Isaiah 1-2
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
The Wickedness of Judah
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth.
For the Lord has spoken:
I have nourished and brought up children,
and they have rebelled against Me;
3 the ox knows his owner,
and the donkey his master’s crib,
but Israel does not know;
My people do not consider.
4 Alas, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
a brood of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger,
they are estranged and backward.
5 Why should you be beaten again,
that you revolt more and more?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head
there is no soundness in it.
Wounds, bruises,
and open sores;
they have not been closed,
nor bandaged, nor soothed with oil.
7 Your country is desolate,
your cities are burned with fire;
strangers devour your land
in your presence;
and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 The daughter of Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a field of melons,
like a besieged city.
9 Unless the Lord of Hosts
had left to us a very small remnant,
we would have been as Sodom;
we would have been like Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the law of our God,
you people of Gomorrah:
11 For what purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices to Me? says the Lord.
I am full of the burnt offerings of rams,
and the fat of fed animals.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of male goats.
12 When you come to appear before Me,
who has required this at your hand,
to trample My courts?
13 Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to Me.
New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations—
I cannot bear with evil assemblies.
14 My soul hates
your New Moons and your appointed feasts;
they are a burden to Me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you reach out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
even when you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
put away the evil from your deeds, from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17 learn to do good; seek justice,
relieve the oppressed;
judge the fatherless,
plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together,
says the Lord.
Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured with the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.
The Degenerate City
21 How the faithful city
has become a prostitute!
She was full of justice;
righteousness lodged in her,
but now murderers.
22 Your silver has become dross,
your wine mixed with water.
23 Your princes are rebellious
and companions of thieves;
everyone loves a bribe
and follows after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
24 Therefore the Lord, the Lord of Hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel, says:
Ah, I will get relief from My adversaries,
and avenge Myself on My enemies.
25 And I will turn My hand against you,
thoroughly purge away your dross,
and take away all your impurities.
26 I will restore your judges as at the first,
and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called
the city of righteousness,
a faithful town.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice
and her converts with righteousness.
28 But the destruction of the transgressors and sinners shall be together,
and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks
which you have desired,
and you shall be humiliated for the gardens
that you have chosen.
30 For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades,
and as a garden that has no water.
31 The strong shall be as tinder,
and his work like a spark;
they will both burn together,
and no one will quench them.
The Mountain of the Lord(A)
2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In the last days,
the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established
on the top of the mountains,
and shall be exalted above the hills,
and all nations shall flow to it.
3 Many people shall go and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
and He will teach us of His ways,
and we will walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge among the nations,
and shall rebuke many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
nor shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come,
and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
The Day of the Lord
6 For You have forsaken Your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are replenished from the east,
and are soothsayers like the Philistines,
and they please themselves with the children of strangers.
7 Their land also is full of silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is also full of horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land also is full of idols;
they worship the work of their own hands,
that which their own fingers have made.
9 And the common man bows down,
and the great man humbles himself;
therefore, do not forgive them.
10 Enter into the rock,
and hide in the dust
from the fear of the Lord
and from the glory of His majesty.
11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled,
and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down,
and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the Lord of Hosts shall be
upon everything that is proud and lofty,
and upon everything that is lifted up,
and it shall be brought low;
13 and it will be upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up,
and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14 and upon all the high mountains,
and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15 and upon all the high towers,
and upon every fenced wall,
16 and upon all the ships of Tarshish,
and upon all pleasant sloops.
17 The loftiness of man shall be humbled,
and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day;
18 the idols He shall utterly abolish.
19 They shall go into the holes of the rocks,
and into the caves of the earth,
from the fear of the Lord,
and from the glory of His majesty,
when He shall arise to shake the earth mightily.
20 In that day a man shall cast away
his idols of silver and his idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
to the moles and to the bats,
21 to enter the caverns of the rocks,
and into the clefts of the cliffs,
from the terror of the Lord,
and from the glory of His majesty,
when He arises to shake the earth mightily.
22 Cease regarding man,
whose breath is in his nostrils;
for why should he be esteemed?
Cross references:
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
2 Corinthians 10
Paul Defends His Ministry
10 Now I, Paul, who am lowly in presence among you but bold toward you while absent, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. 2 I beg you that when I am present, I might not have to be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, 5 casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is complete.
7 Do you look at things from the outward appearance? If any man trusts that he is Christ’s, let him consider again that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s. 8 For even if I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord has given us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed, 9 lest I appear to frighten you by my letters. 10 “For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” 11 Let such a person consider this: that as we are in word by letters when we are absent, we will also be in deed when we are present.
12 For we dare not count or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. They who measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another are not wise. 13 But we will not boast beyond measure, but within the boundaries which God has appointed us, which reach even you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves as though we did not reach you, since we have come to you, preaching the gospel of Christ. 15 We are not boasting of things beyond our measure in other men’s labors. But we have hope that when your faith is increased, our region shall be greatly enlarged by you, 16 to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you and not to boast in another man’s accomplishments. 17 But, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”[a] 18 For it is not he who commends himself who is approved, but he whom the Lord commends.
Footnotes:
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Psalm 52
Psalm 52
For the Music Director. A Contemplative Maskil. A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelek.”
1 Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The goodness of God endures continually.
2 Your tongue devises calamities,
like a sharp razor, you worker of treachery.
3 You love evil more than good,
and lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah
4 You love all devouring words,
O you deceitful tongue.
5 God will likewise break you down forever;
He will snatch you away and pluck you from your home,
and uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous also will see and fear,
and will laugh in contempt,
7 “See, this is the man
who did not make God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of riches,
and grew strong in his own wickedness.”
8 But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God
forever and ever.
9 I will give thanks to You forever, because You have acted;
and I will wait on Your name,
for it is good before Your saints.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
Proverbs 22:26-27
Saying Four
26 Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge,
or of those who use securities for debts;
27 if you have nothing to pay,
why should he take away your bed from under you?
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.