Nov 24th

He will kill your daughters on the mainland with the sword; and he will make siege walls against you, cast up a ramp against you, and raise up a large shield against you.

The blow of his battering rams he will direct against your walls, and with his swords he will tear down your towers.

Because of the abundance of his horses, the fine dust raised by them will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of horsemen and wagons and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city that is breached.

With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword; and your strong pillars will come down to the ground.

Also they will make a spoil of your wealth and a plunder of your merchandise, and pull down your walls and tear down your desirable houses, and throw your stones and your timbers and your debris into the water.

So I will cause the tumult of your songs to cease, and the sound of your harps will be heard no more.

I will make you a bare rock; you will be a place for the spreading of nets. You will be built no more, for I Yahweh have spoken,” declares Lord Yahweh.

Thus says Lord Yahweh to Tyre, “Shall not the coastlands shake at the sound of your downfall when the wounded groan, when the killing occurs in your midst?

Then all the princes of the sea will go down from their thrones, remove their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment, and be appalled at you.

They will take up a lamentation over you and say to you,

For thus says Lord Yahweh, “When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities which are not inhabited, when I bring up the deep over you and the great waters cover you,

then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you inhabit the lower parts of the earth, like the ancient waste places, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory in the land of the living.

I will bring terrors on you, and you will be no more; though you will be sought, you will never be found again,” declares Lord Yahweh.

Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

“Now as for you, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre

and say to Tyre, who inhabits the entrance to the sea, a trader of the peoples to many coastlands, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh,

“Persia and Lud and Put were in your military force, your men of war. They hung shield and helmet in you; they set forth your majesty.

The sons of Arvad and your military force were on your walls, all around, and the Gammadim were in your towers. They hung their small shields on your walls all around; they perfected your beauty.

“Tarshish was your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver, iron, tin, and lead they paid for your wares.

Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were your traders; with the lives of men and vessels of bronze they paid for your merchandise.

Those from Beth-togarmah gave horses and war horses and mules for your wares.

The sons of Dedan were your traders. Many coastlands were customers at your hand; ivory tusks and ebony they brought as your payment.

Aram was your customer because of the abundance of your goods; they paid for your wares with emeralds, purple, embroidered work, fine linen, coral, and rubies.

Judah and the land of Israel, they were your traders; with the wheat of Minnith, cakes, honey, oil, and balm they paid for your merchandise.

Damascus was your customer because of the abundance of your goods, because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth, because of the wine of Helbon and white wool.

Also Vedan and Javan paid for your wares from Uzal; wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were among your merchandise.

Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding.

Arabia and all the princes of Kedar, they were customers at your hand for lambs, rams, and goats; for these, they were your customers.

The traders of Sheba and Raamah, they traded with you; they paid for your wares with the best of all kinds of spices and with all kinds of precious stones and gold.

Haran, Canneh, Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad traded with you.

They traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of many colors and tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise.

The ships of Tarshish were the carriers for your merchandise.

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no authority to eat.

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp.

Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.

So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the one to come.

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His name.

And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Obey your leaders and submit to them—for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account—so that they will do this with joy and not with groaning, for this would be unprofitable for you.

Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves well in all things.

And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,

equip you in every good thing to do His will, by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

But I urge you, brothers, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

Know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.

Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

Grace be with you all.

James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes who are in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,

knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance.

And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

But he must ask in faith, doubting nothing, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

But the brother of humble circumstances is to boast in his high position;

and the rich man is to boast in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.

For the sun rises with a scorching heat and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully matured, it brings forth death.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.