ISAIAH 66:1-24
PHILIPPIANS 3:4-21
PSALM 74:1-23
PROVERBS 24:15-16
ISAIAH 66:1-24
This is what the LORD says: " Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you ever build me a temple as good as that? Could you build a dwelling place for me? 2 My hands have made both heaven and earth, and they are mine. I, the LORD, have spoken! " I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word. 3 But those who choose their own ways, delighting in their sins, are cursed. Their offerings will not be accepted. When such people sacrifice an ox, it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice. When they sacrifice a lamb or bring an offering of grain, it is as bad as putting a dog or the blood of a pig on the altar! When they burn incense, it is as if they had blessed an idol. 4 I will send great troubles against them--all the things they feared. For when I called, they did not answer. When I spoke, they did not listen. They deliberately sinned--before my very eyes--and chose to do what they know I despise." 5 Hear this message from the LORD, and tremble at his words: " Your close relatives hate you and throw you out for being loyal to my name. ` Let the LORD be honored!' they scoff. ` Be joyful in him!' But they will be put to shame. 6 What is all the commotion in the city? What is that terrible noise from the Temple? It is the voice of the LORD taking vengeance against his enemies. 7 " Before the birth pains even begin, Jerusalem gives birth to a son. 8 Who has ever seen or heard of anything as strange as this? Has a nation ever been born in a single day? Has a country ever come forth in a mere moment? But by the time Jerusalem's birth pains begin, the baby will be born; the nation will come forth. 9 Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth and then not deliver it?" asks the LORD. " No! I would never keep this nation from being born," says your God. 10 " Rejoice with Jerusalem! Be glad with her, all you who love her and mourn for her. 11 Delight in Jerusalem! Drink deeply of her glory even as an infant drinks at its mother's generous breasts. 12 Peace and prosperity will overflow Jerusalem like a river," says the LORD. " The wealth of the nations will flow to her. Her children will be nursed at her breasts, carried in her arms, and treated with love. 13 I will comfort you there as a child is comforted by its mother."14 When you see these things, your heart will rejoice. Vigorous health will be yours! Everyone will see the good hand of the LORD on his people--and his anger against his enemies. 15 See, the LORD is coming with fire, and his swift chariots of destruction roar like a whirlwind. He will bring punishment with the fury of his anger and the flaming fire of his hot rebuke. 16 The LORD will punish the world by fire and by his sword, and many will be killed by the LORD. 17 " Those who ` purify' themselves in a sacred garden, feasting on pork and rats and other forbidden meats, will come to a terrible end," says the LORD. 18 " I can see what they are doing, and I know what they are thinking. So I will gather all nations and peoples together, and they will see my glory. 19 I will perform a sign among them. And I will send those who survive to be messengers to the nations--to Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians (who are famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to all the lands beyond the sea that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. There they will declare my glory to the nations. 20 They will bring the remnant of your people back from every nation. They will bring them to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD. They will ride on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels," says the LORD. 21 " And I will appoint some of those who return to be my priests and Levites. I, the LORD, have spoken! 22 " As surely as my new heavens and earth will remain, so will you always be my people, with a name that will never disappear," says the LORD. 23 " All humanity will come to worship me from week to week and from month to month. 24 And as they go out, they will see the dead bodies of those who have rebelled against me. For the worms that devour them will never die, and the fire that burns them will never go out. All who pass by will view them with utter horror."
PHILIPPIANS 3:4-21
Yet I [Paul] could have confidence in myself if anyone could. If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! 5 For I was circumcised when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish family that is a branch of the tribe of Benjamin. So I am a real Jew if there ever was one! What's more, I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church. And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault. 7 I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead! 12 I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. 15 I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must be sure to obey the truth we have learned already. 17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their future is eternal destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and all they think about is this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer everything, everywhere.
PSALM 74:1-23
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why is your anger so intense against the sheep of your own pasture?
2 Remember that we are the people you chose in ancient times,
the tribe you redeemed as your own special possession!
And remember Jerusalem, your home here on earth.
3 Walk through the awful ruins of the city;
see how the enemy has destroyed your sanctuary.
4 There your enemies shouted their victorious battle cries;
there they set up their battle standards.
5 They chopped down the entrance
like woodcutters in a forest.
6 With axes and picks,
they smashed the carved paneling.
7 They set the sanctuary on fire, burning it to the ground.
They utterly defiled the place that bears your holy name.
8 Then they thought, " Let's destroy everything!"
So they burned down all the places where God was worshiped.
9 We see no miraculous signs
as evidence that you will save us.
All the prophets are gone;
no one can tell us when it will end.
10 How long, O God, will you allow our enemies to mock you?
Will you let them dishonor your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your strong right hand?
Unleash your powerful fist and deliver a deathblow.
12 You, O God, are my king from ages past,
bringing salvation to the earth.
13 You split the sea by your strength
and smashed the sea monster's heads.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan
and let the desert animals eat him.
15 You caused the springs and streams to gush forth,
and you dried up rivers that never run dry.
16 Both day and night belong to you;
you made the starlight and the sun.
17 You set the boundaries of the earth,
and you make both summer and winter.
18 See how these enemies scoff at you, LORD.
A foolish nation has dishonored your name.
19 Don't let these wild beasts destroy your doves.
Don't forget your afflicted people forever.
20 Remember your covenant promises,
for the land is full of darkness and violence!
21 Don't let the downtrodden be constantly disgraced!
Instead, let these poor and needy ones give praise to your name.
22 Arise, O God, and defend your cause.
Remember how these fools insult you all day long.
23 Don't overlook these things your enemies have said.
Their uproar of rebellion grows ever louder.
PROVERBS 24:15-16
Do not lie in wait like an outlaw at the home of the godly. And don't raid the house where the godly live. They may trip seven times, but each time they will rise again. But one calamity is enough to lay the wicked low.
