ISAIAH 1:1- 2:22
2 CORINTHIANS 10:1- 18
PSALM 52:1- 9
PROVERBS 22:26- 27
These visions concerning Judah and Jerusalem came to Isaiah son of Amoz during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah-- all kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! This is what the LORD says:"The children I raised and cared for have turned against me. 3 Even the animals-- the donkey and the ox-- know their owner and appreciate his care, but not my people Israel. No matter what I do for them, they still do not understand." 4 Oh, what a sinful nation they are! They are loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil and corrupt children who have turned away from the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel, cutting themselves off from his help. 5 Why do you continue to invite punishment? Must you rebel forever? Your head is injured, and your heart is sick. 6 You are sick from head to foot-- covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds-- without any ointments or bandages. 7 Your country lies in ruins, and your cities are burned. As you watch, foreigners plunder your fields and destroy everything they see. 8 Jerusalem stands abandoned like a watchman's shelter in a vineyard or field after the harvest is over. It is as helpless as a city under siege. 9 If the LORD Almighty had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah. 10 Listen to the LORD, you leaders of Israel! Listen to the law of our God, people of Israel. You act just like the rulers and people of Sodom and Gomorrah. 11 "I am sick of your sacrifices," says the LORD. "Don't bring me any more burnt offerings! I don't want the fat from your rams or other animals. I don't want to see the blood from your offerings of bulls and rams and goats. 12 Why do you keep parading through my courts with your worthless sacrifices? 13 The incense you bring me is a stench in my nostrils! Your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath day, and your special days for fasting-- even your most pious meetings-- are all sinful and false. I want nothing more to do with them. 14 I hate all your festivals and sacrifices. I cannot stand the sight of them! 15 From now on, when you lift up your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen. For your hands are covered with the blood of your innocent victims. 16 Wash yourselves and be clean! Let me no longer see your evil deeds. Give up your wicked ways. 17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the rights of widows. 18" Come now, let us argue this out, "says the LORD." No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey me and let me help you, then you will have plenty to eat. 20 But if you keep turning away and refusing to listen, you will be destroyed by your enemies. I, the LORD, have spoken! "21 See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute. Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers. 22 Once like pure silver, you have become like worthless slag. Once so pure, you are now like watered- down wine. 23 Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them take bribes and refuse to defend the orphans and the widows. 24 Therefore, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, says," I will pour out my fury on you, my enemies! 25 I will turn against you. I will melt you down and skim off your slag. I will remove all your impurities. 26 Afterward I will give you good judges and wise counselors like the ones you used to have. Then Jerusalem will again be called the Home of Justice and the Faithful City. "27 Because the LORD is just and righteous, the repentant people of Jerusalem will be redeemed. 28 But all sinners will be completely destroyed, for they refuse to come to the LORD. 29 Shame will cover you when you think of the times you offered sacrifices to idols in your groves of sacred oaks. You will blush when you think of all the sins you committed in your sacred gardens. 30 You will wither away like an oak or garden without water. 31 The strongest among you will disappear like burning straw. Your evil deeds are the spark that will set the straw on fire, and no one will be able to put it out. 2:1 THIS is another vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:2 In the last days, the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem will become the most important place on earth. People from all over the world will go there to worship. 3 Many nations will come and say," Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Temple of the God of Israel. There he will teach us his ways, so that we may obey him. "For in those days the LORD's teaching and his word will go out from Jerusalem. 4 The LORD will settle international disputes. All the nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. All wars will stop, and military training will come to an end. 5 Come, people of Israel, let us walk in the light of the LORD! 6 The LORD has rejected the people of Israel because they have made alliances with foreigners from the East who practice magic and divination, just like the Philistines. 7 Israel has vast treasures of silver and gold and many horses and chariots. 8 The land is filled with idols. The people bow down and worship these things they have made. 9 So now everyone will be humbled and brought low. The LORD cannot simply ignore their sins! 10 Crawl into caves in the rocks. Hide from the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty. 11 The day is coming when your pride will be brought low and the LORD alone will be exalted. 12 In that day the LORD Almighty will punish the proud, bringing them down to the dust. 13 He will cut down the tall cedars of Lebanon and the mighty oaks of Bashan. 14 He will level the high mountains and hills. 15 He will break down every high tower and wall. 16 He will destroy the great trading ships and all the small boats in the harbor. 17 The arrogance of all people will be brought low. Their pride will lie in the dust. The LORD alone will be exalted! 18 Idols will be utterly abolished and destroyed. 19 When the LORD rises to shake the earth, his enemies will crawl with fear into holes in the ground. They will hide in caves in the rocks from the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty. 20 They will abandon their gold and silver idols to the moles and bats. 21 They will crawl into caverns and hide among the jagged rocks at the tops of cliffs. In this way, they will try to escape the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty as he rises to shake the earth. 22 Stop putting your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. How can they be of help to anyone?
Now I, Paul, plead with you. I plead with the gentleness and kindness that Christ himself would use, even though some of you say I am bold in my letters but timid in person. 2 I hope it won't be necessary, but when I come I may have to be very bold with those who think we act from purely human motives. 3 We are human, but we don't wage war with human plans and methods. 4 We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds. 5 With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ. 6 And we will punish those who remained disobedient after the rest of you became loyal and obedient. 7 The trouble with you is that you make your decisions on the basis of appearance. You must recognize that we belong to Christ just as much as those who proudly declare that they belong to Christ. 8 I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord. But this authority is to build you up, not to tear you down. And I will not be put to shame by having my work among you destroyed. 9 Now this is not just an attempt to frighten you by my letters. 10 For some say," Don't worry about Paul. His letters are demanding and forceful, but in person he is weak, and his speeches are really bad! "11 The ones who say this must realize that we will be just as demanding and forceful in person as we are in our letters. 12 Oh, don't worry; I wouldn't dare say that I am as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, and measuring themselves by themselves. What foolishness! 13 But we will not boast of authority we do not have. Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God's plan for us, and this plan includes our working there with you. 14 We are not going too far when we claim authority over you, for we were the first to travel all the way to you with the Good News of Christ. 15 Nor do we claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow and that our work among you will be greatly enlarged. 16 Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places that are far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question about being in someone else's territory. 17 As the Scriptures say," The person who wishes to boast
should boast only of what the Lord has done. "
18 When people boast about themselves, it doesn't count for much. But when the Lord commends someone, that's different!
For the choir director:A psalm of David, regarding the time Doeg the Edomite told Saul that Ahimelech had given refuge to David.
1 You call yourself a hero, do you?
Why boast about this crime of yours,
you who have disgraced God's people?
2 All day long you plot destruction.
Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor;
you're an expert at telling lies.
3 You love evil more than good
and lies more than truth.
Interlude4 You love to say things that harm others,
you liar!
5 But God will strike you down once and for all.
He will pull you from your home
and drag you from the land of the living.
Interlude6 The righteous will see it and be amazed.
They will laugh and say,
7" Look what happens to mighty warriors
who do not trust in God.
They trust their wealth instead
and grow more and more bold in their wickedness. "
8 But I am like an olive tree,
thriving in the house of God.
I trust in God's unfailing love
forever and ever.
9 I will praise you forever, O God,
for what you have done.
I will wait for your mercies
in the presence of your people.
Do not co- sign another person's note or put up a guarantee for someone else's loan. If you can't pay it, even your bed will be snatched from under you
2 CORINTHIANS 10:1- 18
PSALM 52:1- 9
PROVERBS 22:26- 27
These visions concerning Judah and Jerusalem came to Isaiah son of Amoz during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah-- all kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! This is what the LORD says:"The children I raised and cared for have turned against me. 3 Even the animals-- the donkey and the ox-- know their owner and appreciate his care, but not my people Israel. No matter what I do for them, they still do not understand." 4 Oh, what a sinful nation they are! They are loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil and corrupt children who have turned away from the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel, cutting themselves off from his help. 5 Why do you continue to invite punishment? Must you rebel forever? Your head is injured, and your heart is sick. 6 You are sick from head to foot-- covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds-- without any ointments or bandages. 7 Your country lies in ruins, and your cities are burned. As you watch, foreigners plunder your fields and destroy everything they see. 8 Jerusalem stands abandoned like a watchman's shelter in a vineyard or field after the harvest is over. It is as helpless as a city under siege. 9 If the LORD Almighty had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah. 10 Listen to the LORD, you leaders of Israel! Listen to the law of our God, people of Israel. You act just like the rulers and people of Sodom and Gomorrah. 11 "I am sick of your sacrifices," says the LORD. "Don't bring me any more burnt offerings! I don't want the fat from your rams or other animals. I don't want to see the blood from your offerings of bulls and rams and goats. 12 Why do you keep parading through my courts with your worthless sacrifices? 13 The incense you bring me is a stench in my nostrils! Your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath day, and your special days for fasting-- even your most pious meetings-- are all sinful and false. I want nothing more to do with them. 14 I hate all your festivals and sacrifices. I cannot stand the sight of them! 15 From now on, when you lift up your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen. For your hands are covered with the blood of your innocent victims. 16 Wash yourselves and be clean! Let me no longer see your evil deeds. Give up your wicked ways. 17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Fight for the rights of widows. 18" Come now, let us argue this out, "says the LORD." No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey me and let me help you, then you will have plenty to eat. 20 But if you keep turning away and refusing to listen, you will be destroyed by your enemies. I, the LORD, have spoken! "21 See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute. Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers. 22 Once like pure silver, you have become like worthless slag. Once so pure, you are now like watered- down wine. 23 Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them take bribes and refuse to defend the orphans and the widows. 24 Therefore, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, says," I will pour out my fury on you, my enemies! 25 I will turn against you. I will melt you down and skim off your slag. I will remove all your impurities. 26 Afterward I will give you good judges and wise counselors like the ones you used to have. Then Jerusalem will again be called the Home of Justice and the Faithful City. "27 Because the LORD is just and righteous, the repentant people of Jerusalem will be redeemed. 28 But all sinners will be completely destroyed, for they refuse to come to the LORD. 29 Shame will cover you when you think of the times you offered sacrifices to idols in your groves of sacred oaks. You will blush when you think of all the sins you committed in your sacred gardens. 30 You will wither away like an oak or garden without water. 31 The strongest among you will disappear like burning straw. Your evil deeds are the spark that will set the straw on fire, and no one will be able to put it out. 2:1 THIS is another vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:2 In the last days, the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem will become the most important place on earth. People from all over the world will go there to worship. 3 Many nations will come and say," Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Temple of the God of Israel. There he will teach us his ways, so that we may obey him. "For in those days the LORD's teaching and his word will go out from Jerusalem. 4 The LORD will settle international disputes. All the nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. All wars will stop, and military training will come to an end. 5 Come, people of Israel, let us walk in the light of the LORD! 6 The LORD has rejected the people of Israel because they have made alliances with foreigners from the East who practice magic and divination, just like the Philistines. 7 Israel has vast treasures of silver and gold and many horses and chariots. 8 The land is filled with idols. The people bow down and worship these things they have made. 9 So now everyone will be humbled and brought low. The LORD cannot simply ignore their sins! 10 Crawl into caves in the rocks. Hide from the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty. 11 The day is coming when your pride will be brought low and the LORD alone will be exalted. 12 In that day the LORD Almighty will punish the proud, bringing them down to the dust. 13 He will cut down the tall cedars of Lebanon and the mighty oaks of Bashan. 14 He will level the high mountains and hills. 15 He will break down every high tower and wall. 16 He will destroy the great trading ships and all the small boats in the harbor. 17 The arrogance of all people will be brought low. Their pride will lie in the dust. The LORD alone will be exalted! 18 Idols will be utterly abolished and destroyed. 19 When the LORD rises to shake the earth, his enemies will crawl with fear into holes in the ground. They will hide in caves in the rocks from the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty. 20 They will abandon their gold and silver idols to the moles and bats. 21 They will crawl into caverns and hide among the jagged rocks at the tops of cliffs. In this way, they will try to escape the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty as he rises to shake the earth. 22 Stop putting your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. How can they be of help to anyone?
Now I, Paul, plead with you. I plead with the gentleness and kindness that Christ himself would use, even though some of you say I am bold in my letters but timid in person. 2 I hope it won't be necessary, but when I come I may have to be very bold with those who think we act from purely human motives. 3 We are human, but we don't wage war with human plans and methods. 4 We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds. 5 With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ. 6 And we will punish those who remained disobedient after the rest of you became loyal and obedient. 7 The trouble with you is that you make your decisions on the basis of appearance. You must recognize that we belong to Christ just as much as those who proudly declare that they belong to Christ. 8 I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord. But this authority is to build you up, not to tear you down. And I will not be put to shame by having my work among you destroyed. 9 Now this is not just an attempt to frighten you by my letters. 10 For some say," Don't worry about Paul. His letters are demanding and forceful, but in person he is weak, and his speeches are really bad! "11 The ones who say this must realize that we will be just as demanding and forceful in person as we are in our letters. 12 Oh, don't worry; I wouldn't dare say that I am as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, and measuring themselves by themselves. What foolishness! 13 But we will not boast of authority we do not have. Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God's plan for us, and this plan includes our working there with you. 14 We are not going too far when we claim authority over you, for we were the first to travel all the way to you with the Good News of Christ. 15 Nor do we claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow and that our work among you will be greatly enlarged. 16 Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places that are far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question about being in someone else's territory. 17 As the Scriptures say," The person who wishes to boast
should boast only of what the Lord has done. "
18 When people boast about themselves, it doesn't count for much. But when the Lord commends someone, that's different!
For the choir director:A psalm of David, regarding the time Doeg the Edomite told Saul that Ahimelech had given refuge to David.
1 You call yourself a hero, do you?
Why boast about this crime of yours,
you who have disgraced God's people?
2 All day long you plot destruction.
Your tongue cuts like a sharp razor;
you're an expert at telling lies.
3 You love evil more than good
and lies more than truth.
Interlude4 You love to say things that harm others,
you liar!
5 But God will strike you down once and for all.
He will pull you from your home
and drag you from the land of the living.
Interlude6 The righteous will see it and be amazed.
They will laugh and say,
7" Look what happens to mighty warriors
who do not trust in God.
They trust their wealth instead
and grow more and more bold in their wickedness. "
8 But I am like an olive tree,
thriving in the house of God.
I trust in God's unfailing love
forever and ever.
9 I will praise you forever, O God,
for what you have done.
I will wait for your mercies
in the presence of your people.
Do not co- sign another person's note or put up a guarantee for someone else's loan. If you can't pay it, even your bed will be snatched from under you
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