Isaiah 6-7
6 In the same year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a grand throne way up high with a flowing cape that filled the whole temple. 2 Bright flaming creatures waited on Him. Each had six wings: two covering its face, two covering its feet, and two for flying. 3 Like some fiery choir, they would call back and forth continually.
Flaming Creatures: Holy, holy, holy is the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies!
The earth is filled with His glorious presence!
4 They were so loud that the doorframes shook, and the holy house kept filling with smoke.
5 Isaiah: I am in so much trouble! I’m ruined!
I’m just a human being—fallible and stammering.
My lips are encrusted with filth;
and I live among people just like me.
But here I am, and I’ve seen with my very own eyes
none other than the King, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
6 Then one of the flaming creatures flew to me holding a red-hot ember which it had taken from God’s table, the temple altar, with a pair of tongs. 7 The creature held it to my lips.
Flaming Creature: Look! With the touch of this burning ember on your lips,
your guilt is turned away;
All your faults and wrongdoings are forgiven.
8 Then I heard the Lord’s voice.
Eternal One: Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?
Isaiah: Here I am! Send me.
Eternal One: 9 Go to this people and say,
“Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
Keep looking, but do not understand.”[a]
10 Make their hearts hard, their ears deaf, and their eyes blind.
Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts, and then turn and be healed.[b]
11 Isaiah: How long, Lord?
Eternal One: Until cities are in ruins, the houses sit empty,
and the land has become a wasteland.
12 You see, the Eternal has determined to move the people far away;
place after place will be completely abandoned.
13 And even if just a tenth survive, it will be burned again;
imagine a terebinth or an oak; once it is cut down, the stump remains.
The holy seed remains in the stump.
The stump remains: a testament to what the people used to be, a promise of what is to come.
7 When Ahaz (Uzziah’s grandson, Jotham’s son) was king here in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, a coalition of two other kings—Pekah (Remaliah’s son) from the Northern Kingdom (also called Israel and Ephraim) and Rezin from Aram (which is Syria)—determined to attack our capital Jerusalem. But they failed to take it. 2 This is what happened: When our royal house (descended from David) heard that Aram was in league with Ephraim against us, the king was terrified. The news shook the hearts of the people like trees in the wind. 3 So the Eternal told Isaiah to get involved.
Eternal One: Catch up with Ahaz at the end of the stream that comes out of the upper pool—you know, the one at the highway where they wash and bleach cloth. And bring your son who’s named Shear-jashub (which means “Returning Remnant”). 4-6 Tell Ahaz, “Keep your wits about you. Stay calm. Don’t panic just because those two angry northerners, Rezin of Aram and Pekah (Remaliah’s son), threaten you and say: ‘Let’s march against Judah, terrorize the people, overthrow it, and set up Tabeel’s son as our puppet king.’”
God promised that David’s dynasty would continue forever. Since Ahaz is of David’s line, he should be confident before the threat. But he needs the support of God’s prophet.
7 Here is what the Eternal Lord has to say.
Eternal One: It’s not going to work;
what they determine is not going to happen.
8-9 The head of Aram is Damascus, and its head is King Rezin;
Ephraim’s head is Samaria, and its king is Remaliah’s son.
Ephraim will fall apart as a nation and as a people within 65 years.
Now then, if you don’t hold firm, if you don’t believe, you will not remain firm.
10 The Eternal One also said this to our king, Ahaz:
Eternal One (to Ahaz): 11 Ask for proof, a sign from the Eternal your God. Go ahead, ask anything, anything at all; it can be high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.
Ahaz: 12 No way. I wouldn’t dare to ask, to test the Eternal One.
Isaiah: 13 Listen then. You are none other than the house of David, the one who inherited God’s promise of permanent kingship for David’s descendants. Is it so easy to be a bore to people that you would exhaust God’s patience too? 14 Suit yourself. The Lord will give you a proof-sign anyway: See, a young maiden[c] will conceive. She will give birth to a son and name Him Immanuel, that is, “God with us.”[d] 15 There will indeed be something Godlike about Him. He’ll be eating curds and honey when he knows to choose what is right and good and refuse what is not. 16 But before the boy has the wisdom to refuse evil and choose good the territory of the two kings you now dread will be abandoned.
17 But it’s not all rosy for you, either. The Eternal will bring against you, against this population, this blessed kingdom, such trouble as hasn’t been seen since the 10 northern tribes, led by Ephraim, seceded from Judah—trouble in the form of the Assyrian king. 18 At that time, the Eternal will summon the Egyptian flies and the stinging pests of Assyria, calling them 19 to settle into every crack and crevice of the country, every place high and low—mountains, fields, deserts, and cities—every thornbush and watering hole. 20 In that day, the Lord will hire the Assyrian king from beyond the Euphrates River to shave every part of you, humbling you like slaves. 21 Each person will hang onto only what he or she absolutely needs—a heifer and two sheep—in order to survive. 22 But some will survive because those who are left will eat curds and honey, for their animals will produce plenty of milk. 23 They will no longer live off the land because wherever there had been flourishing vineyards with 1,000 vines, worth 1,000 pieces of silver, they will produce nothing but briars and thorns. 24 No one will venture into this wasteland of briars and thorns without bow and arrow. 25 No one will dare to cultivate the hills that once were tilled for fear of what is out there; only the hardiest animals—cattle and sheep—are released to graze the ragged slopes.
Footnotes:
- 6:9 Luke 8:10
- 6:9–10 Matthew 13:14–15; Mark 4:12; John 12:40; Acts 28:26–27
- 7:14 Greek manuscripts read, “virgin.”
- 7:14 Matthew 1:23
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
2 Corinthians 11:16-33
16 So as I said before, please don’t mark me a fool; but if you must, then please accept me even as that and give me a little more room to boast. 17 What I am saying now is not in character with our Lord but is the bragging of a self-assured fool. 18 Just as other fools brag according to their worldly accomplishments, so I, too, will have to boast; 19 meanwhile, you—so wise, so tolerant—gladly bear this kind of foolishness. 20 How easily you tolerate becoming another’s slave, having them consume you, letting them rob you blind, or allowing them to edge their way past you or slap you in the face. 21 Embarrassingly I admit that next to them we must look very weak!
But in whatever way they dare to boast—remember, I’m speaking in character as a fool—I dare to boast even more! 22 Are they Hebrews, God’s chosen? So am I. Are they true Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants to the Anointed One, the Liberating King? I am even more so! (I can’t believe how foolish I sound.) I have worked harder for God’s kingdom, taken more beatings, been dragged in and out of prisons, and have been eye-to-eye with death. 24 Five times I have withstood thirty-nine lashes from Jewish authorities, 25 three times I was battered with rods, once I was almost stoned to death, three times I was shipwrecked, and I spent one day and night adrift on the sea. 26 I have been on many journeys and faced the most extreme circumstances: perilous rivers, violent thieves, and threats by my own people and by the Gentile outsiders alike. I have faced dangers in the city, in the wilderness, and at sea; and danger from spies among our brothers and sisters. 27 I have survived toil and hardships, sleepless nights, hunger and thirst without a crumb in sight, bare to the cold. 28 As if these external trials weren’t enough, there is the daily stress I feel and anxiety I carry for all the churches under my care. 29 Who is weak without this arousing my empathy? Who gets hurt and offended without this inciting my burning anger?
30 So as you can see, if I have to boast, I will, but only in my own weaknesses. 31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus, He who is worthy of eternal blessing, can confirm that I am telling you the truth. 32 Once, in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas had his people in the city looking for me in order to arrest me. 33 But I crouched in a basket and was lowered out of a window in the city wall, and I narrowly escaped his tight grip.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Psalm 54
Psalm 54
For the worship leader. A contemplative song[a] of David when his friends, the Ziphites, betrayed him to Saul. Accompanied by strings.
This is a lament reflecting the time when David was betrayed to Saul (1 Samuel 23:6–29). It expresses hope that God will save by His name. The name refers to the covenant name given to Moses at Mount Sinai (Exodus 3). We have translated it “the Eternal One.” For the ancients the name of God has power precisely because it embodies the presence of God. To call upon the name was to call upon God to remember His covenant promises and be present in power in order to rescue His people.
1 Liberate me, O God, by the authority of Your name.
Vindicate me through Your legendary power.
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
let the words of my mouth reach Your sympathetic ear.
3 The truth is, these strangers are rallying against me;
cold-blooded men seek to slay me;
they have no respect for You.
[pause][b]
4 But see now! God comes to rescue me;
the Lord is my valiant supporter.
5 He will repay my enemies for the harm they have done; they are doomed!
According to Your faithful promises, silence them.
6 I will sacrifice to You willingly;
I will lift Your name by shouts of thanksgiving, O Eternal One, for Your name is good.
7 God has pulled me out from every one of the troubles that encompass me,
and I have seen what it means to stand over my enemies in triumph.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Proverbs 23:1-3
23 When sitting down to eat with a ruler,
take a moment to think about who you are with and what you are doing.
2 If you are the type who eats too much too fast,
do whatever is necessary to curb your enthusiasm for food.
3 Also, do not eye the ruler’s delicacies,
for the food may not be what it seems.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.