others to be Nazirites. Can you deny this, my people of Israel?” asks the Lord.

The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the Greek Empire.The four prominent horns that replaced the one large horn show that the Greek Empire will break into four kingdoms, but none as great as the first.“ At the end of their rule, when their sin is at its height, a fierce king, a master of intrigue, will rise to power.He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people.He will be a master of deception and will become arrogant; he will destroy many without warning. He will even take on the Prince of princes in battle, but he will be broken, though not by human power.

Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies.

High and low, rich and poor— listen!For my words are wise, and my thoughts are filled with insight.I listen carefully to many proverbs and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp.Why should I fear when trouble comes, when enemies surround me?They trust in their wealth and boast of great riches.Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God.Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enoughto live forever and never see the grave.