ISAIAH 30:12-33:9
GALATIANS 5:1-12
PSALM 63:1-11
PROVERBS 23:22
ISAIAH 30:12-33:9
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel: " Because you [Israel] despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, 13 calamity will come upon you suddenly. It will be like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. 14 You will be smashed like a piece of pottery--shattered so completely that there won't be a piece left that is big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well." 15 The Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says, " Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. 16 You said, ` No, we will get our help from Egypt. They will give us swift horses for riding into battle.' But the only swiftness you are going to see is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you! 17 One of them will chase a thousand of you. Five of them will make all of you flee. You will be left like a lonely flagpole on a distant mountaintop." 18 But the LORD still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for him to help them. 19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will respond instantly to the sound of your cries. 20 Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and affliction for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes, 21 and you will hear a voice say, " This is the way; turn around and walk here." 22 Then you will destroy all your silver idols and gold images. You will throw them out like filthy rags. " Ugh!" you will say to them. " Begone!"23 Then the LORD will bless you with rain at planting time. There will be wonderful harvests and plenty of pastureland for your cattle. 24 The oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat good grain, its chaff having been blown away by the wind. 25 In that day, when your enemies are slaughtered, there will be streams of water flowing down every mountain and hill. 26 The moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sun will be seven times brighter--like the light of seven days! So it will be when the LORD begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them. 27 Look! The LORD is coming from far away, burning with anger, surrounded by a thick, rising smoke. His lips are filled with fury; his words consume like fire. 28 His anger pours out like a flood on his enemies, sweeping them all away. He will sift out the proud nations. He will bridle them and lead them off to their destruction. 29 But the people of God will sing a song of joy, like the songs at the holy festivals. You will be filled with joy, as when a flutist leads a group of pilgrims to Jerusalem--the mountain of the LORD--to the Rock of Israel. 30 And the LORD will make his majestic voice heard. With angry indignation he will bring down his mighty arm on his enemies. It will descend with devouring flames, with cloudbursts, thunderstorms, and huge hailstones, bringing their destruction. 31 At the LORD's command, the Assyrians will be shattered. He will strike them down with his rod. 32 And as the LORD strikes them, his people will keep time with the music of tambourines and harps. 33 Topheth--the place of burning--has long been ready for the Assyrian king; it has been piled high with wood. The breath of the LORD, like fire from a volcano, will set it ablaze.31:1 DESTRUCTION is certain for those who look to Egypt for help, trusting their cavalry and chariots instead of looking to the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 2 In his wisdom, the LORD will send great disaster; he will not change his mind. He will rise against those who are wicked, and he will crush their allies, too. 3 For these Egyptians are mere humans, not God! Their horses are puny flesh, not mighty spirits! When the LORD clenches his fist against them, they will stumble and fall among those they are trying to help. They will all fall down and die together. 4 But the LORD has told me this: " When a lion, even a young one, kills a sheep, it pays no attention to the shepherd's shouts and noise. It just goes right on eating. In the same way, the LORD Almighty will come and fight on Mount Zion. He will not be frightened away! 5 The LORD Almighty will hover over Jerusalem as a bird hovers around its nest. He will defend and save the city; he will pass over it and rescue it." 6 Therefore, my people, though you are such wicked rebels, come and return to the LORD. 7 I know the glorious day will come when every one of you will throw away the gold idols and silver images that your sinful hands have made. 8 " The Assyrians will be destroyed, but not by the swords of men. The sword of God will strike them, and they will panic and flee. The strong young Assyrians will be taken away as captives. 9 Even their generals will quake with terror and flee when they see the battle flags," says the LORD, whose flame burns brightly in Jerusalem.32:1 LOOK, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him. 2 He will shelter Israel from the storm and the wind. He will refresh her as a river in the desert and as the cool shadow of a large rock in a hot and weary land. 3 Then everyone who can see will be looking for God, and those who can hear will listen to his voice. 4 Even the hotheads among them will be full of sense and understanding. Those who stammer in uncertainty will speak out plainly. 5 In that day ungodly fools will not be heroes. Wealthy cheaters will not be respected as outstanding citizens. 6 Everyone will recognize ungodly fools for what they are. They spread lies about the LORD; they deprive the hungry of food and give no water to the thirsty. 7 The smooth tricks of evil people will be exposed, including all the lies they use to oppress the poor in the courts. 8 But good people will be generous to others and will be blessed for all they do. 9 Listen, you women who lie around in lazy ease. Listen to me, and I will tell you of your reward. 10 In a short time--in just a little more than a year--you careless ones will suddenly begin to care. For your fruit crop will fail, and the harvest will never take place. 11 Tremble, you women of ease; throw off your unconcern. Strip off your pretty clothes, and wear sackcloth in your grief. 12 Beat your breasts in sorrow for your bountiful farms that will soon be gone, and for those fruitful vines of other years. 13 For your land will be overgrown with thorns and briers. Your joyful homes and happy cities will be gone. 14 The palace and the city will be deserted, and busy towns will be empty. Herds of donkeys and goats will graze on the hills where the watchtowers are, 15 until at last the Spirit is poured down upon us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will become a lush and fertile forest. 16 Justice will rule in the wilderness and righteousness in the fertile field. 17 And this righteousness will bring peace. Quietness and confidence will fill the land forever. 18 My people will live in safety, quietly at home. They will be at rest. 19 Even though the forest will be destroyed and the city torn down, 20 God will greatly bless his people. Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up. Their flocks and herds will graze in green pastures.33:1 DESTRUCTION is certain for you Assyrians, who have destroyed everything around you but have never felt destruction yourselves. You expect others to respect their promises to you, while you betray your promises to them. Now you, too, will be betrayed and destroyed! 2 But LORD, be merciful to us, for we have waited for you. Be our strength each day and our salvation in times of trouble. 3 The enemy runs at the sound of your voice. When you stand up, the nations flee! 4 Just as locusts strip the fields and vines, so Jerusalem will strip the fallen army of Assyria! 5 Though the LORD is very great and lives in heaven, he will make Jerusalem his home of justice and righteousness. 6 In that day he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.7 But now your ambassadors weep in bitter disappointment, for Assyria has refused their petition for peace. 8 Your roads are deserted; no one travels them anymore. The Assyrians have broken their peace pact and care nothing for the promises they made before witnesses. They have no respect for anyone. 9 All the land of Israel is in trouble. Lebanon has been destroyed. The plain of Sharon is now a wilderness. Bashan and Carmel have been plundered.
GALATIANS 5:1-12
So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you [Galatians] stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. 2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ cannot help you. 3 I'll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey all of the regulations in the whole law of Moses. 4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace. 5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God through faith. 6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. 7 You were getting along so well. Who has interfered with you to hold you back from following the truth? 8 It certainly isn't God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. 9 But it takes only one wrong person among you to infect all the others--a little yeast spreads quickly through the whole batch of dough! 10 I am trusting the Lord to bring you back to believing as I do about these things. God will judge that person, whoever it is, who has been troubling and confusing you.11 Dear brothers and sisters,* if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised--as some say I do--why would the Jews persecute me? The fact that I am still being persecuted proves that I am still preaching salvation through the cross of Christ alone. 12 I only wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.
PSALM 63:1-11
A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
3 Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself;
how I praise you!
4 I will honor you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
5 You satisfy me more than the richest of foods.
I will praise you with songs of joy.
6 I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
7 I think how much you have helped me;
I sing for joy in the shadow of your protecting wings.
8 I follow close behind you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.
9 But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin.
They will go down into the depths of the earth.
10 They will die by the sword
and become the food of jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God.
All who trust in him will praise him,
while liars will be silenced.
PROVERBS 23:22
Listen to your father, who gave you life, and don't despise your mother's experience when she is old.
