Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
        whose right hand I have grasped,
    to subdue nations before him
        and to loose the belts of kings,
    to open doors before him
        that gates may not be closed:
    “I will go before you
        and level the exalted places,
    I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
        and cut through the bars of iron,
    I will give you the treasures of darkness
        and the hoards in secret places,
    that you may know that it is I, the LORD,
        the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
    For the sake of my servant Jacob,
        and Israel my chosen,
    I call you by your name,
        I name you, though you do not know me.
    I am the LORD, and there is no other,
        besides me there is no God;
        I equip you, though you do not know me,
    that people may know, from the rising of the sun
        and from the west, that there is none besides me;
        I am the LORD, and there is no other.
    I form light and create darkness;
        I make well-being and create calamity;
        I am the LORD, who does all these things.
    
    
    “Shower, O heavens, from above,
        and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
    let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
        let the earth cause them both to sprout;
        I the LORD have created it.
    
    
    “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
        a pot among earthen pots!
    Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
        or ‘Your work has no handles’?
    Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
        or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
    
    
    Thus says the LORD,
        the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
    “Ask me of things to come;
        will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?
    I made the earth
        and created man on it;
    it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
        and I commanded all their host.
    I have stirred him up in righteousness,
        and I will make all his ways level;
    he shall build my city
        and set my exiles free,
    not for price or reward,”
        says the LORD of hosts.
    
    
        Thus says the LORD:
    “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
        and the Sabeans, men of stature,
    shall come over to you and be yours;
        they shall follow you;
        they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
    They will plead with you, saying:
        ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
        no god besides him.’”
    
    
    Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
        O God of Israel, the Savior.
    All of them are put to shame and confounded;
        the makers of idols go in confusion together.
    But Israel is saved by the LORD
        with everlasting salvation;
    you shall not be put to shame or confounded
        to all eternity.
    
    
    For thus says the LORD,
    who created the heavens
        (he is God!),
    who formed the earth and made it
        (he established it;
    he did not create it empty,
        he formed it to be inhabited!):
    “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
    I did not speak in secret,
        in a land of darkness;
    I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
        ‘Seek me in vain.’
    I the LORD speak the truth;
        I declare what is right.
    
    
    “Assemble yourselves and come;
        draw near together,
        you survivors of the nations!
    They have no knowledge
        who carry about their wooden idols,
    and keep on praying to a god
        that cannot save.
    Declare and present your case;
        let them take counsel together!
    Who told this long ago?
        Who declared it of old?
    Was it not I, the LORD?
        And there is no other god besides me,
    a righteous God and a Savior;
        there is none besides me.
    
    
    “Turn to me and be saved,
        all the ends of the earth!
        For I am God, and there is no other.
    By myself I have sworn;
        from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
        a word that shall not return:
    ‘To me every knee shall bow,
        every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
    
    
    “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,
        are righteousness and strength;
    to him shall come and be ashamed
        all who were incensed against him.
    In the LORD all the offspring of Israel
        shall be justified and shall glory.”
    
    
        Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
        their idols are on beasts and livestock;
    these things you carry are borne
        as burdens on weary beasts.
    They stoop; they bow down together;
        they cannot save the burden,
        but themselves go into captivity.
    
    
    “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
        all the remnant of the house of Israel,
    who have been borne by me from before your birth,
        carried from the womb;
    even to your old age I am he,
        and to gray hairs I will carry you.
    I have made, and I will bear;
        I will carry and will save.
    
    
    “To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
        and compare me, that we may be alike?
    Those who lavish gold from the purse,
        and weigh out silver in the scales,
    hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
        then they fall down and worship!
    They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
        they set it in its place, and it stands there;
        it cannot move from its place.
    If one cries to it, it does not answer
        or save him from his trouble.
    
    
    “Remember this and stand firm,
        recall it to mind, you transgressors,
        remember the former things of old;
    for I am God, and there is no other;
        I am God, and there is none like me,
    declaring the end from the beginning
        and from ancient times things not yet done,
    saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
        and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
    calling a bird of prey from the east,
        the man of my counsel from a far country.
    I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
        I have purposed, and I will do it.
    
    
    “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
        you who are far from righteousness:
    I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
        and my salvation will not delay;
    I will put salvation in Zion,
        for Israel my glory.” (ESV)

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

  Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

  I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

  I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. (ESV)