The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday September 24, 2023 (NIV)

Isaiah 43:14-45:10

14 This is what the Lord says,
the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
For your sake I am taking action against Babylon,
and I will bring down all the Chaldeans as refugees,
in the ships over which they rejoiced.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
Israel’s Creator, your King.
16 This is what the Lord says,
who makes a road through the sea
and a path through mighty waters,
17 who brings out the chariot and the horses,
the army and the strong warrior.
They will all lie down together.
They will not get up.
They are extinguished.
Like a wick they go out.

18 Do not remember the former[a] things.
Do not keep thinking about ancient things.
19 Watch, I am about to do a new thing.
Now it will spring up. Don’t you know about it?
Indeed I will make a road in the wilderness.
In the wasteland I will make rivers.
20 The wild animals, the jackals and ostriches, will honor me,
because I am providing water in the wilderness,
rivers in a parched wasteland,
water for my chosen people to drink.
21 This people that I formed for myself will declare my praise.

22 But you have not called on me, O Jacob.
Instead, you have become weary of me, O Israel.
23 You have not brought me sheep as your whole burnt offerings.
You did not glorify me with your sacrifices.
I did not make you serve me with a grain offering.
I did not make you weary with demands for incense.
24 You did not purchase fragrant cane for me with silver
or satisfy me with the fat from your sacrifices.
Instead you have made me serve because of your sins.
You have made me weary because of your guilt.
25 I, yes I, am he.
I blot out your rebellious deeds for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
26 Refresh my memory.
Let us review your case together.
Present your defense so that you may be acquitted.
27 Your first father sinned,
and your mediators rebelled against me.
28 Therefore I am repudiating the officials of the sanctuary,
and I am giving Jacob over to complete destruction
and Israel to insults.[b]

The Lord Comforts His People

44 

But now listen, O Jacob my servant,
O Israel, whom I have chosen.
This is what the Lord, your Maker, says,
the Lord who formed you from the womb, who will help you.
Do not be afraid, my servant Jacob,

Jeshurun,[c] whom I have chosen,
because I will pour out water upon a thirsty land,
and streams of water upon dry ground.
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
They will spring up like a tree in a grassy meadow,[d]
like willows beside flowing streams.

One person will say, “I belong to the Lord.”
Another will be called by the name of Jacob.
Another will write on his hand, “Belonging to the Lord,”
and he will take the name of Israel.

The Lord Confronts Idols

This is what the Lord, the King of Israel,
Israel’s Redeemer, the Lord of Armies, says.
I am the first, and I am the last.
Except for me, there is no god.
For who is like me? Let him declare it.
Let him recite in order for me the things that took place
since the time I established an ancient people.
Or let them declare what is yet to come,
and what is going to take place.

Do not tremble, and do not be frightened.
Did I not announce this to you,
and declare it already long ago?
You are my witnesses.
Is there any god except me?
There is no other Rock. I am not aware of any other.
All those who form an idol are good for nothing.
All the things which delight them provide no benefit.
As for their witnesses—they do not see.
They know nothing, so they will be ashamed.

10 Who is this who forms a god or casts a metal image that can provide no profit? 11 Look at him! All his associates will be ashamed. The craftsmen are merely men. Let them all gather themselves and take a stand. They will be terrified and ashamed together.

12 A blacksmith uses a cutting tool and makes an idol over hot coals. With hammers he shapes it. He makes it with his strong arm, but he becomes hungry and has no strength left. He does not drink water, and so he grows faint.

13 A woodworker stretches out a measuring line. He marks the lines with a stylus. He shapes the idol with chisels. He marks it with a compass. Then he carves it till it is shaped like a person, like a splendid man to inhabit a shrine.

14 He goes to cut down cedars for himself, or he chooses a holm tree[e] or an oak, and he lets it grow strong among the trees of a forest. Or he plants a cedar, and rain causes it to grow tall, 15 but it becomes fuel for a man to burn. He takes part of it to warm himself. He lights a fire to bake bread, and then from the rest he makes a god and worships it. He carves an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of it he burns in a fire—over that half he eats meat. He roasts meat and is satisfied. So he is warm and says, “Ah! I am warm. I see the light of the fire.” 17 Then from what is left he makes a god to serve as his idol. He bows down to it. He worships it, and he prays to it, “Save me, because you are my god.”

18 They are ignorant. They do not understand, because their eyes are plastered shut,[f] and they cannot see. Their hearts are unable to gain insight. 19 A person does not take this to heart, so he has no knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I burn in the fire, and I bake bread on its coals. I roast meat, and I eat. Should I make the rest of it into a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to a piece of wood?” 20 He is like a sheep grazing on ashes. A deceived mind leads him astray. He will not save his life, nor will he say, “Isn’t what I am holding in my right hand a fraud?”

Israel Will Be Restored

21 Remember these things, O Jacob, because you are my servant, Israel. I am forming you to be my servant. You, Israel, you will never be forgotten by me.[g] 22 I am blowing away your rebellious deeds like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, because I am redeeming you.

23 Shout for joy, you heavens, because of what the Lord is doing.
Make a joyful shout, you depths of the earth.
Burst forth with shouts of joy, you mountains,
you forest and every tree in it,
because the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
and in Israel he will display his beauty.

24 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer,
the Lord who formed you from the womb, says.
I am the Lord, the one who does all things,
who stretched out the heavens by myself,
who hammered out the earth.
(Who was with me then?)
25 I frustrate the signs of the deceivers
and make fools of the fortune tellers.[h]
I overturn the wisdom of the wise
and turn their knowledge into foolishness.

26 He is the one who fulfills the word of his servants,
who completes the plan announced by his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, “It will be inhabited,”
and about the cities of Judah, “They will be rebuilt,
and I will raise up their ruins.”
27 He is the one who says to the deep ocean, “Dry up,”
the one who says, “I will dry up your rivers.”
28 He is the one who says about Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
and he will complete everything I desire.”
He is the one who says about Jerusalem, “It will be rebuilt,”
and who says to the temple, “Your foundations will be laid.”

Cyrus the Lord’s Anointed Shepherd

45 

This is what the Lord says to his anointed one,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
by stripping kings of their weapons,
to open doors before him
so that the gates cannot be shut.

I myself will go before you,
and I will level high mountains.[i]
I will break bronze doors into pieces,
and I will cut through iron bars.
I will give you treasures hidden in darkness
and riches concealed in secret places,
so that you will acknowledge that I am the Lord,
the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.
For the sake of my servant Jacob,
for the sake of Israel my chosen one,
I will call you by your name.
I will give you an honored name, though you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
Except for me, there is no god.
I will equip you even though you do not know me,
so that people will know from the rising of the sun
to the place where it sets
that there is no one except me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I am the one who forms light and creates darkness,
the one who makes peace and creates disaster.
I am the Lord, the one who does all these things.

Coming Blessings

Shower down, you heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain down righteousness.
Let the earth open up,
so that salvation will produce fruit.
Let righteousness sprout up along with it.
I, the Lord, am creating this.

Arguing With the Lord

Woe to anyone who argues against the potter who formed him.
He is just a potsherd among the broken pieces of pottery on the ground.
Does clay say to its potter, “What are you making?
Your work looks like something made by a potter with no hands”?
10 Woe to anyone who says to his father, “What have you fathered?”
or to a woman, “What are you giving birth to?”

Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 43:18 Or first
  2. Isaiah 43:28 Or condemnation
  3. Isaiah 44:2 Jeshurun is another name for Israel. It means the upright one.
  4. Isaiah 44:4 The translation follows the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and some other manuscripts. The standard Hebrew text reads spring up between the grass.
  5. Isaiah 44:14 Also called an evergreen oak
  6. Isaiah 44:18 Or he has blinded their eyes
  7. Isaiah 44:21 Or you must not forget me
  8. Isaiah 44:25 Or omen readers
  9. Isaiah 45:2 The translation mountains follows the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and the Greek Old Testament. The word in the standard Hebrew text occurs only here. It may mean rough places or walls.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ephesians 3

The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed

For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—[a]

Surely you have heard of the administration of God’s grace given to me for you, namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation (as I have already written briefly). When you read this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. This mystery was not made known to people in past generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that in Christ Jesus the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and people who also share in the promise through the gospel.

I became a servant of this gospel, in keeping with the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. To me—even though I am the very least of all the saints—was given this grace: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to enlighten everyone about the administration of this mystery. In past ages this mystery remained hidden in God, who created all things. 10 He did this so that, through the church, the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was done according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him we can freely approach God with confidence through faith in him. 13 So I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, because it is your glory.

Paul’s Prayer and Praise

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[b] 15 from whom the entire family in heaven and on earth receives its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he would strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner self, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 I pray that you would be able to comprehend, along with all the saints, how wide and long and high and deep his love is, 19 and that you would be able to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him, who is able, according to the power that is at work within us, to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

Footnotes:

  1. Ephesians 3:1 Paul breaks off his thought here and resumes it in verse 14.
  2. Ephesians 3:14 A few witnesses to the text omit of our Lord Jesus Christ. (“Witnesses to the text” mentioned in footnotes may include Greek manuscripts, lectionaries, translations, and quotations in the church fathers.)
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psalm 68:1-18

Psalm 68

The Procession of God

Heading
For the choir director. By David. A psalm. A song.

Judgment on God’s Enemies

May God arise. May his enemies scatter.
May those who hate him flee from his presence.
As smoke is blown away, may you blow them away.
As wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.

Blessing on God’s People

But the righteous rejoice and celebrate in the presence of God.
They will be happy and joyful.
Sing to God. Make music to his name.
Lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts.[a]
His name is the Lord.[b] Celebrate before him.

In his holy dwelling, God is a father for the fatherless
and a judge who defends widows.
God causes the lonely to dwell together as a household.
He leads out the prisoners with music,
but the rebellious dwell in a scorched land.

God Brings His People Into His Land

God, when you went out in front of your people,
when you marched through the wasteland, Interlude
the earth shook.
Yes, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, this one from Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
You dispersed plentiful showers, O God.
You strengthened your inheritance when it was weary.[c]
10 Your people settled in it.
In your goodness you provided for the oppressed, O God.

The Lord Defeats the Kings of the Land

11 The Lord provided the message.
The women who proclaimed it were a great army:[d]
12 “Kings with armies flee—they flee!”
The woman who stays home shares in the plunder.
13 Even while you lie among the campfires,
the wings of a dove are sheathed with silver,
and its feathers with yellow gold.[e]
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings there,
it snowed on Zalmon.

The Lord Makes His Dwelling in Zion

15 The mountain of Bashan is a mountain of God.
The mountain of Bashan is a mountain with many peaks.[f]
16 O mountains with many peaks, why do you look jealously
at the mountain God desires for his home?
Indeed, the Lord will dwell there forever.
17 The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands.
Among them the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.[g]
18 You ascended on high. You led captivity captive.
You received gifts among men,
so that even among the rebellious the Lord[h] God might dwell.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 68:4 A variant in the Targum is rides on the clouds.
  2. Psalm 68:4 The Hebrew uses the short form Yah rather than the full form of the divine name, Yahweh, which is translated Lord.
  3. Psalm 68:9 Or when they were weary. The land may be described as weary because of lack of rain, or it may be the people of the land who are weary.
  4. Psalm 68:11 This seems to refer to the custom of women singing to greet victors returning from battle, as they did at the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20) or when David returned from victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 18:6).
  5. Psalm 68:13 The meaning is cryptic. The verses seem to refer to the division of plunder. The translation is relatively literal.
  6. Psalm 68:15 The meaning of several words in these verses is uncertain.
  7. Psalm 68:17 The Hebrew reads the Lord [is] among them, Sinai, in holiness. The translation follows the parallel in Deuteronomy 33:2 and the sense of the psalm.
  8. Psalm 68:18 The Hebrew uses the short form Yah rather than Yahweh, the full form of the divine name.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 24:1-2

24 Do not envy evil people,
and do not wish to be with them,
because their hearts plan violence,
and their lips speak trouble.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday September 23, 2023 (NIV)

Isaiah 41:17-43:13

17 The afflicted and the poor seek water, but there is none.
Their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, I myself will answer them.
I, the God of Israel, will not leave them.
18 I will open rivers on the barren heights.
In the middle of valleys there will be springs.
I will turn the wilderness into a pool of water,
and the dry land will pour out water.
19 In the wilderness I will place cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees.
In the wasteland I will plant fir, maple, and pines together,
20 so that they may see and know,
and pay attention and perceive this all together,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

The Idols Are Placed on Trial

21 “Present your case,” says the Lord.
“Set forth your strongest points,” says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them present and declare to us what is going to occur.
What were the first things you predicted?
Tell us, so that we can ponder them,
so that we can know their outcome.
Or, announce to us the coming things.
23 Declare to us the things that are still coming in the distant future.
Then we will know that you are gods.
In fact, just do something, do anything—good or evil,
so that we may be overwhelmed and terrified together.
24 Look, you are less than nothing,
and your work is less than zero.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

The Man From the North

25 I have stirred up someone from the north,
and he is coming from the rising of the sun.
He will call upon my name.
He will walk over rulers as if they were mud,
the way a potter tramples clay.

26 Who declared this from the beginning so that we could know it,
and ahead of time so that we could say, “He is right”?
In fact, not one of them declares this.
In fact, not one of them makes this known.
In fact, no one hears you say anything.
27 I was first to announce to Zion, “Look, here they are,”
and I sent a herald of good news to Jerusalem.
28 When I looked, there was no one.
None of them could give advice,
even when I kept asking them to respond.
29 Look, all of them are useless.
Their works are nothing.
Their images are empty wind.

The First Servant Song[a]
The Servant Is Called to Bring Justice

42 

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight.
I am placing my Spirit on him.
He will announce a just verdict[b] for the nations.

He will not cry out.
He will not raise his voice.
He will not make his voice heard in the street.
A bent reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not snuff out.
He will faithfully bring forth a just verdict.
He will not burn out, and he will not be broken
until he establishes justice on the earth.
The coastlands will wait for his law.[c]
This is what the true God says,
the Lord who creates the heavens and stretches them out,
who spreads out the earth
and everything that it produces,
who gives breath to the people on it
and life to those who walk on it.
I am the Lord.
I have called you in righteousness.
I will hold on to your hand,
and I will guard you.
I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people,
to be a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring the prisoners out from the dungeon,
and to bring those who sit in darkness out of prison.

I am the Lord; that is my name.
I will not give my glory to another,
nor my praise to idols.
Look, the former things have taken place,
and I am declaring new things.
I am making them known to you before they spring forth.

Creation Rejoices

10 Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing his praise from the end of the earth,
you people who go down to the sea
and everything that fills it,
you coastlands and those who inhabit them.
11 Let the wilderness and its towns lift up their voice,
along with the settlements where Kedar lives.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy.
Let them shout from the mountain tops.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
and let them declare his praise among the coastlands.
13 The Lord will set out like a hero.
Like a warrior, he will work himself into a frenzy.
He will shout. Yes, he will raise a war cry.
He will be heroic against his enemies.

The Lord Shouts

14 I have been silent for a long time.
I have kept still. I have restrained myself.
But now, like a woman giving birth, I will scream.
I will gasp and pant.
15 I will dry up mountains and hills.
I will make all their grass wither.
I will turn rivers into islands.
I will dry up pools.
16 I will lead the blind on a way they do not know.
Along paths they do not know I will direct them.
Ahead of them I will turn darkness into light
and rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will accomplish for them.
I will not abandon them.

17 They will be turned back and completely disgraced—
those who trust in an idol,
those who say to molten images, “You are our gods.”

But Israel Does Not Notice

18 You deaf ones, listen!
You blind ones, watch carefully so that you can see!
19 Who is as blind as my servant?
Who is as deaf as my messenger whom I sent?
Who is as blind as my associate,[d]
as blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 You, Israel, see many things, but you do not observe.
Israel opens his ears, but he does not hear.
21 Because of his own righteousness,
the Lord was pleased to make his law[e] great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted.
All of them are trapped in holes,
and they are hidden in prisons.
They have become plunder, and there is no rescuer.
They have become loot and no one says, “Give it back!”
23 Who among you will turn his ear toward this?
Who will pay attention and listen for the future?
24 Who gave up Jacob to looters
and Israel to plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned?
But they were not willing to walk in his ways,
and they did not listen to his law.
25 So he poured out wrath on them,
his anger, and the violence of battle.
It set them on fire all around, but they did not understand.
It burned in them, but they did not take it to heart.

The Lord’s New Act of Salvation

43 

But now this is what the Lord says,
the Lord who created you, O Jacob,
the Lord who formed you, O Israel.
Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name. You are mine.
When you cross through the waters, I will be with you.
When you cross the rivers, they will not sweep you away.
When you walk through fire, you will not be burned,
and the flame will not set you on fire.

Because I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior,
I gave Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious and honored in my eyes,
and I myself love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
and peoples in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, because I am with you.
From the east I will bring your offspring,
and from the west I will gather you.
I will say to the north, “Give them back!”
and to the south, “Do not hold them.”
Bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
everyone I created for my glory,
everyone I formed,
yes, everyone I have made.

Bring out the people who are blind, though they have eyes,
and the people who are deaf, though they have ears.
Let all the nations be gathered together,
and let peoples be assembled.
Who among them has declared this?
Who has made known to us the former things?
Let them produce their witnesses to show that they were right,
so that people can hear and say, “This is truth.”

10 You are my witnesses, declares the Lord.
You are my servant, whom I have chosen,
so that you may know me and believe in me,
so that you will understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
and after me there will not be another.
11 I, yes I, am the Lord,
and apart from me there is no savior.
12 I myself declared it.
I brought salvation, and I announced it.
It was not some strange god among you.
You are my witnesses, declares the Lord,
and I am God.
13 Indeed, from the first day, I am he.
There is no one who can deliver anyone from my hand.
I act, and who can reverse it?

Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 42:1 The Lord has many servants. Among his servants in Isaiah are Israel and Cyrus. In this collection of songs his Servant par excellance is Jesus the Messiah.
  2. Isaiah 42:1 Or bring forth justice
  3. Isaiah 42:4 Or teaching. Law here refers to the whole Word of God.
  4. Isaiah 42:19 Or my dedicated one or the one at peace with me. The meaning of this word is uncertain.
  5. Isaiah 42:21 Or teaching
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ephesians 2

Made Alive in Christ by Grace

You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked when you followed the ways of this present world. You were following the ruler of the domain of the air, the spirit now at work in the people who disobey.

Formerly, we all lived among them in the passions of our sinful flesh, as we carried out the desires of the sinful flesh and its thoughts. Like all the others, we were by nature objects of God’s wrath.

But God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! He also raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He did this so that, in the coming ages, he might demonstrate the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them.

United in Christ

11 Therefore, remember that at one time, you Gentiles in the flesh—the ones who are called “uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised” (which is performed physically by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separated from Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise. You were without hope and without God in the world.

13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace. He made the two groups one by destroying the wall of hostility that divided them 15 when he abolished the law of commandments and regulations in his flesh. He did this to create in himself one new person out of the two, in this way making peace. 16 And he did this to reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by putting the hostility to death on it.[a] 17 He also came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.[b]

19 So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household. 20 You have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the Cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Footnotes:

  1. Ephesians 2:16 Or putting the hostility to death in him
  2. Ephesians 2:18 Or in one spirit to the Father
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psalm 67

Psalm 67

Your Kingdom Come

Heading
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

The Prayer

May God be gracious to us and bless us. Interlude
May his face shine on us—
so that your way may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise you, O God.
May the peoples praise you—all of them.
May the countries be glad and sing for joy,
because you rule the peoples with fairness, Interlude
and you guide the countries of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, O God.
May the peoples praise you—all of them.
The earth will yield its harvest.
God, our God, will bless us.
God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 23:29-35

29 Who has trouble? Who has misery?
Who has quarrels? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds for no reason? Who has glazed eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine,
those who go to search for mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly.
32 Later it bites like a snake,
and it strikes like a venomous viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and your mind will say senseless things.
34 You will be like someone who tries to sleep in the middle of the sea,
like someone who tries to sleep at the top of a ship’s mast.
35 “They struck me, but I felt no pain.
They beat me, but I was not aware of it.
When will I wake up, so that I can try it again?”

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday September 22, 2023 (NIV)

Isaiah 39:1-41:16

Hezekiah Receives Envoys From Babylon

39 At that time, Merodak[a] Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick and had recovered. Hezekiah was happy to receive the envoys, and he showed them his palace treasury—the silver and the gold, the spices and the precious oil, his whole armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace or in all his domain that Hezekiah did not show them.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did those men say? Where did they come from?”

Hezekiah replied, “They have come from a faraway country, from Babylon.”

The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

Hezekiah said, “They have seen everything in my palace. There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of the Lord of Armies. Listen carefully. The days are coming when whatever is in your house—everything that your fathers have stored up until today—will be carried away to Babylon. Not a thing will be left, says the Lord. They will take away some of the sons who were born to you, your own children, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For Hezekiah also said, “There will be peace and stability during my days.”

Overview of the Lord’s Plan

40 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her.
Her warfare[b] really is over.
Her guilt is fully paid for.
Yes, she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice is calling out:
In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord.
In the wasteland make a level[c] highway for our God.
Every valley will be raised up,
and every mountain and hill will be made low.
The rugged ground will become level,
and the rough places will become a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all flesh together will see it.
Yes, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry out?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty[d] is like a wildflower in the countryside.
Grass withers, flowers fade,
when the breath[e] of the Lord blows on them.
Yes, the people are grass.
Grass withers, flowers fade,
but the Word of our God endures forever.

Get up on a high mountain,
O Zion, you herald of good news.
Lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, you herald of good news.
Lift it up! Do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 Look, God the Lord will come with strength,
and his arm is ruling for him.
Look, his reward is with him.
The result of his work is in front of him.
11 Like a shepherd he will care for his flock.
With his arm he will gather the lambs.
He will lift them up on his lap.
He will gently lead the nursing mothers.

The Lord Is Beyond Compare

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?
Who marked off the heavens with the width of his hand?
Who scooped up the dust of the earth with a measuring cup?
Who weighed the mountains with a balance
and the hills with scales?

13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord?
Who can teach him anything or serve as his advisor?
14 Who was his advisor to give him insight?
Who taught him the path of justice?
Who taught him knowledge?
Who showed him the way to complete understanding?

15 Indeed, nations are like a drop in a bucket,
and they are treated like powder on a scale.
Look, he lifts up islands like dust!
16 Not even the forests of Lebanon could provide enough wood to burn,
and its animals are not enough for a whole burnt offering.
17 All the nations are nothing to him.
By him they are regarded as worthless,
as less than nothing.

18 So to whom will you compare God?
What image can you compare to him?
19 A craftsman casts the idol,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold.
He forges silver chains for it.
20 He chooses mulberry wood as an offering,[f]
wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skillful craftsman
to erect an idol that will not fall over.

21 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood it from the founding of the earth?
22 He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth.
To him its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and he spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He is the one who reduces dignitaries to nothing.
He makes the judges of the world useless.
24 They have hardly been planted.
They have hardly been sown.
Their stem has hardly taken root in the earth.
Then he blows on them, and they dry up.
A driving storm carries them away like chaff.

25 To whom can you compare me as if we were equals?
says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and see who created these things.
See who brings out their army in great number
and calls them all by name.
Because of his great strength and mighty power,
not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you speak, O Jacob?
O Israel, why do you say,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and justice for me is ignored by my God”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the eternal God.
He is the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired, and he will not become weary.
No one can find a limit to his understanding.
29 He is the one who gives strength to the weak,
and he increases the strength of those who lack power.
30 Young men grow tired and become weary.
Even strong men stumble and fall.
31 But those who wait for the Lord will receive new strength.
They will lift up their wings and soar like eagles.
They will run and not become weary.
They will walk and not become tired.

A Summons to Judgment

41 

Prepare to present your case to me,[g] you coastlands,
and let the peoples renew their strength.
Let them come near. Yes, let them say,
“We will gather together for the verdict.”

A Mystery Man Is Summoned From the East

Who has aroused this one from the east?
In righteousness he summons him to his feet.
He gives nations to him
and causes him to rule over kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like wind-driven stubble with his bow.
He pursues them and passes by safely.
His feet do not touch the ground.[h]
Who accomplished this and carried it out
by summoning generations from the beginning?

The Lord Controls History

I, the Lord, am the first,
and at the very end I will still be the one.
The coastlands see and fear.
The ends of the earth tremble.
They draw near. They come.

The Idol Makers Appear

Each one assists his neighbor,
and to his brother he says, “Be strong.”
The craftsman strengthens the refiner.
The one who flattens with the hammer
strengthens the one who strikes the anvil.
Concerning the soldering he says, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it cannot be moved.

The Lord Is Your Defender

But you, O Israel, my servant,
O Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring[i] of Abraham, whom I love,
whom I have snatched from the ends of the earth,
whom I have called from its corners—
I have said to you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 Do not fear, for I am with you.
Do not be overwhelmed,[j] for I am your God.
I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you.
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11 Just watch, they will be ashamed and humiliated—
all those who are angry with you.
They will become nothing and perish—
those men who oppose you.
12 You will look for them, but you will not find them—
those men who contend against you.
They will become absolutely nothing, less than nothing—
those men who battle against you.
13 For I am the Lord your God.
I am the one who is holding on to your right hand.
I am the one who says to you, “Do not fear. I myself am helping you.”
14 Do not fear, you worm, Jacob, you few men of Israel.[k]
I myself am helping you, declares the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 Look, I am making you into a sharp, new threshing sledge
with double-edged blades.
You will thresh mountains and crush them.
You will turn hills into chaff.
16 You will winnow them,
and a wind will lift them up.
A strong wind will scatter them.
But you, you will rejoice in the Lord.
In the Holy One of Israel you will be confident.

Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 39:1 Merodak is probably a derogatory form of the name Marduk, the chief god of Babylon.
  2. Isaiah 40:2 Or hard labor
  3. Isaiah 40:3 Or straight
  4. Isaiah 40:6 The Hebrew literally reads mercy or faithfulness.
  5. Isaiah 40:7 The word also means wind and Spirit.
  6. Isaiah 40:20 Or the poor person chooses wood as an offering
  7. Isaiah 41:1 Or be silent before me. The Hebrew root used here does often mean be silent, but the context seems to require a preparation for legal action. There is a Hebrew homonym that means fabricate. This meaning fits the context. The Greek Old Testament and the parallelism also support this meaning.
  8. Isaiah 41:3 Literally he does not enter a path with his feet. This seems to mean that he moves so fast that his feet don’t touch the ground, or that he goes in new paths where he has never gone before, or that he quickly gains new territory.
  9. Isaiah 41:8 Literally the seed
  10. Isaiah 41:10 Or dismayed
  11. Isaiah 41:14 Or you insect, Israel. The Isaiah Dead Sea Scroll reads dead ones.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ephesians 1

Greeting

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, who are believers in Christ Jesus:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

He did this when he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ. He did this in accordance with the good purpose of his will, and for the praise of his glorious grace, which he has graciously given us in the one he loves.

In him we also have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in keeping with the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. He made known to us the mystery of his will in keeping with his good purpose, which he planned in Christ. 10 This was to be carried out when the time had fully come, in order to bring all things together in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have also obtained an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in keeping with the purpose of his will. 12 He did this so that his glory would be praised as a result of us, who were the first to hope in Christ.

13 In him, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and in him, when you also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. 14 He is the down payment of our inheritance until the redemption of God’s own possession, so that his glory would be praised.

A Prayer for Knowledge and Strength

15 This is why, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I never stop giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, will give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation in knowing Christ fully. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope to which he has called you, just how rich his glorious inheritance among the saints is, 19 and just how surpassingly great his power is for us who believe. 20 It is as great as the working of his mighty strength, which God worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and above every name that is given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 God also placed all things under his feet and made him head over everything for the church. 23 The church is his body, the fullness of him[b] who fills everything in every way.

Footnotes:

  1. Ephesians 1:17 Or spirit
  2. Ephesians 1:23 Or which makes him full
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psalm 66

Psalm 66

How Awesome Are Your Deeds!

Heading
For the choir director. A song. A psalm.

Introduction: The Praise of the World

Shout praise to God, all the earth!
Make music to the glory of his name!
Make his praise glorious!
Say to God, “How awesome[a] are your deeds!”
Because of your great power your enemies must cower before you.
All the earth bows down to you.
They make music to you.
They make music to your name. Interlude

God’s Awesome Deeds Deliver His People

Come and see the works of God.
How awesome his deeds for all people!
He turned the sea into dry land.
They crossed through the river on foot.
Let us rejoice in him there.
He rules by his power forever.
His eyes watch the nations. Interlude
Do not let the rebellious rise up against him.
Bless our God, you peoples.
Let the sound of his praise be heard.
He is the one who has preserved our lives.
He did not let our feet slip.
10 Indeed, you tested us, God.
You refined us as silver is refined.
11 You led us into a trap.
You laid a burden on our backs.
12 You let men ride over our heads.
We went through fire and through water,
but you brought us out to a well-watered place.

His People’s Praise

13 I will come to your house with whole burnt offerings.
I will fulfill my vows to you,
14 which my lips uttered,
which my mouth spoke during my trouble.
15 I will offer fat animals to you as whole burnt offerings,
along with the smoke from rams. Interlude
I will offer cattle with goats.
16 Come, listen, all you who fear God,
and let me tell what he has done to save my life.
17 To him I cried out with my mouth.
High praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had contemplated evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened,
19 but God has surely listened.
He has paid attention to the sound of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God, who has not turned aside my prayer
or turned aside his mercy from me!

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 66:3 Or astonishing
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 23:25-28

25 Your father and your mother will find joy,
and she who gave birth to you will celebrate.

26 My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes be pleased with my ways,
27 because a prostitute is a deep pit,
and an immoral woman is a narrow well.
28 She is also like a robber waiting to ambush someone,
and she multiplies unfaithful men among the people.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday September 21, 2023 (NIV)

Isaiah 37-38

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Advice

37 When King Hezekiah heard the report, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the House of the Lord. He sent Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, who were wearing sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

They told him what Hezekiah said: “This is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation, because children are about to be born, but there is no strength left to give birth. Perhaps the Lord your God will take note of the words of this herald, who was sent by his lord, the king of Assyria, in defiance of the living God, and perhaps the Lord your God will rebuke him for what he has heard. So please, pray for the small group that is left here.”

When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, he said to them, “Tell your master that this is what the Lord says. Do not be afraid of what you have heard. The lackeys[a] of the king of Assyria have blasphemed against me. Watch! I will put a spirit in him, so that when he hears certain news, he will return to his own land. There I will cause him to be killed.”

Then the herald went back. He heard that the king of Assyria had already left Lachish and was fighting against Libnah.

When Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah king of Cush[b] had set out to fight against him, he sent messengers to Hezekiah 10 to say this to Hezekiah king of Judah:

Do not let the God you trust deceive you, saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria. 11 Listen, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other lands, destroying them completely. And you expect to be saved? 12 Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed save them—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden, who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the kings of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?

14 Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. He went up to the House of the Lord and placed it there before the Lord. 15 Then he prayed to the Lord.

16 O Lord of Armies, God of Israel, seated above the cherubim, you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. 17 Turn your ear toward me, Lord, and hear. Open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to all of the words of Sennacherib, who has defied the living God. 18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these lands and their territory. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods at all, but the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 20 Now, Lord our God, save us from his power, and let all the kingdoms of the earth know that you are the Lord, and you alone.

The Lord Replies to Hezekiah Through Isaiah

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah.

The Lord, the God of Israel, says that because you have prayed to him about Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 the Lord sends you this reply about him.

The virgin daughter of Zion[c] despises you and jeers at you.
The daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head at you in scorn.
23 Who is it whom you have mocked and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted up your proud eyes?
It is against the Holy One of Israel.
24 You have used your servants to mock the Lord.
You have boasted, “I have driven my many chariots
up the high mountains, to the most remote parts of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars and its best fir trees.
I have reached its highest peak, its most lush forest.
25 I dug wells and drank their water,
and I dried up all the rivers of Egypt with the soles of my feet.”

26 Have you not heard?
I did all this long ago.
I formed all this in ancient times.
Now I caused it all to take place.
I enabled you to destroy fortified cities,
reducing them to heaps of ruins.
27 Their inhabitants were powerless.
Overwhelmed and ashamed,
they were like plants in the field,
like fresh green grass, like grass on a housetop,
and like a field before it has grown.[d]
28 But I know when you stand and when you sit,[e]
when you go out and when you come in,
and how you rage wildly against me.
29 Because you rage against me,
and because your arrogance has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you go back by the same way that you came.

30 This will be a sign for you:

This year you will eat what grows by itself.
Next year you will eat what springs up from that.
But in the third year, you will sow crops and harvest them.
You will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah
will again put down roots below and bear fruit above.
32 For from Jerusalem a remnant will go out,
and survivors from Mount Zion.
The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.

33 This is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

He will not enter this city.
He will not shoot an arrow there.
He will not advance against it with a shield,
and he will not build a siege ramp against it.
34 He will go back by the same route that he came,
and he will not enter this city, declares the Lord.
35 For I will defend this city to save it,
for my own sake,
and for the sake of my servant David.

The Destruction of Sennacherib

36 Then an angel of the Lord went and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. Early in the morning, there they were—all the dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned to Nineveh and remained there. 38 One day when Sennacherib was worshipping in the house of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They fled to the land of Ararat,[f] and his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

38 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was dying. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says. Give instructions to your household, because you are going to die. You will not survive.”

So Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. He said, “Please remember, Lord, how I have walked before you in truth and with my whole heart. I have done what is good in your eyes.” Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah.

Go back and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says:

I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Now then, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.

This will be the sign from the Lord to you. The Lord will do what he has promised. Watch! I will make the shadow of the setting sun that has moved down the stairway of Ahaz move back, ten steps higher on the staircase.

Then the sun’s shadow moved backwards, ten steps higher on the stairway that it had just descended.

A poem written by Hezekiah king of Judah, after his illness and recovery.[g]

10 I thought that, only halfway through my life,
I was entering into the gates of death,[h]
deprived of the remaining years of my life.
11 I thought, I will not see the Lord
the Lord[i] in the land of the living.
I will no longer see anyone among the inhabitants of the world.[j]
12 My dwelling place is being pulled down.
It is carried away from me like a shepherd’s tent.
I have rolled up my life like a weaver.
He is cutting me off from the loom.
From day until night, you make an end of me.[k]
13 I pondered this until the morning.
He will break all my bones like a lion!
From day until night, you make an end of me.
14 I chirp weakly like a swift or a swallow.
I mourn like a dove.
My eyes are tired from looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed.
Be my security.

15 What can I say?
He has spoken to me, and he is the one to act.
I will march slowly throughout all my years,
because my heart is bitter.[l]
16 Lord, people live because you give them life.
My spirit lives through this.[m]
Restore me, and let me live.[n]
17 The bitter things I experienced were for my benefit.
Your love has preserved my life from the pit of destruction,
for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.
18 The grave[o] cannot thank you.
Death cannot praise you.
Those who go down into the pit cannot trust your faithfulness.
19 The living one, the living one, he praises you, as I do today.
A father tells his children about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,
so we will sing songs with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives in the House of the Lord.

21 Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs, apply it as a poultice on the inflamed spot, and he will recover.”

22 Hezekiah had also asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the House of the Lord?”

Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 37:6 Or junior officers, an insulting term to use for such high-ranking officers
  2. Isaiah 37:9 Cush is the ancient name for the territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. Called Ethiopia in Roman times, it included most of present-day Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia. The Cushite or Nubian kings were the pharaohs of Egypt at this time.
  3. Isaiah 37:22 Daughter of Zion is a personification of Jerusalem and the people of Judah.
  4. Isaiah 37:27 The translation follows the main Hebrew reading of this verse. The parallel text in 2 Kings 19:26 reads scorched before it becomes a full-grown stalk. The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah reads scorched by the east wind.
  5. Isaiah 37:28 The translation follows the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah. The Hebrew does not have when you stand and.
  6. Isaiah 37:38 The region of present-day Armenia
  7. Isaiah 38:9 This poem is not included in 2 Kings.
  8. Isaiah 38:10 Hebrew sheol
  9. Isaiah 38:11 The Hebrew text here has two occurrences of Yah, the short form of the divine name. Some Hebrew manuscripts have a single occurrence of Yahweh.
  10. Isaiah 38:11 Hebrew variant this passing world
  11. Isaiah 38:12 Or day, and then night! So quickly you have made an end of me. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  12. Isaiah 38:15 The translation follows the Hebrew. The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and the Syriac read What can I say? I will say to him that he is the one to act. I cannot sleep, because my heart is bitter.
  13. Isaiah 38:16 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  14. Isaiah 38:16 Or you restore me, and you let me live!
  15. Isaiah 38:18 Hebrew sheol
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Galatians 6

Bear One Another’s Burdens

Brothers, if a person is caught in some trespass, you who are spiritual should restore such a person in a spirit of humility, carefully watching yourself so that you are not also tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way fulfill[a] the law of Christ. For if someone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Let each person test his own work, and then he will take pride in regard to himself and not his neighbor. For each man will bear his own burden.

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with his teacher.

Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. To be sure, whatever a man sows, he will also reap. Indeed, the one who sows for his own sinful flesh will reap destruction from the sinful flesh. But the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit. Let us not become weary of doing good, because at the appointed time we will reap, if we do not give up.[b] 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.

What Matters: A New Creation, Not Circumcision

11 See what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 Those who want to look good in the flesh are the ones who are trying to compel you to be circumcised. Their only reason is so that they are not persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 As a matter of fact, those who are circumcised do not keep the law themselves. But they want to have you circumcised, so that they can boast about your flesh.

14 But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. 15 In fact, in Christ Jesus[c] circumcision or uncircumcision does not matter. What matters is being a new creation. 16 Peace and mercy on those who follow this rule, namely, on the Israel of God.

17 Finally, let no one cause me any trouble, because I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus on my body.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

Footnotes:

  1. Galatians 6:2 Some witnesses to the text read in this way you will fulfill.
  2. Galatians 6:9 Or reap without ever getting tired, or reap without ceasing
  3. Galatians 6:15 Some witnesses to the text omit in Christ Jesus.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Psalm 65

Psalm 65

A Thanksgiving Psalm: You Crown the Year With Goodness

Heading
For the choir director. A psalm by David. A song.

Introduction

Praise waits for you,[a] O God, in Zion.
To you vows will be fulfilled.
You who hear prayer, to you all mortals[b] will come.

Spiritual Blessings

The record of my guilt overpowered me.
You atone for our rebellious acts.
How blessed is the one you choose and bring near!
He will dwell in your courtyards.
We will be satisfied by the goodness of your house,
by the holiness of your temple.

Blessings on the Nations

In righteousness you answer us with awesome deeds,
O God who saves us.
He is trusted by all the farthest ends of the earth and the sea.
He establishes the mountains by his power.
He has wrapped himself with strength.
He stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the peoples.

Those living at the ends of the earth fear your signs.
From sunrise to sunset you let them shout for joy.

Blessings of the Harvest

You visit the earth and water it.
You make it very rich.
God’s stream is filled with water.
You provide grain for them, just as you planned.
10 You drench the land’s furrows. You flatten its plowed ground.
You soften it with showers. You bless its crops.
11 You crown the year with your goodness.
The tracks made by your carts overflow with riches.[c]
12 The pastures of the wilderness drip.
The hills are wrapped with joy.
13 The meadows are clothed with flocks.
The valleys are dressed with grain.
They shout for joy. Yes! They sing.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 65:1 Or praise is fitting for you or silence is before you
  2. Psalm 65:2 Literally flesh
  3. Psalm 65:11 Literally drip fatness
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 23:24

24 The father of a righteous child will celebrate greatly.
One who fathers a wise son will find joy in him.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday September 20, 2023 (NIV)

Isaiah 33:10-36:22

10 Now I will arise, says the Lord.
Now I will lift myself up.
Now I will be exalted.
11 You will conceive chaff
and give birth to stubble.
Like fire, your own breath will consume you.
12 People will be burned to lime,[a]
like thorns that are cut and burned in the fire.
13 You who are far away, recognize what I have done.
You who are close by, acknowledge my mighty acts.

14 The sinners in Zion are afraid.
Trembling has seized the ungodly.
Who of us can live with a consuming fire?
Who of us can live in a place that burns without end?
15 Those who walk righteously and speak blamelessly,
those who despise dishonest gain,
whose hands refuse a bribe,
whose ears will not listen to violent plans,
whose eyes reject evil—
16 they will dwell on high.
Their defense will be a fortress on the cliffs.
Their bread will be provided.
Their water supply will be reliable.

17 Your eyes will see the King[b] in his splendor.
They will see a land that stretches far and wide.
18 Your heart will think about the past terrors.
You will think, “Where is the one who took the inventory?[c]
Where is the one who weighed the silver?
Where is the one who counted the towers?”
19 You will no longer see a barbaric people,
a people with unintelligible speech, which you cannot understand,
a people who babble in a language that makes no sense.
20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold our festivals.
You will see Jerusalem as a peaceful place,
as a tent that cannot be removed.
Its stakes will never be pulled up.
Its ropes will never be broken.
21 There the Lord will be with us in majesty,
as in a place with wide rivers and streams,
where no enemy warship can row,
where no sailing ship can slip past.
22 Because the Lord is our judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver,
and the Lord is our king,
he is the one who will save us.

23 Your rigging hangs loose.
The mast is not steady.
The sail is not set.[d]

When they divide all the plunder,
there will be so much that even the crippled will take part.
24 No one who lives there will say, “I am sick.”
The guilt of the people who live there will be forgiven.

Judgment Against the Nations

34 

Come near, you nations, and hear!
Listen, you peoples.
Let the earth and everything in it hear,
the world and everything that it produces.

The Lord is angry with all the nations,
and he is furious with all their armies.
He has condemned them to destruction.
He has handed them over for slaughter.
Their fallen bodies will lie unburied,
and the stench of their corpses will linger.
The mountains will flow with their blood.
The whole army of the heavens will fall apart.
The sky will be rolled up like a scroll,
and its whole army will waste away and fall,
like leaves withering on a vine,
like fruit that falls from a fig tree.

Yes, my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.
Now it will fall on Edom,
on the people I have sentenced to judgment.
The sword of the Lord is covered with blood.
It is coated with fat,
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat from the kidneys of rams,
for the Lord has made a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a massive slaughter in the land of Edom.
Wild oxen will fall along with them,
bull calves and powerful bulls.
Their land will be soaked with blood,
and their dust will be saturated with fat.
It will be a day of vengeance for the Lord,
a year of retribution for Zion’s sake.[e]
Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
its dust into sulfur,
and its land will become burning pitch,
10 which will not be extinguished night or day.
Its smoke will go up forever.
Generation after generation, it will lie in ruins.
No one will ever pass through it. Never again!
11 But the desert owl and the porcupine will live there.[f]
The screech owl and the raven will nest there.
God will stretch a measuring line for chaos over Edom,
and a plumb line for uninhabited ruins.[g]
12 There will be nothing left for its nobles to call a kingdom.
All its officials will be gone.
13 Thorns will cover its citadels.
Thistles and briers will overgrow its fortresses.
It will be a den of jackals,
a haunt for ostriches.
14 Desert animals and hyenas will gather,
and wild goats[h] will bleat to each other.
Creatures of the night[i] will settle there
and find a resting place.
15 An owl[j] will nest there.
She will lay eggs, hatch them,
and gather her young under her shade.
Falcons will gather there too,
each with its mate.

16 Search through the book of the Lord, and read.
Not one of them will be missing.
Not one will lack her mate.
For his mouth has commanded this,
and his Spirit has gathered them together.
17 He has allotted this land for these creatures.
His hand has divided it up for them with a surveying line.
They will possess it forever.
They will live there generation after generation.

The Joyful Return

35 

The wilderness and the desert will be glad.
The wasteland of the Arabah will rejoice and blossom like a crocus.
It will bloom lavishly,
and there will be great joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it.
It will be excellent like Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,
and make the shaky knees steady.
Tell those who have a fearful heart:
Be strong.
Do not be afraid.
Look! Your God will come with vengeance.
With God’s own retribution, he will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf will be unplugged.
The crippled will leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy.
Waters will flow in the wilderness,
and streams in the wasteland.
The burning sand will become a pool,
and in the thirsty ground there will be springs of water.
There will be grass, reeds, and rushes where the haunts
of jackals once lay.
A highway will be there,
a road that will be called the holy way.
The impure will not walk there.
It will be reserved for those who walk in that holy way.
Wicked fools will not wander onto it.
No lion will be there,
nor will any ferocious animal go up on it.
They will not be found there,
but only the redeemed will walk there.
10 Then those ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Zion with a joyful shout,
and everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Happiness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Assyria Threatens Jerusalem

36 Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all of the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. The king of Assyria sent his herald[k] from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah. A large army was with him. He stood by the water channel from the upper pool on the road to the launderer’s[l] field. Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was the palace administrator, Shebna, who was the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, who was the recorder, came out to meet him.

The herald told them this.

Tell Hezekiah this is what the Great King, the king of Assyria, says.

What makes you so confident? Your wisdom and military strength are based on empty promises. Who do you trust, so that you now have rebelled against me? Tell me! Are you really trusting in Egypt to be your staff, that splintered reed that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it? That is what happens to anyone who relies on Pharaoh king of Egypt.

If you say to me that you trust in the Lord your God, isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed? Didn’t Hezekiah tell Judah and Jerusalem to worship at this altar?

Now then, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses, if you can find enough riders for them. How can you resist even one officer from among the least of my lord’s servants? How can you put your trust in Egypt for chariots and charioteers?

10 What’s more, have I attacked this land to destroy it without the Lord’s orders? The Lord is the one who said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the herald, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew, because there are people on the city wall who are listening.”

12 But the herald replied, “Has my lord sent me only to you and to your lord to speak these words, and not to the men who are sitting on the wall, who will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine with you?”[m]

13 Then the herald stood up and called out in a loud voice in Hebrew. He said:

Listen to the words of the Great King, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says.

Do not let Hezekiah deceive you! He will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord, when he says that the Lord will save you, and that this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.

16 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says. Make a peace treaty with me and surrender to me. Each one of you will eat from his own vine, from his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink water from his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land with grain and sweet wine, a land with bread and vineyards. 18 Do not let Hezekiah make you think that the Lord will deliver you!

Have any of the gods of the nations kept them from being handed over to the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20 Which of the gods of these countries have delivered their country from my hand? Will the Lord really deliver Jerusalem from my hand?

21 But the officials remained silent, saying nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was the palace administrator, Shebna, who was the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, who was the recorder, went to Hezekiah with their clothing torn and told him everything the herald had said.

Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 33:12 Or to ashes
  2. Isaiah 33:17 Or the king
  3. Isaiah 33:18 The verse apparently refers to the actions of the enemy officers as they plundered Jerusalem.
  4. Isaiah 33:23 Or Your ropes are loose. Their flagpole is not firmly set, and the flag will not fly. But see verse 21.
  5. Isaiah 34:8 Or a time of retribution for the Defender of Zion
  6. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these animals and other animals in this section is uncertain. The word translated porcupine may be another type of owl.
  7. Isaiah 34:11 The words translated chaos and uninhabited ruins are the same words that describe the undeveloped, empty world on the first day of creation.
  8. Isaiah 34:14 The term translated wild goats later became associated with satyrs and demons, but here it seems to refer to regular animals.
  9. Isaiah 34:14 Hebrew lilith. In later Jewish writing this term became the name of a female demon.
  10. Isaiah 34:15 Or the arrow snake. The meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain.
  11. Isaiah 36:2 Or chief spokesman. The Hebrew/Assyrian term rab shakeh refers to a high-ranking military officer.
  12. Isaiah 36:2 Or washerman’s or wool-cleaner’s
  13. Isaiah 36:12 The Hebrew terms for excrement and urine are apparently coarse, because the scribal notes substitute euphemisms for them.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Galatians 5:13-26

13 After all, brothers, you were called to freedom. Only do not use your freedom as a starting point for your sinful flesh. Rather, serve one another through love. 14 In fact, the whole law is summed up in this one statement: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[a] 15 But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Flesh Opposes Spirit

16 What I am saying is this: Walk by the spirit,[b] and you will not carry out what the sinful flesh desires. 17 For the sinful flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the sinful flesh. In fact, these two continually oppose one another, so that you do not continue to do these things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the control of the law.

19 Now the works of the sinful flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, complete lack of restraint, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, discord, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,[c] drunkenness, orgies, and things similar to these. I warn you, just as I also warned you before, that those who continue to do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the spirit[d] is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the spirit, let us also walk in step with it. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.

Footnotes:

  1. Galatians 5:14 Leviticus 19:18
  2. Galatians 5:16 In this section, the spirit refers to the new nature in contrast with the sinful flesh.
  3. Galatians 5:21 A few witnesses to the text omit murders.
  4. Galatians 5:22 Or Spirit
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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Psalm 64

Psalm 64

Hide Me From the Conspiracy

Heading
For the choir director. A psalm by David.

Opening Plea

Hear my voice, O God, when I complain.
Protect my life from the terror caused by the enemy.
Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the noisy mob of evildoers.

The Enemies’ Wickedness

They sharpen their tongues like a sword.
They shoot poison words like arrows.
They shoot at the innocent from hiding places.
Suddenly they shoot at him. They have no fear.
They strengthen each other in an evil plot.
They discuss where to hide snares.
They say, “Who will see them?”
They plot evil deeds and they say,
“We have come up with a perfect plot!”
The mind and heart of man are devious!

God’s Judgment

But God will shoot them.
Suddenly they are wounded with an arrow.
Their own tongues cause their downfall.[a]
Everyone who sees them will shake his head.

The Joy of the Godly

Then all people will be afraid.
They will proclaim the work of God.
They will consider what he has done.
10 Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him.
Let all the upright in heart be confident!

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 64:8 Because of a mixture of singular and plural number, the translation is uncertain. Literally the Hebrew reads and they caused him/it to stumble, upon them, their tongue.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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Proverbs 23:23

23 Buy truth and do not sell it.
Buy wisdom, discipline, and knowledge.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday September 19, 2023 (NIV)

Isaiah 30:12-33:9

12 This is what the Holy One of Israel says:
Since you have rejected my word,
and you trust in oppression and deceit,
and you rely on them,
13 your guilt will be like a crack in a wall,
bulging out and about to collapse.
It will suddenly fall without warning.
14 It will crash like a broken clay pot,
smashed to pieces so violently that not one useful piece will be left,
not even a piece good enough to pick up a coal from the hearth
or to ladle water from a cistern.
15 This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says:
If you repent and wait quietly, you will be saved.
Your strength will depend on quietness and trust.
But you refused.
16 You said, “No, we will flee on horseback!”
Yes indeed, you will flee.
You said, “We will ride away swiftly!”
Yes indeed, you will be pursued swiftly.
17 A thousand will flee when just one threatens.
When five threaten, you will flee,
until you are like a single flag, fluttering on a mountaintop,
like a lonely banner on a hill.
18 But the Lord is eager to be gracious to you.
He waits on high to have mercy on you,
for the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all those who long for him.

19 So people will live in Zion. In Jerusalem you will weep no more. The Lord will be very gracious to you when he hears your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you. 20 Though the Lord has given you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, he is your teacher.[a] He will not be hidden any longer. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. 21 Whenever you are tempted to turn to the right or to the left, you will hear his voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.” 22 You will defile your idols that are plated with silver and your images overlaid with gold. You will throw them away like a filthy cloth,[b] saying, “Get away from me!”

23 Then he will give you rain so that you can sow seed in the ground. The bread from your land’s harvest will be excellent and plentiful. On that day your livestock will graze in wide pastures. 24 The oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat the best feed[c]—winnowed with a shovel and a winnowing fork. 25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams flowing with water.

It will be a day of terrible slaughter, when towers fall. 26 The 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 when the Lord will bind up the wounds of his people and heal the injuries he inflicted.

God Will Punish Assyria

27 Look! The name of the Lord is coming from far away,
burning with anger, in a column of thick smoke.
His lips are full of anger,
and his tongue is a consuming fire.
28 His breath is a stream at flood stage,
surging all the way up to your neck.
He shakes the nations in a sieve to destroy them,
and he puts a bridle in their mouths to lead them to destruction.
29 You will sing as you do on the night of a holy festival,
with glad hearts,
as when they go up with flutes to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause the majestic splendor of his voice to be heard.
He will make them see his arm come crashing down in fierce anger,
like the flames of a consuming fire,
like driving rain, a furious storm with hailstones.
31 The voice of the Lord will terrify Assyria.
He will strike it with his rod.
32 Every stroke of the punishing rod[d] which the Lord will lay on them
will be accompanied by the music of drums and lyres.
He himself will fight, battling them, swinging weapons.
33 Topheth has long been made ready.
It is prepared for the king,
a flaming funeral pyre, deep and wide, with plenty of wood.
The breath of the Lord, like a river of liquid fire, sets it ablaze.

Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

31 

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who put their faith in horses,
who trust in chariots because there are many of them,
who trust in charioteers[e] because they are very powerful.
They do not trust in the Holy One of Israel.
They do not seek the Lord.
The Lord is wise, and he will bring disaster.
He will not go back on his word,
but he will deal with those who do evil,
and with those who help the wicked.
The Egyptians are merely men, not gods.
Their horses are flesh, not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand to punish,
both the helper and the one seeking help will fall.
Together they will perish.

This is what the Lord said to me:
When a lion or a young lion snarls over its prey,
and a band of shepherds is called out to drive it away,
it is not afraid of their shouts,
and it is not bothered by the noise they make.
In the same way, the Lord of Armies will fearlessly come down
to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights.
Like a hovering[f] bird,
the Lord of Armies will protect Jerusalem.
He will protect it and deliver it.
He will pass over it and preserve it.
O people of Israel, return to the one you have so completely betrayed. In that day every one of you will throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—things you made, which caused you to sin.

Assyria will fall, but not by a human sword.
A sword will devour him, but not one wielded by men.
He will flee from the sword,
but his young men will be forced into slavery.
His rocky stronghold will pass away because of fear,
and his officials will abandon their banner in panic,
declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,
whose blast furnace is in Jerusalem.

The Righteous Kingdom

32 

See, a king will reign in righteousness,
and officials will govern with justice.
Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water for a dry place,
like the shade of a massive cliff in a parched land.
The eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
Hasty hearts[g] will gain understanding,
and stammering tongues will speak clearly.

The fool will no longer be called noble,
nor will rogues be treated like respectable people.[h]
The fool speaks folly,
and his heart plots evil:
to do what is ungodly,
to tell lies about the Lord,
to deny food to the hungry,
and to refuse even one drink for the thirsty.
The rogue’s ways are evil.
He plots evil to ruin the humble with lies,
even when the poor speak with justice.

But the noble man plans noble deeds,
and by noble deeds he stands.

Judgment and Restoration

Get up, you complacent women, and listen!
You carefree girls, hear what I have to say!
10 In a little more than a year, you carefree women will be worried,
because the grape harvest will fail,
and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
11 Tremble, you complacent women!
Be worried, you carefree girls!
Strip yourselves naked,
and put sackcloth around your waist.
12 Beat your breasts in mourning
for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vines,
13 because my people’s land will yield only thorns and briers.
Weep for all the houses where you partied,
in the city where you celebrated.
14 Then the fortress will be abandoned.
The crowded city will be deserted.
The citadel and the watchtower will become
rugged ruins[i] for a long time,
enjoyed by wild donkeys,
and a pasture for flocks,
15 until the Spirit is poured out on us from on high,
and the wilderness becomes a fertile field,
and the fertile field seems like a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness will live in the fertile field.
17 The result of righteousness will be peace,
and righteousness will bring lasting tranquility and security.
18 My people will live in a peaceful place,
in secure dwellings,
and in quiet resting places.
19 Even if hail destroys the forest,
or if the city is totally leveled,
20 how blessed you will be,
as you sow seed beside streams,
and let your cattle and donkeys run free.

Rise Up, O Lord!

33 

Woe to you who destroy, even though you have not been destroyed,
you who betray, though you have not been betrayed!
When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed,
and when you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.

O Lord, be gracious to us. We wait hopefully for you.
Be our strength every morning.
Be our salvation in times of trouble.
At the thunder of your voice, people flee.
When you stir up your great power, nations scatter.
Your plunder will be taken away
the way a caterpillar[j] eats things up.
People will swarm on it like a locust swarm.
The Lord is exalted, because he dwells on high.
He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
There will be stability in your time,
a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
Your treasure will be the fear of the Lord.
Listen! Their elite troops[k] are crying in the streets.
The peace envoys weep bitterly.
The highways are deserted.
All travel has stopped.
The treaty has been broken.
Witnesses[l] are despised,
and no one is respected.
The land mourns and becomes weak.
Lebanon is ashamed and withers away.
The Plain of Sharon is like the Arabah,
and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.

Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 30:20 The Hebrew reads teachers, perhaps referring to the prophets, but the singular he occurs throughout verses 20-26.
  2. Isaiah 30:22 The Hebrew words refer to a cloth stained with menstrual blood. Blood made a person who contacted it ceremonially unclean.
  3. Isaiah 30:24 Or seasoned feed
  4. Isaiah 30:32 Or the appointed rod
  5. Isaiah 31:1 Or horsemen
  6. Isaiah 31:5 Or swooping
  7. Isaiah 32:4 Or rash minds
  8. Isaiah 32:5 Or celebrities
  9. Isaiah 32:14 Or animals’ dens
  10. Isaiah 33:4 The term refers to a life stage or a type of locust.
  11. Isaiah 33:7 Or the people of Ariel
  12. Isaiah 33:8 The translation follows the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah. The standard Hebrew text reads cities.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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Galatians 5:1-12

Christ Set Us Free

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not allow anyone to put the yoke of slavery on you again. Look, I, Paul, tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. I testify again to every man who allows himself to be circumcised that he is obligated to do the whole law. You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law are completely separated from Christ. You have fallen from grace.

Indeed, through the Spirit, we by faith are eagerly waiting for the sure hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. Rather, it is faith working through love that matters. You were running well! Who cut in on you, so that you are no longer persuaded by the truth? This persuasion is not from the one who calls you. A little yeast works through the whole batch. 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will have no other opinion than this. But the one who is trying to disturb you will pay the penalty, whoever he is.

11 Brothers,[a] if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? Then the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 If only those who are upsetting you would also cut themselves off![b]

Footnotes:

  1. Galatians 5:11 When context indicates it, the Greek word for brothers may refer to all fellow believers, male and female.
  2. Galatians 5:12 Using sarcasm, Paul sharply implies that if the Judaizers were so interested in circumcision, castration might be even better for them. See what Jesus said about false teachers in Matthew 18:6.
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

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Psalm 63

Psalm 63

My Soul Thirsts for You

Heading

A psalm by David. When he was in the wilderness of Judah.[a]

Thirsting for God

God, you are my God. Eagerly I seek you.
My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you,
in a dry and dreary land without water.
Yes, in the sanctuary I have watched you
to see your power and your glory.

Joy Even in Adversity

Because your mercy is better than life,
my lips will worship you.
Yes, I will bless you as long as I live.
In your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied with rich food.[b]
My mouth will praise you with lips filled with songs.
Whenever I remember you on my bed,
throughout the watches of the night I meditate on you.
Because you are a help for me,
I sing for joy under the shade of your wings.
My soul clings to you.
Your right hand upholds me.

Destruction for the Defiant

But those who seek my life will go to destruction.
They will go into the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the power of the sword.
They will become food for foxes.[c]
11 But the king will rejoice in God.
All who swear by him will praise him,
but the mouths of those speaking lies will be shut.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 63:1 This location could apply to several periods during his long flight from Saul.
  2. Psalm 63:5 Literally with fat
  3. Psalm 63:10 Or jackals
Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 23:22

22 Listen to your father, who gave you life,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday September 18, 2023 (NIV)

Isaiah 28:14-30:11

A Cornerstone in Zion

14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you (A)scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the (B)overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made (C)lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
(D)“Behold, I am the one who has laid[a] as a foundation (E)in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice (F)the line,
and righteousness (G)the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then (H)your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you;
(I)for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be (J)sheer terror to understand the message.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up (K)as on Mount Perazim;
(L)as in the Valley of (M)Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
22 Now therefore do not (N)scoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard (O)a decree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.

23 Give ear, and hear my voice;
give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25 (P)When he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place,
and emmer[b] as the border?
26 (Q)For he is rightly instructed;
his God teaches him.

27 Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Does one crush grain for bread?
No, he does not thresh it forever;[c]
when he drives his cart wheel over it
with his horses, he does not crush it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
he is (R)wonderful in counsel
and excellent in wisdom.

The Siege of Jerusalem

29 Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city (S)where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.[d]
(T)And I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you (U)with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
(V)And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like (W)the voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.

But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like (X)small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
(Y)And in an instant, suddenly,
(Z)you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
And (AA)the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be (AB)like a dream, a vision of the night.
(AC)As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.

Astonish yourselves[e] and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk,[f] but not with wine;
(AD)stagger,[g] but not with strong drink!
10 (AE)For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).

11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is (AF)sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

13 And the Lord said:
“Because (AG)this people (AH)draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
14 therefore, behold, (AI)I will again
do wonderful things with this people,
with wonder upon wonder;
and (AJ)the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

15 Ah, (AK)you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,
whose deeds are (AL)in the dark,
and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
16 (AM)You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?

17 Is it not yet a very little while
(AN)until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
18 In that day (AO)the deaf shall hear
(AP)the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
(AQ)the eyes of the blind shall see.
19 (AR)The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the ruthless shall come to nothing
and (AS)the scoffer cease,
and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
21 who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
and (AT)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
and with an empty plea (AU)turn aside him who is in the right.

22 Therefore thus says the Lord, (AV)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
(AW)the work of my hands, in his midst,
they will sanctify my name;
(AX)they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
24 And those (AY)who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who murmur will accept instruction.”

Do Not Go Down to Egypt

30 “Ah, (AZ)stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
(BA)“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make (BB)an alliance,[h] but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
(BC)who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
(BD)Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
For though his officials are at (BE)Zoan
and (BF)his envoys reach (BG)Hanes,
everyone comes to shame
through (BH)a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”

An (BI)oracle on (BJ)the beasts of (BK)the Negeb.

Through a land of trouble and anguish,
from where come the lioness and the lion,
the adder and the (BL)flying fiery serpent,
they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
and their treasures on the humps of camels,
to a people that cannot profit them.
Egypt's (BM)help is worthless and empty;
therefore I have called her
(BN)“Rahab who sits still.”

A Rebellious People

And now, go, (BO)write it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever.[i]
(BP)For they are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the Lord;
10 (BQ)who say to (BR)the seers, “Do not see,”
and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us (BS)smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
11 leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 28:16 Dead Sea Scroll I am laying
  2. Isaiah 28:25 A type of wheat
  3. Isaiah 28:28 Or Grain is crushed for bread; he will surely thresh it, but not forever
  4. Isaiah 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)
  5. Isaiah 29:9 Or Linger awhile
  6. Isaiah 29:9 Or They are drunk
  7. Isaiah 29:9 Or they stagger
  8. Isaiah 30:1 Hebrew who weave a web
  9. Isaiah 30:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate, and Greek versions; Masoretic Text forever and ever

Cross references:

  1. Isaiah 28:14 : ver. 22; ch. 29:20
  2. Isaiah 28:15 : ver. 2, 18; [ch. 8:7, 8]
  3. Isaiah 28:15 : [Rom. 1:25]
  4. Isaiah 28:16 : Cited Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:6; [Ps. 118:22; Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11]
  5. Isaiah 28:16 : ch. 14:32
  6. Isaiah 28:17 : [2 Kgs. 21:13]
  7. Isaiah 28:17 : [2 Kgs. 21:13]
  8. Isaiah 28:18 : ver. 15
  9. Isaiah 28:19 : [ch. 50:4]
  10. Isaiah 28:19 : [2 Chr. 32:18]
  11. Isaiah 28:21 : [2 Sam. 5:20; 1 Chr. 14:11]
  12. Isaiah 28:21 : See Josh. 10:10-14
  13. Isaiah 28:21 : 1 Chr. 14:16; See Josh. 9:3
  14. Isaiah 28:22 : ver. 14
  15. Isaiah 28:22 : ch. 10:23
  16. Isaiah 28:25 : [ch. 55:10, 11]
  17. Isaiah 28:26 : [ch. 21:10]
  18. Isaiah 28:29 : Jer. 32:19; [ch. 9:6]
  19. Isaiah 29:1 : [2 Sam. 5:9]
  20. Isaiah 29:3 : [2 Kgs. 25:1; Ezek. 4:2]
  21. Isaiah 29:3 : [Ezek. 21:22; 26:8]
  22. Isaiah 29:4 : [ch. 2:11, 12]
  23. Isaiah 29:4 : See ch. 8:19
  24. Isaiah 29:5 : ch. 17:13; Ps. 18:42
  25. Isaiah 29:5 : [ch. 17:14; 37:36; 2 Kgs. 19:35]
  26. Isaiah 29:6 : [1 Kgs. 19:11, 12]
  27. Isaiah 29:7 : [Zech. 12:9]; See Mic. 4:11-13
  28. Isaiah 29:7 : ch. 17:14; [Job 20:8]
  29. Isaiah 29:8 : [Ps. 73:20; 90:5]
  30. Isaiah 29:9 : [ch. 19:14; 24:20]
  31. Isaiah 29:10 : [ch. 6:10; Rom. 11:8]
  32. Isaiah 29:11 : ch. 8:16; Dan. 12:4
  33. Isaiah 29:13 : Cited Matt. 15:8, 9; Mark 7:6, 7; [Ezek. 33:31]
  34. Isaiah 29:13 : [ch. 1:12; 58:2]
  35. Isaiah 29:14 : Hab. 1:5; See ch. 3:1-4
  36. Isaiah 29:14 : Jer. 49:7; Cited 1 Cor. 1:19
  37. Isaiah 29:15 : [ch. 30:1]
  38. Isaiah 29:15 : Ezek. 8:12
  39. Isaiah 29:16 : See ch. 10:15
  40. Isaiah 29:17 : [Ps. 107:33, 35]
  41. Isaiah 29:18 : [ch. 32:3; 35:5; Matt. 11:5]
  42. Isaiah 29:18 : ver. 12
  43. Isaiah 29:18 : [ch. 35:5; Matt. 11:5]
  44. Isaiah 29:19 : ch. 61:1; [ch. 14:32; Zeph. 3:12; Matt. 5:3]
  45. Isaiah 29:20 : ch. 28:14, 22
  46. Isaiah 29:21 : Amos 5:10; [Ps. 127:5]
  47. Isaiah 29:21 : Amos 5:12
  48. Isaiah 29:22 : [ch. 51:2]
  49. Isaiah 29:23 : ch. 19:25; 60:21; [Ps. 100:3]
  50. Isaiah 29:23 : ch. 8:13
  51. Isaiah 29:24 : [ch. 28:7]
  52. Isaiah 30:1 : [ch. 1:2, 4]
  53. Isaiah 30:1 : [ch. 29:15]
  54. Isaiah 30:1 : ch. 25:7
  55. Isaiah 30:2 : ch. 31:1; 36:6
  56. Isaiah 30:3 : [ver. 7; ch. 20:5]
  57. Isaiah 30:4 : See ch. 19:11
  58. Isaiah 30:4 : [Ezek. 17:15]
  59. Isaiah 30:4 : [Jer. 43:7]
  60. Isaiah 30:5 : [ver. 7; Jer. 2:36]
  61. Isaiah 30:6 : See ch. 13:1
  62. Isaiah 30:6 : [ch. 51:9; Ps. 68:30]
  63. Isaiah 30:6 : [Acts 8:26]
  64. Isaiah 30:6 : [Deut. 8:15]
  65. Isaiah 30:7 : ch. 36:6
  66. Isaiah 30:7 : ch. 51:9
  67. Isaiah 30:8 : Hab. 2:2
  68. Isaiah 30:9 : ver. 1
  69. Isaiah 30:10 : Amos 2:12; [Amos 7:12, 13]
  70. Isaiah 30:10 : See 1 Sam. 9:9
  71. Isaiah 30:10 : [1 Kgs. 22:13]; See Jer. 28:1-11; Ezek. 13:8-16
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Galatians 3:23-4:31

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, (A)imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, (B)the law was our (C)guardian until Christ came, (D)in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus (E)you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as (F)were baptized (G)into Christ have (H)put on Christ. 28 (I)There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[a] nor free, (J)there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And (K)if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, (L)heirs according to promise.

Sons and Heirs

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,[b] though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, (M)were enslaved to the elementary principles[c] of the world. But (N)when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, (O)born (P)of woman, born (Q)under the law, (R)to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive (S)adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent (T)the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then (U)an heir through God.

Paul's Concern for the Galatians

Formerly, when you (V)did not know God, you (W)were enslaved to those that by nature (X)are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather (Y)to be known by God, (Z)how can you turn back again to (AA)the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 (AB)You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid (AC)I may have labored over you in vain.

12 Brothers,[d] (AD)I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. (AE)You did me no wrong. 13 You know it was (AF)because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you (AG)at first, 14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me (AH)as an angel of God, (AI)as Christ Jesus. 15 What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I then become your enemy by (AJ)telling you the truth?[e] 17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. 18 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and (AK)not only when I am present with you, 19 (AL)my little children, (AM)for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ (AN)is formed in you! 20 I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Example of Hagar and Sarah

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, (AO)one by a slave woman and (AP)one by a free woman. 23 But (AQ)the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while (AR)the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two (AS)covenants. (AT)One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;[f] she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But (AU)the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

(AV)“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than those of the one who has a husband.”

28 Now you,[g] brothers, (AW)like Isaac, (AX)are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh (AY)persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, (AZ)so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? (BA)“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but (BB)of the free woman.

Footnotes:

  1. Galatians 3:28 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
  2. Galatians 4:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface; also verse 7
  3. Galatians 4:3 Or elemental spirits; also verse 9
  4. Galatians 4:12 Or Brothers and sisters; also verses 28, 31
  5. Galatians 4:16 Or by dealing truthfully with you
  6. Galatians 4:25 Some manuscripts For Sinai is a mountain in Arabia
  7. Galatians 4:28 Some manuscripts we

Cross references:

  1. Galatians 3:23 : [1 Pet. 1:5]
  2. Galatians 3:24 : [Matt. 5:17; Rom. 10:4; Col. 2:17; Heb. 9:9, 10]
  3. Galatians 3:24 : 1 Cor. 4:15 (Gk.)
  4. Galatians 3:24 : ver. 11; See ch. 2:16
  5. Galatians 3:26 : ch. 4:5, 6; [John 1:12]; See Rom. 8:14-16
  6. Galatians 3:27 : Rom. 6:3
  7. Galatians 3:27 : See Acts 8:16
  8. Galatians 3:27 : See Rom. 13:14
  9. Galatians 3:28 : [ver. 14; ch. 5:6; 6:15]; See Rom. 3:30; 1 Cor. 12:13
  10. Galatians 3:28 : 1 Cor. 11:11
  11. Galatians 3:29 : See Rom. 9:7; 1 Cor. 3:23
  12. Galatians 3:29 : ch. 4:1, 7; Rom. 8:17; Eph. 3:6; [ch. 4:28; 2 Tim. 1:1; Titus 1:2; Heb. 9:15]
  13. Galatians 4:3 : See ch. 2:4
  14. Galatians 4:4 : [1 Tim. 2:6]; See Mark 1:15
  15. Galatians 4:4 : Phil. 2:7; See John 1:14
  16. Galatians 4:4 : [1 Tim. 2:15]; See Gen. 3:15
  17. Galatians 4:4 : [Luke 2:21, 22, 27]
  18. Galatians 4:5 : See ch. 3:13
  19. Galatians 4:5 : ch. 3:26; See Rom. 8:15
  20. Galatians 4:6 : [Rom. 5:5; 2 Cor. 3:17]; See Acts 16:7
  21. Galatians 4:7 : See ch. 3:29
  22. Galatians 4:8 : 1 Cor. 1:21; 1 Thess. 4:5; 2 Thess. 1:8; 1 John 4:8
  23. Galatians 4:8 : [Eph. 2:11, 12; 1 Thess. 1:9]
  24. Galatians 4:8 : 2 Chr. 13:9; Isa. 37:19; Jer. 2:11; 5:7; 16:20; [1 Cor. 8:4]
  25. Galatians 4:9 : See 1 Cor. 8:3
  26. Galatians 4:9 : [ch. 3:3]
  27. Galatians 4:9 : Rom. 8:3; Heb. 7:18
  28. Galatians 4:10 : Rom. 14:5; Col. 2:16
  29. Galatians 4:11 : ch. 2:2; 5:2, 4; 1 Thess. 3:5
  30. Galatians 4:12 : [2 Cor. 6:13]
  31. Galatians 4:12 : [2 Cor. 2:5]
  32. Galatians 4:13 : See 1 Cor. 2:3
  33. Galatians 4:13 : [ch. 1:6]
  34. Galatians 4:14 : 1 Sam. 29:9; [Mal. 2:7 (Gk.); 2 Cor. 5:20]
  35. Galatians 4:14 : See Matt. 10:40
  36. Galatians 4:16 : See ch. 2:5
  37. Galatians 4:18 : [ver. 13]
  38. Galatians 4:19 : [1 Cor. 4:15; Philem. 10]
  39. Galatians 4:19 : [James 1:18]
  40. Galatians 4:19 : Rom. 8:10
  41. Galatians 4:22 : Gen. 16:5
  42. Galatians 4:22 : Gen. 21:2
  43. Galatians 4:23 : ver. 29; [Rom. 9:7]
  44. Galatians 4:23 : ver. 28; Gen. 17:16-19; 18:10, 14; 21:1, 2; Heb. 11:11
  45. Galatians 4:24 : See Rom. 9:4
  46. Galatians 4:24 : Deut. 33:2
  47. Galatians 4:26 : [Heb. 12:22; Rev. 3:12; 21:2, 10]
  48. Galatians 4:27 : Cited from Isa. 54:1
  49. Galatians 4:28 : See ver. 23
  50. Galatians 4:28 : Rom. 9:8; See ch. 3:29
  51. Galatians 4:29 : Gen. 21:9
  52. Galatians 4:29 : See ch. 5:11
  53. Galatians 4:30 : Cited from Gen. 21:10; [John 8:35]
  54. Galatians 4:31 : [1 Pet. 3:6]
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Psalm 62

My Soul Waits for God Alone

To the choirmaster: according to (A)Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

62 For God alone (B)my soul (C)waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
(D)He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my (E)fortress; (F)I shall not be greatly shaken.

How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like (G)a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
They only plan to thrust him down from his (H)high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
(I)They bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse. Selah

For God alone, O (J)my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
(K)He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my (L)salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, (M)my refuge is God.

(N)Trust in him at all times, O people;
(O)pour out your heart before him;
God is (P)a refuge for us. Selah

(Q)Those of low estate are but a breath;
those of high estate (R)are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
(S)they are together lighter than a breath.
10 Put no trust in extortion;
(T)set no vain hopes on robbery;
(U)if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

11 (V)Once God has spoken;
(W)twice have I heard this:
that (X)power belongs to God,
12 and that to you, O Lord, (Y)belongs steadfast love.
For you will (Z)render to a man
according to his work.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Proverbs 23:19-21

19 Hear, my son, and (A)be wise,
and (B)direct your heart in the way.
20 Be not among (C)drunkards[a]
or among (D)gluttonous eaters of meat,
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and (E)slumber will clothe them with rags.

Footnotes:

  1. Proverbs 23:20 Hebrew those who drink too much wine
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday September 17, 2023 (NIV)

Isaiah 25:1-28:13

God Will Swallow Up Death Forever

25 O Lord, (A)you are my God;
(B)I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
(C)plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
For you have made the city (D)a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
(E)Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
(F)For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
(G)a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
(H)for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
(I)like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
as heat by the shade of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is put down.

(J)On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
(K)of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
And he will swallow up (L)on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
(M)the veil that is spread over all nations.
(N)He will swallow up death forever;
and (O)the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and (P)the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
(Q)for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
“Behold, this is our God; (R)we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
(S)let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
10 For the hand of the Lord will rest (T)on this mountain,
and (U)Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.[a]
11 (V)And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
but the Lord (W)will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill[b] of his hands.
12 And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

You Keep Him in Perfect Peace

26 In that day (X)this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
he sets up (Y)salvation
as walls and bulwarks.
(Z)Open the gates,
that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
(AA)You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
(AB)For he has humbled
the inhabitants of the height,
the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
casts it to the dust.
The foot tramples it,
the feet of (AC)the poor,
the steps of (AD)the needy.”

The path of the righteous is level;
(AE)you make level the way of the righteous.
In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we wait for you;
(AF)your name and (AG)remembrance
are the desire of our soul.
My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
(AH)For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 (AI)If favor is shown to the wicked,
he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, (AJ)your hand is lifted up,
but (AK)they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
Let (AL)the fire for your adversaries consume them.
12 O Lord, you will ordain (AM)peace for us,
for you have indeed done for us all our works.
13 O Lord our God,
(AN)other lords besides you have ruled over us,
(AO)but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
14 They are dead, they will not live;
they are shades, they will not arise;
to that end you have visited them with destruction
and wiped out all remembrance of them.
15 (AP)But you have increased the nation, O Lord,
you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
(AQ)you have enlarged all the borders of the land.

16 O Lord, (AR)in distress they sought you;
they poured out a whispered prayer
when your discipline was upon them.
17 (AS)Like a pregnant woman
who writhes and cries out in her pangs
when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
18 (AT)we were pregnant, we writhed,
but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
19 (AU)Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For (AV)your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.

20 Come, my people, enter your chambers,
and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves (AW)for a little while
until the fury has passed by.
21 (AX)For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place
to punish the inhabitants of (AY)the earth for their iniquity,
and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
and will no more cover its slain.

The Redemption of Israel

27 In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong (AZ)sword will punish (BA)Leviathan the fleeing serpent, (BB)Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay (BC)the dragon that is in the sea.

In that day,
(BD)“A pleasant vineyard,[c] (BE)sing of it!
I, the Lord, am its keeper;
every moment I water it.
Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
I have no wrath.
(BF)Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
I would march against them,
I would burn them up together.
Or let them lay hold of my protection,
let them make peace with me,
let them make peace with me.”

(BG)In days to come[d] Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
and fill the whole world with fruit.

(BH)Has he struck them (BI)as he struck those who struck them?
Or have they been slain (BJ)as their slayers were slain?
(BK)Measure by measure,[e] by exile you contended with them;
(BL)he removed them with his fierce breath[f] in the day of the east wind.
Therefore by this (BM)the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:[g]
(BN)when he makes all the stones of the altars
like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
no (BO)Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.
10 (BP)For the fortified city is solitary,
a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
there the calf grazes;
there it lies down and strips its branches.
11 When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
women come and make a fire of them.
(BQ)For this is a people without discernment;
therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
he who formed them will show them no favor.

12 In that day (BR)from the river Euphrates[h] to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. 13 And in that day (BS)a great trumpet will be blown, (BT)and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt (BU)will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem

28 Ah, the proud crown of (BV)the drunkards of Ephraim,
and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
Behold, the Lord has (BW)one who is mighty and strong;
like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
like (BX)a storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
he casts down to the earth with his hand.
(BY)The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim
will be trodden underfoot;
(BZ)and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley,
will be like (CA)a first-ripe fig[i] before the summer:
when someone sees it, he swallows it
as soon as it is in his hand.

(CB)In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory,[j]
and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
and (CC)a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
and (CD)strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

(CE)These also reel with wine
and (CF)stagger with strong drink;
the priest and (CG)the prophet reel with strong drink,
they are swallowed by[k] wine,
they stagger with strong drink,
they reel in vision,
they stumble in giving judgment.
For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
with no space left.

(CH)“To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
those taken from the breast?
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”

11 (CI)For by people of strange lips
and with a foreign tongue
the Lord will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said,
(CJ)“This is rest;
give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
yet they would not hear.
13 And the word of the Lord will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little,
(CK)that they may go, and fall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 25:10 The Hebrew words for dunghill and for the Moabite town Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2) sound alike
  2. Isaiah 25:11 Or in spite of the skill
  3. Isaiah 27:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts A vineyard of wine
  4. Isaiah 27:6 Hebrew In those to come
  5. Isaiah 27:8 Or By driving her away; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  6. Isaiah 27:8 Or wind
  7. Isaiah 27:9 Septuagint and this is the blessing when I take away his sin
  8. Isaiah 27:12 Hebrew from the River
  9. Isaiah 28:4 Or fruit
  10. Isaiah 28:5 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike
  11. Isaiah 28:7 Or confused by

Cross references:

  1. Isaiah 25:1 : Ex. 15:2
  2. Isaiah 25:1 : [Ps. 107:32]
  3. Isaiah 25:1 : [2 Kgs. 19:25]
  4. Isaiah 25:2 : [ch. 17:1; Jer. 51:37]
  5. Isaiah 25:3 : [ch. 18:7]
  6. Isaiah 25:4 : Nah. 1:7
  7. Isaiah 25:4 : ch. 4:6
  8. Isaiah 25:4 : [2 Chr. 32:18]
  9. Isaiah 25:5 : [ch. 32:2]
  10. Isaiah 25:6 : ch. 2:2, 3; 11:9; 24:23
  11. Isaiah 25:6 : [Ps. 63:5]
  12. Isaiah 25:7 : [See ver. 6 above]; ch. 2:2, 3; 11:9; 24:23
  13. Isaiah 25:7 : [2 Cor. 3:15]
  14. Isaiah 25:8 : Cited 1 Cor. 15:54; [Hos. 13:14]
  15. Isaiah 25:8 : Rev. 7:17; [ch. 30:19]
  16. Isaiah 25:8 : [ch. 37:4]
  17. Isaiah 25:8 : See ch. 1:20
  18. Isaiah 25:9 : ch. 26:8; [Gen. 49:18; Ps. 27:14]
  19. Isaiah 25:9 : Ps. 9:14
  20. Isaiah 25:10 : [See ver. 6 above]; ch. 2:2, 3; 11:9; 24:23
  21. Isaiah 25:10 : See ch. 15:1
  22. Isaiah 25:11 : [ch. 16:12]
  23. Isaiah 25:11 : [ch. 16:14]
  24. Isaiah 26:1 : [ch. 27:2]
  25. Isaiah 26:1 : [ch. 60:18]
  26. Isaiah 26:2 : Ps. 118:19, 20
  27. Isaiah 26:3 : [ch. 30:15]
  28. Isaiah 26:5 : ch. 25:12
  29. Isaiah 26:6 : [ch. 25:4]
  30. Isaiah 26:6 : [ch. 25:4]
  31. Isaiah 26:7 : 1 Sam. 2:9; Ps. 37:23
  32. Isaiah 26:8 : Ex. 3:15
  33. Isaiah 26:8 : Ex. 3:15
  34. Isaiah 26:9 : ver. 16; [2 Chr. 33:12]
  35. Isaiah 26:10 : See Ps. 73:3-11
  36. Isaiah 26:11 : [Mic. 5:9]
  37. Isaiah 26:11 : [ch. 5:12]
  38. Isaiah 26:11 : Ps. 21:9; [ch. 33:14]
  39. Isaiah 26:12 : ch. 9:7; Mic. 5:5
  40. Isaiah 26:13 : [ch. 2:8; 2 Kgs. 16:3, 4]
  41. Isaiah 26:13 : [ch. 2:20; Ps. 20:7]; See 2 Kgs. 18:4-6
  42. Isaiah 26:15 : ch. 9:3
  43. Isaiah 26:15 : [ch. 54:2, 3]
  44. Isaiah 26:16 : Hos. 5:15; See ch. 37:1-4
  45. Isaiah 26:17 : See ch. 13:8
  46. Isaiah 26:18 : [See ver. 17 above]; See ch. 13:8
  47. Isaiah 26:19 : [Ezek. 37:12; Dan. 12:2; Hos. 13:14]
  48. Isaiah 26:19 : [Hos. 14:5]
  49. Isaiah 26:20 : ch. 10:25
  50. Isaiah 26:21 : Mic. 1:3
  51. Isaiah 26:21 : [ch. 24:5]
  52. Isaiah 27:1 : [Jer. 47:6]
  53. Isaiah 27:1 : Ps. 74:14
  54. Isaiah 27:1 : Ps. 74:14
  55. Isaiah 27:1 : ch. 51:9; Ezek. 29:3
  56. Isaiah 27:2 : ch. 5:7
  57. Isaiah 27:2 : [ch. 26:1]
  58. Isaiah 27:4 : [ch. 10:17]
  59. Isaiah 27:6 : ch. 37:31; Hos. 14:5, 6
  60. Isaiah 27:7 : Hos. 6:1, 2
  61. Isaiah 27:7 : See ch. 37:36-38
  62. Isaiah 27:7 : ch. 37:18, 19
  63. Isaiah 27:8 : [Jer. 10:24]
  64. Isaiah 27:8 : [Jer. 18:17]
  65. Isaiah 27:9 : [ch. 22:14]
  66. Isaiah 27:9 : [2 Kgs. 18:4]
  67. Isaiah 27:9 : See Deut. 16:21
  68. Isaiah 27:10 : ch. 17:9; 32:14, 19; [Hos. 8:14; Mic. 5:11]
  69. Isaiah 27:11 : Deut. 32:28; See ch. 30:16-18
  70. Isaiah 27:12 : See Gen. 15:18
  71. Isaiah 27:13 : Lev. 25:9; [Matt. 24:31; Rev. 11:15]
  72. Isaiah 27:13 : ch. 11:11, 16; Mic. 7:12
  73. Isaiah 27:13 : [ch. 2:2]
  74. Isaiah 28:1 : [Hos. 7:5]
  75. Isaiah 28:2 : [ch. 8:7]
  76. Isaiah 28:2 : ver. 15, 18
  77. Isaiah 28:3 : ver. 1
  78. Isaiah 28:4 : [Amos 8:1, 2]
  79. Isaiah 28:4 : Hos. 9:10; Mic. 7:1
  80. Isaiah 28:5 : ch. 2:11
  81. Isaiah 28:6 : [1 Kgs. 3:28]
  82. Isaiah 28:6 : [ch. 38:6]
  83. Isaiah 28:7 : [ch. 3:12]
  84. Isaiah 28:7 : Hos. 4:11
  85. Isaiah 28:7 : ch. 9:15; 56:10, 12
  86. Isaiah 28:9 : Jer. 6:10
  87. Isaiah 28:11 : Cited 1 Cor. 14:21; See ch. 5:26-29
  88. Isaiah 28:12 : ch. 30:15; [Matt. 11:28, 29]
  89. Isaiah 28:13 : ch. 8:15
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Galatians 3:10-22

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

10 For all who rely on works of the law are (A)under a curse; for it is written, (B)“Cursed be everyone who does not (C)abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that (D)no one is justified before God by the law, for (E)“The righteous shall live by faith.”[a] 12 But the law is not of faith, rather (F)“The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ (G)redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, (H)“Cursed is everyone who is hanged (I)on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might (J)come to the Gentiles, so that (K)we might receive (L)the promised Spirit[b] through faith.

The Law and the Promise

15 (M)To give a human example, brothers:[c] (N)even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now (O)the promises were made (P)to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, (Q)“And to your offspring,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came (R)430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as (S)to make the promise void. 18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but (T)God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

19 Why then the law? (U)It was added because of transgressions, (V)until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was (W)put in place through angels (X)by an intermediary. 20 Now (Y)an intermediary implies more than one, but (Z)God is one.

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For (AA)if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture (AB)imprisoned everything under sin, so that (AC)the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given (AD)to those who believe.

Footnotes:

  1. Galatians 3:11 Or The one who by faith is righteous will live
  2. Galatians 3:14 Greek receive the promise of the Spirit
  3. Galatians 3:15 Or brothers and sisters
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Psalm 61

Lead Me to the Rock

To the choirmaster: with (A)stringed instruments. Of David.

61 Hear my cry, O God,
(B)listen to my prayer;
from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is (C)faint.
Lead me to (D)the rock
that is higher than I,
for you have been (E)my refuge,
a strong (F)tower against the enemy.

Let me (G)dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under (H)the shelter of your wings! Selah
For you, O God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

(I)Prolong (J)the life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
May he be enthroned forever before God;
appoint (K)steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!

So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I (L)perform my vows day after day.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Proverbs 23:17-18

17 Let not your heart (A)envy sinners,
but continue in (B)the fear of the Lord all the day.
18 Surely (C)there is a future,
and your (D)hope will not be cut off.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday September 16, 2023 (NIV)

Isaiah 22-24

An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem

22 The (A)oracle concerning (B)the valley of vision.

What do you mean that you have gone up,
all of you, to the housetops,
you who are full of shoutings,
tumultuous city, (C)exultant town?
Your slain are (D)not slain with the sword
or dead in battle.
(E)All your leaders have fled together;
without the bow they were captured.
All of you who were found were captured,
though they had fled far away.
Therefore I said:
“Look away from me;
(F)let me weep bitter tears;
do not labor to comfort me
concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

(G)For the Lord God of hosts has (H)a day
of tumult and (I)trampling and (J)confusion
in (K)the valley of vision,
a battering down of walls
and a shouting to the mountains.
And (L)Elam bore the quiver
with chariots and horsemen,
and (M)Kir uncovered the shield.
Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.
He has taken away (N)the covering of Judah.

In that day you looked to (O)the weapons of the House of the Forest, and you saw that (P)the breaches of the city of David were many. (Q)You collected the waters of the lower pool, 10 and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 (R)You made a reservoir between (S)the two walls for the water of (T)the old pool. But (U)you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.

12 In that day (V)the Lord God of hosts
called for weeping and mourning,
for (W)baldness and (X)wearing sackcloth;
13 and behold, joy and gladness,
killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
eating flesh and drinking wine.
(Y)“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”
14 The Lord of hosts (Z)has revealed himself in my ears:
“Surely (AA)this iniquity will not be atoned for you (AB)until you die,”
says the Lord God of hosts.

15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to (AC)Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, (AD)that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you (AE)who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. (AF)He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be (AG)your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. 19 (AH)I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant (AI)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and (AJ)I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be (AK)a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place (AL)on his shoulder (AM)the key of the house of David. (AN)He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him (AO)like a peg in a secure place, and he will become (AP)a throne of honor to his father's house. 24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, (AQ)the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”

An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

23 The (AR)oracle concerning (AS)Tyre.

Wail, O (AT)ships of Tarshish,
for Tyre is laid waste, (AU)without house or harbor!
From (AV)the land of Cyprus[a]
it is revealed to them.
Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
the merchants of (AW)Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
And on many waters
your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
the harvest of the Nile;
you were (AX)the merchant of the nations.
Be ashamed, O (AY)Sidon, for the sea has spoken,
the stronghold of the sea, saying:
“I have neither labored nor given birth,
I have neither reared young men
nor brought up young women.”
When the report comes to Egypt,
they will be in anguish[b] over the report about Tyre.
(AZ)Cross over to Tarshish;
wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
Is this your exultant city
(BA)whose origin is from days of old,
whose feet carried her
to settle far away?
Who has purposed this
against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
whose merchants were princes,
whose traders were the honored of the earth?
The Lord of hosts has purposed it,
(BB)to defile the pompous pride of all glory,[c]
to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
10 Cross over your land like the Nile,
O daughter of Tarshish;
there is no restraint anymore.
11 (BC)He has stretched out his hand over the sea;
he has shaken the kingdoms;
the Lord has given command concerning Canaan
to destroy its strongholds.
12 And he said:
“You will no more exult,
O oppressed virgin daughter of (BD)Sidon;
arise, (BE)cross over to (BF)Cyprus,
even there you will have no rest.”

13 Behold the land of (BG)the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;[d] Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected (BH)their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

14 (BI)Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
for your stronghold is laid waste.

15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for (BJ)seventy years, like the days[e] of one king. At the end of (BK)seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

16 “Take a harp;
go about the city,
O forgotten prostitute!
Make sweet melody;
sing many songs,
that you may be remembered.”

17 At the end of (BL)seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and (BM)will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.

Judgment on the Whole Earth

24 Behold, (BN)the Lord will empty the earth[f] and make it desolate,
and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
(BO)And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
as with the slave, so with his master;
as with the maid, so with her mistress;
(BP)as with the buyer, so with the seller;
as with the lender, so with the borrower;
(BQ)as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
(BR)The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
(BS)for the Lord has spoken this word.

(BT)The earth mourns and withers;
the world languishes and withers;
the highest people of the earth languish.
The earth lies (BU)defiled
under its inhabitants;
for (BV)they have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes,
broken the everlasting covenant.
Therefore (BW)a curse devours the earth,
and its inhabitants (BX)suffer for their guilt;
therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
and few men are left.
(BY)The wine mourns,
the vine languishes,
all the merry-hearted sigh.
(BZ)The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
No more do they drink wine (CA)with singing;
strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10 (CB)The wasted city is broken down;
(CC)every house is shut up so that none can enter.
11 (CD)There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
(CE)all joy has grown dark;
the gladness of the earth is banished.
12 Desolation is left in the city;
the gates are battered into ruins.
13 For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
among the nations,
(CF)as when an olive tree is beaten,
as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

14 They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west.[g]
15 (CG)Therefore in the east[h] give glory to the Lord;
in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
16 (CH)From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
of glory to (CI)the Righteous One.
But I say, “I waste away,
I waste away. Woe is me!
For (CJ)the traitors have betrayed,
with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”

17 (CK)Terror and the pit and the snare[i]
are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!
18 (CL)He who flees at the sound of the terror
shall fall into the pit,
and he who climbs out of the pit
shall be caught in the snare.
For (CM)the windows of heaven are opened,
and (CN)the foundations of the earth tremble.
19 The earth is utterly broken,
the earth is split apart,
the earth is violently shaken.
20 The earth (CO)staggers like a drunken man;
it sways like a hut;
(CP)its transgression lies heavy upon it,
and it falls, and will not rise again.

21 On that day the Lord will punish
the host of heaven, in heaven,
and (CQ)the kings of the earth, on the earth.
22 (CR)They will be gathered together
as prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
and after many days (CS)they will be punished.
23 (CT)Then the moon will be confounded
and the sun ashamed,
for (CU)the Lord of hosts reigns
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and his glory will be before his elders.

Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also verse 12
  2. Isaiah 23:5 Hebrew they will have labor pains
  3. Isaiah 23:9 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike
  4. Isaiah 23:13 Or that has become nothing
  5. Isaiah 23:15 Or lifetime
  6. Isaiah 24:1 Or land; also throughout this chapter
  7. Isaiah 24:14 Hebrew from the sea
  8. Isaiah 24:15 Hebrew in the realm of light, or with the fires
  9. Isaiah 24:17 The Hebrew words for terror, pit, and snare sound alike

Cross references:

  1. Isaiah 22:1 : See ch. 13:1
  2. Isaiah 22:1 : ver. 5; Jer. 21:13; [Joel 3:12, 14]
  3. Isaiah 22:2 : ch. 32:13
  4. Isaiah 22:2 : Lam. 4:9
  5. Isaiah 22:3 : [ch. 1:10]
  6. Isaiah 22:4 : Jer. 9:1; Mic. 1:8
  7. Isaiah 22:5 : ch. 2:12-17
  8. Isaiah 22:5 : [ch. 37:3]
  9. Isaiah 22:5 : ch. 10:6; 18:2
  10. Isaiah 22:5 : Mic. 7:4
  11. Isaiah 22:5 : [See ver. 1 above]; ver. 5; Jer. 21:13; [Joel 3:12, 14]
  12. Isaiah 22:6 : See ch. 11:11
  13. Isaiah 22:6 : 2 Kgs. 16:9
  14. Isaiah 22:8 : ch. 30:1
  15. Isaiah 22:8 : 1 Kgs. 10:17
  16. Isaiah 22:9 : ver. 5, 10; [2 Chr. 32:5]
  17. Isaiah 22:9 : [Neh. 3:16]
  18. Isaiah 22:11 : [See ver. 9 above]; [Neh. 3:16]
  19. Isaiah 22:11 : [2 Kgs. 25:4]
  20. Isaiah 22:11 : [ch. 7:3; 2 Kgs. 20:20; 2 Chr. 32:3, 4]
  21. Isaiah 22:11 : [ch. 5:12]
  22. Isaiah 22:12 : [Joel 2:17]
  23. Isaiah 22:12 : See ch. 3:24
  24. Isaiah 22:12 : See 2 Sam. 3:31
  25. Isaiah 22:13 : ch. 56:12; Cited 1 Cor. 15:32
  26. Isaiah 22:14 : ch. 5:9
  27. Isaiah 22:14 : [ch. 27:9; 1 Sam. 3:14]
  28. Isaiah 22:14 : [ver. 13]
  29. Isaiah 22:15 : ch. 36:3, 11, 22; 37:2; 2 Kgs. 18:18, 26, 37; 19:2
  30. Isaiah 22:16 : 2 Chr. 16:14
  31. Isaiah 22:16 : Matt. 27:60
  32. Isaiah 22:17 : [Dan. 3:21]
  33. Isaiah 22:18 : [ch. 36:9]
  34. Isaiah 22:19 : [ver. 25]
  35. Isaiah 22:20 : ch. 36:3; 37:2; 2 Kgs. 18:18, 26, 37; 19:2
  36. Isaiah 22:21 : [See ver. 20 above]; ch. 36:3; 37:2; 2 Kgs. 18:18, 26, 37; 19:2
  37. Isaiah 22:21 : Gen. 45:8
  38. Isaiah 22:22 : ch. 9:6
  39. Isaiah 22:22 : Rev. 3:7
  40. Isaiah 22:22 : [Job 12:14]
  41. Isaiah 22:23 : [ch. 33:20; 54:2; Eccles. 12:11]
  42. Isaiah 22:23 : [Rev. 3:21]
  43. Isaiah 22:25 : [See ver. 23 above]; [ch. 33:20; 54:2; Eccles. 12:11]
  44. Isaiah 23:1 : See ch. 13:1
  45. Isaiah 23:1 : [Jer. 25:22; 27:2, 3]; See Ezek. 26:2–28:24; Joel 3:4-8; Amos 1:9, 10; Zech. 9:2-4
  46. Isaiah 23:1 : ver. 14; 1 Kgs. 10:22; 22:48
  47. Isaiah 23:1 : ch. 24:10
  48. Isaiah 23:1 : Jer. 2:10; See Gen. 10:4
  49. Isaiah 23:2 : ver. 4, 12; Gen. 10:15; Josh. 19:28; Jer. 25:22; 27:3; Ezek. 27:8; 32:30; Joel 3:4; Zech. 9:2
  50. Isaiah 23:3 : See Ezek. 27:3-23
  51. Isaiah 23:4 : [See ver. 2 above]; ver. 4, 12; Gen. 10:15; Josh. 19:28; Jer. 25:22; 27:3; Ezek. 27:8; 32:30; Joel 3:4; Zech. 9:2
  52. Isaiah 23:6 : ver. 12
  53. Isaiah 23:7 : [Gen. 10:15]
  54. Isaiah 23:9 : [Ezek. 28:7]
  55. Isaiah 23:11 : [Ex. 14:21]
  56. Isaiah 23:12 : See ver. 2
  57. Isaiah 23:12 : ver. 6
  58. Isaiah 23:12 : ver. 1
  59. Isaiah 23:13 : ch. 47:1; 48:14
  60. Isaiah 23:13 : [2 Kgs. 25:1]
  61. Isaiah 23:14 : See ver. 1
  62. Isaiah 23:15 : Jer. 25:11, 22
  63. Isaiah 23:15 : Jer. 25:11, 22
  64. Isaiah 23:17 : Jer. 25:11, 22
  65. Isaiah 23:17 : Rev. 17:1, 2
  66. Isaiah 24:1 : ch. 13:9
  67. Isaiah 24:2 : Hos. 4:9; [Lam. 4:16]; See ch. 3:1-3
  68. Isaiah 24:2 : [Ezek. 7:12, 13]
  69. Isaiah 24:2 : [Jer. 15:10]
  70. Isaiah 24:3 : ver. 1, 6
  71. Isaiah 24:3 : See ch. 1:20
  72. Isaiah 24:4 : [ch. 16:8; Hos. 4:3]
  73. Isaiah 24:5 : Num. 35:33
  74. Isaiah 24:5 : [ch. 2:6, 8]
  75. Isaiah 24:6 : Zech. 5:3, 4
  76. Isaiah 24:6 : [Ps. 5:10]
  77. Isaiah 24:7 : [Joel 1:10, 12]
  78. Isaiah 24:8 : Jer. 7:34; Hos. 2:11; [Amos 8:10]
  79. Isaiah 24:9 : [Amos 6:5, 6]
  80. Isaiah 24:10 : [ch. 34:11]
  81. Isaiah 24:10 : ch. 23:1
  82. Isaiah 24:11 : [ver. 7; Ps. 144:14; Joel 1:5]
  83. Isaiah 24:11 : [Joel 1:12]
  84. Isaiah 24:13 : ch. 17:6; [Mic. 7:1]
  85. Isaiah 24:15 : [ch. 45:6]
  86. Isaiah 24:16 : [ver. 14]
  87. Isaiah 24:16 : [ch. 26:2; 60:21]
  88. Isaiah 24:16 : ch. 21:2; 33:1
  89. Isaiah 24:17 : Jer. 48:43, 44; [Job 20:24; Amos 5:19]
  90. Isaiah 24:18 : [See ver. 17 above]; Jer. 48:43, 44; [Job 20:24; Amos 5:19]
  91. Isaiah 24:18 : See Gen. 7:11
  92. Isaiah 24:18 : Ps. 18:7
  93. Isaiah 24:20 : [ch. 19:14; 29:9]
  94. Isaiah 24:20 : [ver. 5, 6]
  95. Isaiah 24:21 : Ps. 76:12; [ch. 10:12; 31:8]
  96. Isaiah 24:22 : Mic. 4:11, 12
  97. Isaiah 24:22 : ch. 29:6
  98. Isaiah 24:23 : See ch. 13:10
  99. Isaiah 24:23 : Ps. 99:1, 2; Mic. 4:7
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Galatians 2:17-3:9

17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found (A)to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I (B)died to the law, so that I might (C)live to God. 20 I have been (D)crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives (E)in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, (F)who loved me and (G)gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for (H)if righteousness[a] were through the law, (I)then Christ died for no purpose.

By Faith, or by Works of the Law?

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? (J)It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly (K)portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: (L)Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by (M)hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? (N)Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by[b] the flesh? (O)Did you suffer[c] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and (P)works miracles among you do so (Q)by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as (R)Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

Know then that it is (S)those of faith who are (T)the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that (U)God would justify[d] the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, (V)“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Footnotes:

  1. Galatians 2:21 Or justification
  2. Galatians 3:3 Or now ending with
  3. Galatians 3:4 Or experience
  4. Galatians 3:8 Or count righteous; also verses 11, 24
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Psalm 60

He Will Tread Down Our Foes

To the choirmaster: according to (A)Shushan Eduth. A (B)Miktam[a] of David; (C)for instruction; when he (D)strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

60 O God, (E)you have rejected us, (F)broken our defenses;
you have been angry; (G)oh, restore us.
You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
(H)repair its breaches, for it totters.
(I)You have made your people see hard things;
(J)you have given us (K)wine to drink that made us stagger.

You have set up (L)a banner for those who fear you,
that they may flee to it (M)from the bow.[b] Selah
(N)That your (O)beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

God has spoken (P)in his holiness:[c]
“With exultation (Q)I will divide up (R)Shechem
and portion out the Vale of (S)Succoth.
(T)Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
(U)Ephraim is (V)my helmet;
Judah is my (W)scepter.
(X)Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I (Y)cast my shoe;
over (Z)Philistia I shout in triumph.”[d]

Who will bring me to the fortified city?
(AA)Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Have you not (AB)rejected us, O God?
You (AC)do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11 Oh, grant us help against the foe,
for (AD)vain is the salvation of man!
12 With God we shall (AE)do valiantly;
it is he who will (AF)tread down our foes.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 60:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms
  2. Psalm 60:4 Or that it may be displayed because of truth
  3. Psalm 60:6 Or sanctuary
  4. Psalm 60:8 Revocalization (compare Psalm 108:10); Masoretic Text over me, O Philistia, shout in triumph
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Proverbs 23:15-16

15 (A)My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16 My (B)inmost being[a] will exult
when your lips speak (C)what is right.

Footnotes:

  1. Proverbs 23:16 Hebrew My kidneys
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday September 15, 2023 (NIV)

Isaiah 19-21

An Oracle Concerning Egypt

19 An (A)oracle concerning (B)Egypt.

Behold, the Lord (C)is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and (D)the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will (E)melt within them.
And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
(F)and they will fight, each against another
and each against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
and I will confound[a] their (G)counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
and (H)the mediums and the necromancers;
and I will give over the Egyptians
into the hand of (I)a hard master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
declares the Lord God of hosts.

And the waters of the sea will be dried up,
and the river will be dry and parched,
and its canals will become foul,
and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up,
reeds and rushes will rot away.
There will be bare places by the Nile,
on the brink of the Nile,
and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,
will be driven away, and will be no more.
The (J)fishermen will mourn and lament,
all who cast a hook in the Nile;
and they will languish
who spread nets on the water.
The workers in (K)combed flax will be in despair,
and the weavers of white cotton.
10 Those who are the (L)pillars of the land will be crushed,
and all who (M)work for pay will be grieved.

11 The princes of (N)Zoan are utterly foolish;
the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the wise,
a son of ancient kings”?
12 Where then are your (O)wise men?
Let them tell you
that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
13 The princes of (P)Zoan have become fools,
and the princes of (Q)Memphis are deluded;
those who are the (R)cornerstones of her tribes
have made Egypt stagger.
14 The Lord has mingled within her (S)a spirit of confusion,
and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
(T)as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 And there will be nothing for Egypt
that (U)head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.

Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed

16 In that day the Egyptians will be (V)like women, and (W)tremble with fear before the hand that the Lord of hosts shakes over them. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the Lord of hosts has purposed against them.

18 (X)In that day there will be (Y)five cities in the land of Egypt that (Z)speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.[b]

19 In that day there will be an (AA)altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a (AB)pillar to the Lord at its border. 20 (AC)It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, (AD)he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. 21 (AE)And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day (AF)and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. 22 (AG)And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

23 (AH)In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, (AI)and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, (AJ)a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt (AK)my people, and Assyria (AL)the work of my hands, and (AM)Israel my inheritance.”

A Sign Against Egypt and Cush

20 In the year that (AN)the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to (AO)Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking (AP)naked and barefoot.

Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years (AQ)as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,[c] so shall the (AR)king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. (AS)Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. And the inhabitants of (AT)this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and (AU)to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”

Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

21 The (AV)oracle concerning the wilderness of (AW)the sea.

(AX)As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
it comes from the wilderness,
from a terrible land.
A stern vision is told to me;
(AY)the traitor betrays,
and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O (AZ)Elam;
lay siege, O (BA)Media;
all the (BB)sighing she has caused
I bring to an end.
Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
(BC)pangs have seized me,
like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
(BD)the twilight I longed for
has been turned for me into trembling.
(BE)They prepare the table,
they spread the rugs,[d]
they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
(BF)oil the shield!
For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
let him announce what he sees.
When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
very diligently.”
Then he who saw cried out:[e]
(BG)“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
whole nights.
And behold, here come riders,
horsemen in pairs!”
(BH)And he answered,
(BI)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
(BJ)and all the carved images of her gods
he has shattered to the ground.”
10 O (BK)my threshed and winnowed one,
what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, I announce to you.

11 The (BL)oracle concerning (BM)Dumah.

One is calling to me from (BN)Seir,
“Watchman, what time of the night?
Watchman, what time of the night?”
12 The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also (BO)the night.
If you will inquire, (BP)inquire;
come back again.”

13 The (BQ)oracle concerning (BR)Arabia.

In the thickets in (BS)Arabia you will lodge,
O (BT)caravans of (BU)Dedanites.
14 To the thirsty bring water;
meet the fugitive with bread,
O inhabitants of the land of (BV)Tema.
15 For they have fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
and from the press of battle.

16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, (BW)according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of (BX)Kedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of (BY)Kedar will be few, (BZ)for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 19:3 Or I will swallow up
  2. Isaiah 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun
  3. Isaiah 20:3 Probably Nubia
  4. Isaiah 21:5 Or they set the watchman
  5. Isaiah 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion

Cross references:

  1. Isaiah 19:1 : See ch. 13:1
  2. Isaiah 19:1 : [Joel 3:19]; See Jer. 46:13-26; Ezek. 29:1–31:2; 31:18–32:32
  3. Isaiah 19:1 : Ps. 18:10, 11; 104:3; [Matt. 26:64; Rev. 1:7]
  4. Isaiah 19:1 : Ex. 12:12; [1 Sam. 5:3; Jer. 43:12; 50:2]
  5. Isaiah 19:1 : ch. 13:7; See Josh. 2:11
  6. Isaiah 19:2 : [Judg. 7:22]
  7. Isaiah 19:3 : ver. 11
  8. Isaiah 19:3 : ch. 8:19
  9. Isaiah 19:4 : ch. 20:4; Jer. 46:26; Ezek. 29:19
  10. Isaiah 19:8 : [Num. 11:5]
  11. Isaiah 19:9 : [Ezek. 27:7]
  12. Isaiah 19:10 : [Gal. 2:9]
  13. Isaiah 19:10 : Jer. 46:21
  14. Isaiah 19:11 : ch. 30:4; Num. 13:22; Ps. 78:43
  15. Isaiah 19:12 : 1 Kgs. 4:30; Acts 7:22
  16. Isaiah 19:13 : [See ver. 11 above]; ch. 30:4; Num. 13:22; Ps. 78:43
  17. Isaiah 19:13 : Jer. 2:16; 44:1; 46:14, 19; Ezek. 30:13, 16
  18. Isaiah 19:13 : [Zech. 10:4]
  19. Isaiah 19:14 : [1 Kgs. 22:22]
  20. Isaiah 19:14 : [ch. 24:20; 29:9]
  21. Isaiah 19:15 : ch. 9:14
  22. Isaiah 19:16 : Jer. 50:37; 51:30; Nah. 3:13
  23. Isaiah 19:16 : ch. 10:32
  24. Isaiah 19:18 : ver. 21
  25. Isaiah 19:18 : [ch. 30:17; 2 Kgs. 7:13]
  26. Isaiah 19:18 : [Zeph. 3:9]
  27. Isaiah 19:19 : [2 Kgs. 5:17]
  28. Isaiah 19:19 : [Gen. 28:18]
  29. Isaiah 19:20 : [See ver. 19 above]; [Gen. 28:18]
  30. Isaiah 19:20 : [Obad. 21]
  31. Isaiah 19:21 : [ver. 25]
  32. Isaiah 19:21 : Zech. 14:16-18; [ch. 2:2]
  33. Isaiah 19:22 : Jer. 46:25, 26
  34. Isaiah 19:23 : ch. 11:16
  35. Isaiah 19:23 : [ver. 18, 21; Zeph. 3:9]
  36. Isaiah 19:24 : [Gen. 12:2, 3]
  37. Isaiah 19:25 : [Hos. 2:23]
  38. Isaiah 19:25 : ch. 29:23
  39. Isaiah 19:25 : Deut. 32:9
  40. Isaiah 20:1 : 2 Kgs. 18:17
  41. Isaiah 20:1 : 1 Sam. 5:1
  42. Isaiah 20:2 : Mic. 1:8, 11; [1 Sam. 19:24]
  43. Isaiah 20:3 : [ch. 8:18]
  44. Isaiah 20:4 : ch. 19:4
  45. Isaiah 20:5 : ch. 30:3, 5; [ch. 37:9]
  46. Isaiah 20:6 : Jer. 47:7; [ch. 14:29, 31]
  47. Isaiah 20:6 : [ch. 37:6]
  48. Isaiah 21:1 : See ch. 13:1
  49. Isaiah 21:1 : Jer. 51:36, 42
  50. Isaiah 21:1 : Jer. 51:1
  51. Isaiah 21:2 : ch. 24:16; 33:1
  52. Isaiah 21:2 : See ch. 11:11
  53. Isaiah 21:2 : See ch. 13:17
  54. Isaiah 21:2 : Ezek. 9:4
  55. Isaiah 21:3 : See ch. 13:8
  56. Isaiah 21:4 : [Deut. 28:67]
  57. Isaiah 21:5 : Jer. 51:39, 57
  58. Isaiah 21:5 : 2 Sam. 1:21
  59. Isaiah 21:8 : Hab. 2:1
  60. Isaiah 21:9 : [Hab. 2:2]
  61. Isaiah 21:9 : Jer. 51:8; Cited Rev. 14:8; 18:2
  62. Isaiah 21:9 : ch. 46:1
  63. Isaiah 21:10 : Jer. 51:33; Amos 1:3; [Mic. 4:13]
  64. Isaiah 21:11 : See ch. 13:1
  65. Isaiah 21:11 : Gen. 25:14; 1 Chr. 1:30
  66. Isaiah 21:11 : Deut. 2:8; Ezek. 35:2
  67. Isaiah 21:12 : [Job 36:20; Amos 5:8]
  68. Isaiah 21:12 : [Ps. 37:36]
  69. Isaiah 21:13 : See ch. 13:1
  70. Isaiah 21:13 : Gen. 25:3; Jer. 25:23, 24
  71. Isaiah 21:13 : Gen. 25:3; Jer. 25:23, 24
  72. Isaiah 21:13 : [Gen. 37:25]
  73. Isaiah 21:13 : Gen. 25:3; Jer. 25:23, 24
  74. Isaiah 21:14 : Job 6:19
  75. Isaiah 21:16 : See ch. 16:14
  76. Isaiah 21:16 : ch. 60:7; Gen. 25:13; Ps. 120:5, 6; Song 1:5; Jer. 2:10; 49:28; Ezek. 27:21
  77. Isaiah 21:17 : [See ver. 16 above]; ch. 60:7; Gen. 25:13; Ps. 120:5, 6; Song 1:5; Jer. 2:10; 49:28; Ezek. 27:21
  78. Isaiah 21:17 : ch. 1:20
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Galatians 2:1-16

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those (A)who seemed influential) the gospel that (B)I proclaim among the Gentiles, (C)in order to make sure I was not running or had not (D)run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, (E)was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. (F)Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who (G)slipped in to spy out (H)our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, (I)so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that (J)the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those (K)who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; (L)God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential (M)added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been (N)entrusted with (O)the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, (P)who seemed to be (Q)pillars, perceived the (R)grace that was given to me, they (S)gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, (T)the very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Opposes Peter

11 But (U)when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him (V)to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, (W)he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing (X)the circumcision party.[a] 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their (Y)conduct was not in step with (Z)the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas (AA)before them all, “If you, though a Jew, (AB)live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not (AC)Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that (AD)a person is not justified[b] by works of the law (AE)but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, (AF)because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Footnotes:

  1. Galatians 2:12 Or fearing those of the circumcision
  2. Galatians 2:16 Or counted righteous (three times in verse 16); also verse 17
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Psalm 59

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to (A)Do Not Destroy. A (B)Miktam[a] of David, (C)when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

59 (D)Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
(E)protect me from those who (F)rise up against me;
deliver me from (G)those who work evil,
and save me from (H)bloodthirsty men.

For behold, they (I)lie in wait for my life;
fierce men (J)stir up strife against me.
(K)For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,
for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
(L)Awake, come to meet me, and see!
You, (M)Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

Each evening they (N)come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
There they are, (O)bellowing with their mouths
with (P)swords in their lips—
for (Q)“Who,” they think,[b] “will hear us?”

But you, O Lord, (R)laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.
O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are (S)my fortress.
10 (T)My God in his steadfast love[c] (U)will meet me;
God will let me (V)look in triumph on my enemies.

11 Kill them not, lest my people forget;
make them totter[d] by your power and (W)bring them down,
O Lord, our (X)shield!
12 For (Y)the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13 (Z)consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
that they may (AA)know that God rules over Jacob
to (AB)the ends of the earth. Selah

14 (AC)Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
15 They (AD)wander about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.

16 But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me (AE)a fortress
and (AF)a refuge in (AG)the day of my distress.
17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, (AH)are my fortress,
(AI)the God who shows me steadfast love.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 59:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
  2. Psalm 59:7 Hebrew lacks they think
  3. Psalm 59:10 Or The God who shows me steadfast love
  4. Psalm 59:11 Or wander
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Proverbs 23:13-14

13 Do not withhold (A)discipline from a child;
(B)if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14 If you strike him with the rod,
you will (C)save his soul from Sheol.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.