Podcasts about Mount Zion

Psalms and Wisdom: Proverbs 29 Proverbs 29 (Listen) 29   He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,    will suddenly be broken beyond healing.2   When the righteous increase, the people rejoice,    but when the wicked rule, the people groan.3   He who loves wisdom makes his father glad,    but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.4   By justice a king builds up the land,    but he who exacts gifts1 tears it down.5   A man who flatters his neighbor    spreads a net for his feet.6   An evil man is ensnared in his transgression,    but a righteous man sings and rejoices.7   A righteous man knows the rights of the poor;    a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.8   Scoffers set a city aflame,    but the wise turn away wrath.9   If a wise man has an argument with a fool,    the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.10   Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless    and seek the life of the upright.211   A fool gives full vent to his spirit,    but a wise man quietly holds it back.12   If a ruler listens to falsehood,    all his officials will be wicked.13   The poor man and the oppressor meet together;    the LORD gives light to the eyes of both.14   If a king faithfully judges the poor,    his throne will be established forever.15   The rod and reproof give wisdom,    but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.16   When the wicked increase, transgression increases,    but the righteous will look upon their downfall.17   Discipline your son, and he will give you rest;    he will give delight to your heart.18   Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,3    but blessed is he who keeps the law.19   By mere words a servant is not disciplined,    for though he understands, he will not respond.20   Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?    There is more hope for a fool than for him.21   Whoever pampers his servant from childhood    will in the end find him his heir.422   A man of wrath stirs up strife,    and one given to anger causes much transgression.23   One's pride will bring him low,    but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.24   The partner of a thief hates his own life;    he hears the curse, but discloses nothing.25   The fear of man lays a snare,    but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.26   Many seek the face of a ruler,    but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.27   An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous,    but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked. Footnotes [1] 29:4 Or who taxes heavily [2] 29:10 Or but the upright seek his soul [3] 29:18 Or the people are discouraged [4] 29:21 The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered his heir is uncertain (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Deuteronomy 28:1–14 Deuteronomy 28:1–14 (Listen) Blessings for Obedience 28 “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 9 The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Micah 4 Micah 4 (Listen) The Mountain of the Lord 4   It shall come to pass in the latter days    that the mountain of the house of the LORD  shall be established as the highest of the mountains,    and it shall be lifted up above the hills;  and peoples shall flow to it,2     and many nations shall come, and say:  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,    to the house of the God of Jacob,  that he may teach us his ways    and that we may walk in his paths.”  For out of Zion shall go forth the law,1    and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.3   He shall judge between many peoples,    and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;  and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,    and their spears into pruning hooks;  nation shall not lift up sword against nation,    neither shall they learn war anymore;4   but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,    and no one shall make them afraid,    for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.5   For all the peoples walk    each in the name of its god,  but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God    forever and ever. The Lord Shall Rescue Zion 6   In that day, declares the LORD,    I will assemble the lame  and gather those who have been driven away    and those whom I have afflicted;7   and the lame I will make the remnant,    and those who were cast off, a strong nation;  and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion    from this time forth and forevermore. 8   And you, O tower of the flock,    hill of the daughter of Zion,  to you shall it come,    the former dominion shall come,    kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem. 9   Now why do you cry aloud?    Is there no king in you?  Has your counselor perished,    that pain seized you like a woman in labor?10   Writhe and groan,2 O daughter of Zion,    like a woman in labor,  for now you shall go out from the city    and dwell in the open country;    you shall go to Babylon.  There you shall be rescued;    there the LORD will redeem you    from the hand of your enemies. 11   Now many nations    are assembled against you,  saying, “Let her be defiled,    and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”12   But they do not know    the thoughts of the LORD;  they do not understand his plan,    that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.13   Arise and thresh,    O daughter of Zion,  for I will make your horn iron,    and I will make your hoofs bronze;  you shall beat in pieces many peoples;    and shall devote3 their gain to the LORD,    their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth. Footnotes [1] 4:2 Or teaching [2] 4:10 Or push [3] 4:13 Hebrew devote to destruction (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Matthew 6:19–24 Matthew 6:19–24 (Listen) Lay Up Treasures in Heaven 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust1 destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.2 Footnotes [1] 6:19 Or worm; also verse 20 [2] 6:24 Greek mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions (ESV)

Psalms 46–50 Psalms 46–50 (Listen) God Is Our Fortress To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth.1 A Song. 46   God is our refuge and strength,    a very present2 help in trouble.2   Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,3   though its waters roar and foam,    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah 4   There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,    the holy habitation of the Most High.5   God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;    God will help her when morning dawns.6   The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;    he utters his voice, the earth melts.7   The LORD of hosts is with us;    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah 8   Come, behold the works of the LORD,    how he has brought desolations on the earth.9   He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;    he burns the chariots with fire.10   “Be still, and know that I am God.    I will be exalted among the nations,    I will be exalted in the earth!”11   The LORD of hosts is with us;    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah God Is King over All the Earth To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. 47   Clap your hands, all peoples!    Shout to God with loud songs of joy!2   For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared,    a great king over all the earth.3   He subdued peoples under us,    and nations under our feet.4   He chose our heritage for us,    the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah 5   God has gone up with a shout,    the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.6   Sing praises to God, sing praises!    Sing praises to our King, sing praises!7   For God is the King of all the earth;    sing praises with a psalm!3 8   God reigns over the nations;    God sits on his holy throne.9   The princes of the peoples gather    as the people of the God of Abraham.  For the shields of the earth belong to God;    he is highly exalted! Zion, the City of Our God A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. 48   Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised    in the city of our God!  His holy mountain, 2 beautiful in elevation,    is the joy of all the earth,  Mount Zion, in the far north,    the city of the great King.3   Within her citadels God    has made himself known as a fortress. 4   For behold, the kings assembled;    they came on together.5   As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;    they were in panic; they took to flight.6   Trembling took hold of them there,    anguish as of a woman in labor.7   By the east wind you shattered    the ships of Tarshish.8   As we have heard, so have we seen    in the city of the LORD of hosts,  in the city of our God,    which God will establish forever. Selah 9   We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,    in the midst of your temple.10   As your name, O God,    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.  Your right hand is filled with righteousness.11     Let Mount Zion be glad!  Let the daughters of Judah rejoice    because of your judgments! 12   Walk about Zion, go around her,    number her towers,13   consider well her ramparts,    go through her citadels,  that you may tell the next generation14     that this is God,  our God forever and ever.    He will guide us forever.4 Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble? To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. 49   Hear this, all peoples!    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,2   both low and high,    rich and poor together!3   My mouth shall speak wisdom;    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.4   I will incline my ear to a proverb;    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. 5   Why should I fear in times of trouble,    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,6   those who trust in their wealth    and boast of the abundance of their riches?7   Truly no man can ransom another,    or give to God the price of his life,8   for the ransom of their life is costly    and can never suffice,9   that he should live on forever    and never see the pit. 10   For he sees that even the wise die;    the fool and the stupid alike must perish    and leave their wealth to others.11   Their graves are their homes forever,5    their dwelling places to all generations,    though they called lands by their own names.12   Man in his pomp will not remain;    he is like the beasts that perish. 13   This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;    yet after them people approve of their boasts.6 Selah14   Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;    death shall be their shepherd,  and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.    Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.15   But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,    for he will receive me. Selah 16   Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,    when the glory of his house increases.17   For when he dies he will carry nothing away;    his glory will not go down after him.18   For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—19   his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,    who will never again see light.20   Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish. God Himself Is Judge A Psalm of Asaph. 50   The Mighty One, God the LORD,    speaks and summons the earth    from the rising of the sun to its setting.2   Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,    God shines forth. 3   Our God comes; he does not keep silence;7    before him is a devouring fire,    around him a mighty tempest.4   He calls to the heavens above    and to the earth, that he may judge his people:5   “Gather to me my faithful ones,    who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”6   The heavens declare his righteousness,    for God himself is judge! Selah 7   “Hear, O my people, and I will speak;    O Israel, I will testify against you.    I am God, your God.8   Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;    your burnt offerings are continually before me.9   I will not accept a bull from your house    or goats from your folds.10   For every beast of the forest is mine,    the cattle on a thousand hills.11   I know all the birds of the hills,    and all that moves in the field is mine. 12   “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,    for the world and its fullness are mine.13   Do I eat the flesh of bulls    or drink the blood of goats?14   Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,8    and perform your vows to the Most High,15   and call upon me in the day of trouble;    I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” 16   But to the wicked God says:    “What right have you to recite my statutes    or take my covenant on your lips?17   For you hate discipline,    and you cast my words behind you.18   If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,    and you keep company with adulterers. 19   “You give your mouth free rein for evil,    and your tongue frames deceit.20   You sit and speak against your brother;    you slander your own mother's son.21   These things you have done, and I have been silent;    you thought that I9 was one like yourself.  But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. 22   “Mark this, then, you who forget God,    lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!23   The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;    to one who orders his way rightly    I will show the salvation of God!” Footnotes [1] 46:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 46:1 Or well proved [3] 47:7 Hebrew maskil [4] 48:14 Septuagint; another reading is (compare Jerome, Syriac) He will guide us beyond death [5] 49:11 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Their inward thought was that their homes were forever [6] 49:13 Or and of those after them who approve of their boasts [7] 50:3 Or May our God come, and not keep silence [8] 50:14 Or Make thanksgiving your sacrifice to God [9] 50:21 Or that the I am (ESV)

6/19/22 (PM)

TJ Rowden's message today helps us see and understand that “The battle today, between Babylon and Zion, is being waged between the synapses of our brains.” What exactly does that mean? It's where the focus of our brain is. TJ teaches us that if we compare where we are now and measure it to the IDEAL, we will experience feelings of failure, frustration, disappointment, low self-esteem, and depression. However, if we measure our circumstance from where we began to where we are now, we will gain feelings of Success, Fulfillment, Confidence, High Self-Esteem, Enjoyment and Optimism. Sometimes it's hard to see why 1% increase makes any difference. TJ teaches us the difference of Guilt vs Shame. “Jesus had not finished his work when his body was slain, neither did he finish it after his resurrection from the dead; Although he had accomplished the purpose for which he then came to the earth, he had not fulfilled all his work. And when will he? Not until he has redeemed and saved every son and daughter of our father Adam that have been or ever will be born upon this earth to the end of time…That is his mission. We will not finish our work until we have saved ourselves, and then not until we shall have saved all depending upon us; for we are to become saviors upon Mount Zion, as well as Christ.” -President Packer, October 1995, “This Brilliant Morning of Forgiveness” “If for a while the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So, it has been with the best people who ever lived… So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever.” -Elder Jeffrey R Holland For those new to our Stay by the Tree series and Mothers Who Know, we would like to share some of our FREE resources with you: FREE ebook, "Momma Trauma: Now What?: Finding Hope When Your Child Battles Pornography or Other Challenging Issues", by Karen Broadhead, Second Edition - https://www.lifechangingservices.org/momma-trauma Join our FREE Mom Power Training - https://mompowertraining.org/ Warrior Mothers Who Know - this FREE group meets every Tuesday at 11 MT and provides moms with a safe place to ask questions that might be more sensitive. A therapist joins the group on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays. https://motherswhoknow.org/warrior-mothers-support-group/ Book a FREE 30-minute visit with Karen Broadhead, Parent Support Specialist. Karen would love to meet you right where you are and give you a safe space to be heard and to help heal. https://karenbroadhead.youcanbook.me/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/motherswhoknow/support

By faith, we have come to the unseen and untouchable Mount Zion where God himself is found and where his saints gather. We must be careful to listen to his voice and worship him acceptably with reverence and awe.

Isaiah 36–39 Isaiah 36–39 (Listen) Sennacherib Invades Judah 36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh1 from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 3 And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. 4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6 Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, “We trust in the LORD our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”'” 11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” 13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me2 and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'” 21 But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help 37 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'” 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.'” 8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush,3 “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?'” Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance 14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: 16 “O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 17 Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.” Sennacherib's Fall 21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him:   “‘She despises you, she scorns you—    the virgin daughter of Zion;  she wags her head behind you—    the daughter of Jerusalem. 23   “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?    Against whom have you raised your voice  and lifted your eyes to the heights?    Against the Holy One of Israel!24   By your servants you have mocked the Lord,    and you have said, With my many chariots  I have gone up the heights of the mountains,    to the far recesses of Lebanon,  to cut down its tallest cedars,    its choicest cypresses,  to come to its remotest height,    its most fruitful forest.25   I dug wells    and drank waters,  to dry up with the sole of my foot    all the streams of Egypt. 26   “‘Have you not heard    that I determined it long ago?  I planned from days of old    what now I bring to pass,  that you should make fortified cities    crash into heaps of ruins,27   while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,    are dismayed and confounded,  and have become like plants of the field    and like tender grass,  like grass on the housetops,    blighted4 before it is grown. 28   “‘I know your sitting down    and your going out and coming in,    and your raging against me.29   Because you have raged against me    and your complacency has come to my ears,  I will put my hook in your nose    and my bit in your mouth,  and I will turn you back on the way    by which you came.' 30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. 33 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into 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.” 36 And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. 38 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery 38 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”5 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3 and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.6 6 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city. 7 “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised: 8 Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.7 9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness: 10   I said, In the middle8 of my days    I must depart;  I am consigned to the gates of Sheol    for the rest of my years.11   I said, I shall not see the LORD,    the LORD in the land of the living;  I shall look on man no more    among the inhabitants of the world.12   My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me    like a shepherd's tent;  like a weaver I have rolled up my life;    he cuts me off from the loom;  from day to night you bring me to an end;13     I calmed myself9 until morning;  like a lion he breaks all my bones;    from day to night you bring me to an end. 14   Like a swallow or a crane I chirp;    I moan like a dove.  My eyes are weary with looking upward.    O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!15   What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,    and he himself has done it.  I walk slowly all my years    because of the bitterness of my soul. 16   O Lord, by these things men live,    and in all these is the life of my spirit.    Oh restore me to health and make me live!17   Behold, it was for my welfare    that I had great bitterness;  but in love you have delivered my life    from the pit of destruction,  for you have cast all my sins    behind your back.18   For Sheol does not thank you;    death does not praise you;  those who go down to the pit do not hope    for your faithfulness.19   The living, the living, he thanks you,    as I do this day;  the father makes known to the children    your faithfulness. 20   The LORD will save me,    and we will play my music on stringed instruments  all the days of our lives,    at the house of the LORD. 21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?” Envoys from Babylon 39 At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.” 5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: 6 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 7 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.” Footnotes [1] 36:2 Rabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer [2] 36:16 Hebrew Make a blessing with me [3] 37:9 Probably Nubia [4] 37:27 Some Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts a field [5] 38:1 Or live; also verses 9, 21 [6] 38:5 Hebrew to your days [7] 38:8 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain [8] 38:10 Or In the quiet [9] 38:13 Or (with Targum) I cried for help (ESV)

By faith we have come to the unseen and untouchable Mount Zion where God himself is found and where his saints gather. We must be careful to listen to his voice and worship him acceptably with reverence and awe.

Isaiah 31–35 Isaiah 31–35 (Listen) Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt 31   Woe1 to those who go down to Egypt for help    and rely on horses,  who trust in chariots because they are many    and in horsemen because they are very strong,  but do not look to the Holy One of Israel    or consult the LORD!2   And yet he is wise and brings disaster;    he does not call back his words,  but will arise against the house of the evildoers    and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.3   The Egyptians are man, and not God,    and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.  When the LORD stretches out his hand,    the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,    and they will all perish together. 4   For thus the LORD said to me,  “As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,    and when a band of shepherds is called out against him  he is not terrified by their shouting    or daunted at their noise,  so the LORD of hosts will come down    to fight2 on Mount Zion and on its hill.5   Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts    will protect Jerusalem;  he will protect and deliver it;    he will spare and rescue it.” 6 Turn to him from whom people3 have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you. 8   “And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;    and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;  and he shall flee from the sword,    and his young men shall be put to forced labor.9   His rock shall pass away in terror,    and his officers desert the standard in panic,”  declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion,    and whose furnace is in Jerusalem. A King Will Reign in Righteousness 32   Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,    and princes will rule in justice.2   Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,    a shelter from the storm,  like streams of water in a dry place,    like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.3   Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,    and the ears of those who hear will give attention.4   The heart of the hasty will understand and know,    and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.5   The fool will no more be called noble,    nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.6   For the fool speaks folly,    and his heart is busy with iniquity,  to practice ungodliness,    to utter error concerning the LORD,  to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,    and to deprive the thirsty of drink.7   As for the scoundrel—his devices are evil;    he plans wicked schemes  to ruin the poor with lying words,    even when the plea of the needy is right.8   But he who is noble plans noble things,    and on noble things he stands. Complacent Women Warned of Disaster 9   Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;    you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.10   In little more than a year    you will shudder, you complacent women;  for the grape harvest fails,    the fruit harvest will not come.11   Tremble, you women who are at ease,    shudder, you complacent ones;  strip, and make yourselves bare,    and tie sackcloth around your waist.12   Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,    for the fruitful vine,13   for the soil of my people    growing up in thorns and briers,  yes, for all the joyous houses    in the exultant city.14   For the palace is forsaken,    the populous city deserted;  the hill and the watchtower    will become dens forever,  a joy of wild donkeys,    a pasture of flocks;15   until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,    and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,    and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.16   Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,    and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.17   And the effect of righteousness will be peace,    and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust4 forever.18   My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,    in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.19   And it will hail when the forest falls down,    and the city will be utterly laid low.20   Happy are you who sow beside all waters,    who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free. O Lord, Be Gracious to Us 33   Ah, you destroyer,    who yourself have not been destroyed,  you traitor,    whom none has betrayed!  When you have ceased to destroy,    you will be destroyed;  and when you have finished betraying,    they will betray you. 2   O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you.    Be our arm every morning,    our salvation in the time of trouble.3   At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;    when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,4   and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;    as locusts leap, it is leapt upon. 5   The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;    he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,6   and he will be the stability of your times,    abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;    the fear of the LORD is Zion's5 treasure. 7   Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;    the envoys of peace weep bitterly.8   The highways lie waste;    the traveler ceases.  Covenants are broken;    cities6 are despised;    there is no regard for man.9   The land mourns and languishes;    Lebanon is confounded and withers away;  Sharon is like a desert,    and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves. 10   “Now I will arise,” says the LORD,    “now I will lift myself up;    now I will be exalted.11   You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;    your breath is a fire that will consume you.12   And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,    like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.” 13   Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;    and you who are near, acknowledge my might.14   The sinners in Zion are afraid;    trembling has seized the godless:  “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?    Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”15   He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,    who despises the gain of oppressions,  who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,    who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed    and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,16   he will dwell on the heights;    his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;    his bread will be given him; his water will be sure. 17   Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;    they will see a land that stretches afar.18   Your heart will muse on the terror:    “Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute?    Where is he who counted the towers?”19   You will see no more the insolent people,    the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,    stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.20   Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!    Your eyes will see Jerusalem,    an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent,  whose stakes will never be plucked up,    nor will any of its cords be broken.21   But there the LORD in majesty will be for us    a place of broad rivers and streams,  where no galley with oars can go,    nor majestic ship can pass.22   For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver;    the LORD is our king; he will save us. 23   Your cords hang loose;    they cannot hold the mast firm in its place    or keep the sail spread out.  Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;    even the lame will take the prey.24   And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;    the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity. Judgment on the Nations 34   Draw near, O nations, to hear,    and give attention, O peoples!  Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;    the world, and all that comes from it.2   For the LORD is enraged against all the nations,    and furious against all their host;    he has devoted them to destruction,7 has given them over for slaughter.3   Their slain shall be cast out,    and the stench of their corpses shall rise;    the mountains shall flow with their blood.4   All the host of heaven shall rot away,    and the skies roll up like a scroll.  All their host shall fall,    as leaves fall from the vine,    like leaves falling from the fig tree. 5   For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;    behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom,    upon the people I have devoted to destruction.6   The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood;    it is gorged with fat,    with the blood of lambs and goats,    with the fat of the kidneys of rams.  For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah,    a great slaughter in the land of Edom.7   Wild oxen shall fall with them,    and young steers with the mighty bulls.  Their land shall drink its fill of blood,    and their soil shall be gorged with fat. 8   For the LORD has a day of vengeance,    a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.9   And the streams of Edom8 shall be turned into pitch,    and her soil into sulfur;    her land shall become burning pitch.10   Night and day it shall not be quenched;    its smoke shall go up forever.  From generation to generation it shall lie waste;    none shall pass through it forever and ever.11   But the hawk and the porcupine9 shall possess it,    the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.  He shall stretch the line of confusion10 over it,    and the plumb line of emptiness.12   Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,    and all its princes shall be nothing. 13   Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,    nettles and thistles in its fortresses.  It shall be the haunt of jackals,    an abode for ostriches.1114   And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;    the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;  indeed, there the night bird12 settles    and finds for herself a resting place. 15   There the owl nests and lays    and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;  indeed, there the hawks are gathered,    each one with her mate.16   Seek and read from the book of the LORD:    Not one of these shall be missing;    none shall be without her mate.  For the mouth of the LORD has commanded,    and his Spirit has gathered them.17   He has cast the lot for them;    his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;  they shall possess it forever;    from generation to generation they shall dwell in it. The Ransomed Shall Return 35   The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;    the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;2   it shall blossom abundantly    and rejoice with joy and singing.  The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,    the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.  They shall see the glory of the LORD,    the majesty of our God. 3   Strengthen the weak hands,    and make firm the feeble knees.4   Say to those who have an anxious heart,    “Be strong; fear not!  Behold, your God    will come with vengeance,  with the recompense of God.    He will come and save you.” 5   Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,    and the ears of the deaf unstopped;6   then shall the lame man leap like a deer,    and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.  For waters break forth in the wilderness,    and streams in the desert;7   the burning sand shall become a pool,    and the thirsty ground springs of water;  in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,

Old Testament: 1 Kings 16–17 1 Kings 16–17 (Listen) 16 And the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, 2 “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, 3 behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4 Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.” 5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 6 And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried at Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. 7 Moreover, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it. Elah Reigns in Israel 8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. 9 But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, 10 Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place. 11 When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. 12 Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, 13 for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols. 14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? Zimri Reigns in Israel 15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, 16 and the troops who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king.” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 So Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over him with fire and died, 19 because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. 20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? Omri Reigns in Israel 21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. 22 But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. 23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. 24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents1 of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill. 25 Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him. 26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols. 27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 28 And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place. Ahab Reigns in Israel 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun. Elijah Predicts a Drought 17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe2 in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the LORD came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. The Widow of Zarephath 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah. Elijah Raises the Widow's Son 17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child's life3 come into him again.” 22 And the LORD listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.” Footnotes [1] 16:24 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms [2] 17:1 Septuagint; Hebrew of the settlers [3] 17:21 Or soul; also verse 22 (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 133 Psalm 133 (Listen) When Brothers Dwell in Unity A Song of Ascents. Of David. 133   Behold, how good and pleasant it is    when brothers dwell in unity!12   It is like the precious oil on the head,    running down on the beard,  on the beard of Aaron,    running down on the collar of his robes!3   It is like the dew of Hermon,    which falls on the mountains of Zion!  For there the LORD has commanded the blessing,    life forevermore. Footnotes [1] 133:1 Or dwell together (ESV) New Testament: Hebrews 12–13 Hebrews 12–13 (Listen) Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith 12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Do Not Grow Weary 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?   “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,    nor be weary when reproved by him.6   For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,    and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken 18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly1 of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire. Sacrifices Pleasing to God 13 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,   “The Lord is my helper;    I will not fear;  what can man do to me?” 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent2 have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. 18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. Benediction 20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us3 that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Final Greetings 22 I appeal to you, brothers,4 bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you. Footnotes [1] 12:23 Or church [2] 13:10 Or tabernacle [3] 13:21 Some manuscripts you [4] 13:22 Or brothers and sisters (ESV)

Proper 6 First Psalm: Psalm 78:1–39 Psalm 78:1–39 (Listen) Tell the Coming Generation A Maskil1 of Asaph. 78   Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!2   I will open my mouth in a parable;    I will utter dark sayings from of old,3   things that we have heard and known,    that our fathers have told us.4   We will not hide them from their children,    but tell to the coming generation  the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,    and the wonders that he has done. 5   He established a testimony in Jacob    and appointed a law in Israel,  which he commanded our fathers    to teach to their children,6   that the next generation might know them,    the children yet unborn,  and arise and tell them to their children,7     so that they should set their hope in God  and not forget the works of God,    but keep his commandments;8   and that they should not be like their fathers,    a stubborn and rebellious generation,  a generation whose heart was not steadfast,    whose spirit was not faithful to God. 9   The Ephraimites, armed with2 the bow,    turned back on the day of battle.10   They did not keep God's covenant,    but refused to walk according to his law.11   They forgot his works    and the wonders that he had shown them.12   In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders    in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.13   He divided the sea and let them pass through it,    and made the waters stand like a heap.14   In the daytime he led them with a cloud,    and all the night with a fiery light.15   He split rocks in the wilderness    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.16   He made streams come out of the rock    and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 17   Yet they sinned still more against him,    rebelling against the Most High in the desert.18   They tested God in their heart    by demanding the food they craved.19   They spoke against God, saying,    “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?20   He struck the rock so that water gushed out    and streams overflowed.  Can he also give bread    or provide meat for his people?” 21   Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;    a fire was kindled against Jacob;    his anger rose against Israel,22   because they did not believe in God    and did not trust his saving power.23   Yet he commanded the skies above    and opened the doors of heaven,24   and he rained down on them manna to eat    and gave them the grain of heaven.25   Man ate of the bread of the angels;    he sent them food in abundance.26   He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,    and by his power he led out the south wind;27   he rained meat on them like dust,    winged birds like the sand of the seas;28   he let them fall in the midst of their camp,    all around their dwellings.29   And they ate and were well filled,    for he gave them what they craved.30   But before they had satisfied their craving,    while the food was still in their mouths,31   the anger of God rose against them,    and he killed the strongest of them    and laid low the young men of Israel. 32   In spite of all this, they still sinned;    despite his wonders, they did not believe.33   So he made their days vanish like3 a breath,4    and their years in terror.34   When he killed them, they sought him;    they repented and sought God earnestly.35   They remembered that God was their rock,    the Most High God their redeemer.36   But they flattered him with their mouths;    they lied to him with their tongues.37   Their heart was not steadfast toward him;    they were not faithful to his covenant.38   Yet he, being compassionate,    atoned for their iniquity    and did not destroy them;  he restrained his anger often    and did not stir up all his wrath.39   He remembered that they were but flesh,    a wind that passes and comes not again. Footnotes [1] 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term [2] 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting [3] 78:33 Hebrew in [4] 78:33 Or vapor (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 78:40–72 Psalm 78:40–72 (Listen) 40   How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness    and grieved him in the desert!41   They tested God again and again    and provoked the Holy One of Israel.42   They did not remember his power1    or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,43   when he performed his signs in Egypt    and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.44   He turned their rivers to blood,    so that they could not drink of their streams.45   He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,    and frogs, which destroyed them.46   He gave their crops to the destroying locust    and the fruit of their labor to the locust.47   He destroyed their vines with hail    and their sycamores with frost.48   He gave over their cattle to the hail    and their flocks to thunderbolts.49   He let loose on them his burning anger,    wrath, indignation, and distress,    a company of destroying angels.50   He made a path for his anger;    he did not spare them from death,    but gave their lives over to the plague.51   He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,    the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.52   Then he led out his people like sheep    and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.53   He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,    but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.54   And he brought them to his holy land,    to the mountain which his right hand had won.55   He drove out nations before them;    he apportioned them for a possession    and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents. 56   Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God    and did not keep his testimonies,57   but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;    they twisted like a deceitful bow.58   For they provoked him to anger with their high places;    they moved him to jealousy with their idols.59   When God heard, he was full of wrath,    and he utterly rejected Israel.60   He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,    the tent where he dwelt among mankind,61   and delivered his power to captivity,    his glory to the hand of the foe.62   He gave his people over to the sword    and vented his wrath on his heritage.63   Fire devoured their young men,    and their young women had no marriage song.64   Their priests fell by the sword,    and their widows made no lamentation.65   Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,    like a strong man shouting because of wine.66   And he put his adversaries to rout;    he put them to everlasting shame. 67   He rejected the tent of Joseph;    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,68   but he chose the tribe of Judah,    Mount Zion, which he loves.69   He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,    like the earth, which he has founded forever.70   He chose David his servant    and took him from the sheepfolds;71   from following the nursing ewes he brought him    to shepherd Jacob his people,    Israel his inheritance.72   With upright heart he shepherded them    and guided them with his skillful hand. Footnotes [1] 78:42 Hebrew hand (ESV) Old Testament: Numbers 11:1–23 Numbers 11:1–23 (Listen) The People Complain 11 And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. 3 So the name of that place was called Taberah,1 because the fire of the LORD burned among them. 4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” 7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9 When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. 10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the LORD blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. 11 Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,' to the land that you swore to give their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.' 14 I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.” Elders Appointed to Aid Moses 16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. 17 And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. 18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. 19 You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”'” 21 But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!' 22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” 23 And the LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.” Footnotes [1] 11:3 Taberah means burning (ESV) New Testament: Romans 1:16–25 Romans 1:16–25 (Listen) The Righteous Shall Live by Faith 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,1 as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”2 God's Wrath on Unrighteousness 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,3 in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Footnotes [1] 1:17 Or beginning and ending in faith [2] 1:17 Or The one who by faith is righteous shall live [3] 1:20 Or clearly perceived from the creation of the world (ESV) Gospel: Matthew 17:22–27 Matthew 17:22–27 (Listen) Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection 22 As they were gathering1 in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed. The Temple Tax 24 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” 26 And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27 However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel.2 Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.” Footnotes [1] 17:22 Some manuscripts remained [2] 17:27 Greek stater, a silver coin worth four drachmas or approximately one shekel (ESV)

Isaiah 28–30 Isaiah 28–30 (Listen) Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem 28   Ah, the proud crown of 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!2   Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong;    like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,  like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters,    he casts down to the earth with his hand.3   The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim    will be trodden underfoot;4   and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,    which is on the head of the rich valley,  will be like a first-ripe fig1 before the summer:    when someone sees it, he swallows it    as soon as it is in his hand. 5   In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory,2    and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,6   and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,    and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 7   These also reel with wine    and stagger with strong drink;  the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,    they are swallowed by3 wine,    they stagger with strong drink,  they reel in vision,    they stumble in giving judgment.8   For all tables are full of filthy vomit,    with no space left. 9   “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   For by people of strange lips    and with a foreign tongue  the LORD will speak to this people,12     to whom he has said,  “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,  that they may go, and fall backward,    and be broken, and snared, and taken. A Cornerstone in Zion 14   Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you 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 overwhelming whip passes through    it will not come to us,  for we have made lies our refuge,    and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;16   therefore thus says the Lord GOD,  “Behold, I am the one who has laid4 as a foundation 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 the line,    and righteousness the plumb line;  and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,    and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”18   Then 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;    for morning by morning it will pass through,    by day and by night;  and it will be 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 as on Mount Perazim;    as in the Valley of 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 scoff,    lest your bonds be made strong;  for I have heard 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   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 emmer5 as the border?26   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;6  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 wonderful in counsel    and excellent in wisdom. The Siege of Jerusalem 29   Ah, Ariel, Ariel,    the city where David encamped!  Add year to year;    let the feasts run their round.2   Yet I will distress Ariel,    and there shall be moaning and lamentation,    and she shall be to me like an Ariel.73   And I will encamp against you all around,    and will besiege you with towers    and I will raise siegeworks against you.4   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 the voice of a ghost,    and from the dust your speech shall whisper. 5   But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust,    and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.  And in an instant, suddenly,6     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.7   And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,    all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,    shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.8   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. 9   Astonish yourselves8 and be astonished;    blind yourselves and be blind!  Be drunk,9 but not with wine;    stagger,10 but not with strong drink!10   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 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 this people 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, I will again    do wonderful things with this people,    with wonder upon wonder;  and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,    and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” 15   Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel,    whose deeds are in the dark,    and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”16   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    until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,    and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?18   In that day the deaf shall hear    the words of a book,  and out of their gloom and darkness    the eyes of the blind shall see.19   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 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 lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,    and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right. 22 Therefore thus says the LORD, 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,    the work of my hands, in his midst,    they will sanctify my name;  they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob    and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.24   And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,    and those who murmur will accept instruction.” Do Not Go Down to Egypt 30   “Ah, stubborn children,” declares the LORD,  “who carry out a plan, but not mine,  and who make an alliance,11 but not of my Spirit,    that they may add sin to sin;2   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!3   Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,    and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.4   For though his officials are at Zoan    and his envoys reach Hanes,5   everyone comes to shame    through a people that cannot profit them,  that brings neither help nor profit,    but shame and disgrace.” 6 An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb.   Through a land of trouble and anguish,    from where come the lioness and the lion,    the adder and the 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.7   Egypt's help is worthless and empty;    therefore I have called her    “Rahab who sits still.” A Rebellious People 8   And now, go, 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.129   For they are a rebellious people,    lying children,  children unwilling to hear    the instruction of the LORD;10   who say to the seers, “Do not see,”    and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;  speak to us smooth things,    prophesy illusions,11   leave the way, turn aside from the path,    let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”12   Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,  “Because you despise this word    and trust in oppression and perverseness    and rely on them,13   therefore this iniquity shall be to you    like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,    whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;14   and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel    that is smashed so ruthlessly  that among its fragments not a shard is found    with which to take fire from the hearth,    or to dip up water out of the cistern.” 15   For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,  “In returning13 and rest you shall be saved;    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”  But you were unwilling, 16 and you said,  “No! We will flee upon horses”;    therefore you shall flee away;  and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;    therefore your pursuers shall be swift.17   A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;    at the threat of five you shall flee,  till you are left    like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,    like a signal on a hill. The Lord Will Be Gracious 18   Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.  For the LORD is a God of justice;    blessed are all those who wait for him. 19 For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 

With family: Deuteronomy 17; Psalm 104 Deuteronomy 17 (Listen) 17 “You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the LORD your God. 2 “If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing his covenant, 3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, 4 and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. 6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge1 the evil2 from your midst. Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges 8 “If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place that the LORD your God will choose. 9 And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they shall declare to you the decision. 10 Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the LORD will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. 11 According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. 12 The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again. Laws Concerning Israel's Kings 14 “When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,' 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.' 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by3 the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. Footnotes [1] 17:7 Septuagint drive out; also verse 12 [2] 17:7 Or evil person; also verse 12 [3] 17:18 Hebrew from before (ESV) Psalm 104 (Listen) O Lord My God, You Are Very Great 104   Bless the LORD, O my soul!    O LORD my God, you are very great!  You are clothed with splendor and majesty,2     covering yourself with light as with a garment,    stretching out the heavens like a tent.3   He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;  he makes the clouds his chariot;    he rides on the wings of the wind;4   he makes his messengers winds,    his ministers a flaming fire. 5   He set the earth on its foundations,    so that it should never be moved.6   You covered it with the deep as with a garment;    the waters stood above the mountains.7   At your rebuke they fled;    at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.8   The mountains rose, the valleys sank down    to the place that you appointed for them.9   You set a boundary that they may not pass,    so that they might not again cover the earth. 10   You make springs gush forth in the valleys;    they flow between the hills;11   they give drink to every beast of the field;    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.12   Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;    they sing among the branches.13   From your lofty abode you water the mountains;    the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. 14   You cause the grass to grow for the livestock    and plants for man to cultivate,  that he may bring forth food from the earth15     and wine to gladden the heart of man,  oil to make his face shine    and bread to strengthen man's heart. 16   The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.17   In them the birds build their nests;    the stork has her home in the fir trees.18   The high mountains are for the wild goats;    the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. 19   He made the moon to mark the seasons;1    the sun knows its time for setting.20   You make darkness, and it is night,    when all the beasts of the forest creep about.21   The young lions roar for their prey,    seeking their food from God.22   When the sun rises, they steal away    and lie down in their dens.23   Man goes out to his work    and to his labor until the evening. 24   O LORD, how manifold are your works!    In wisdom have you made them all;    the earth is full of your creatures.25   Here is the sea, great and wide,    which teems with creatures innumerable,    living things both small and great.26   There go the ships,    and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.2 27   These all look to you,    to give them their food in due season.28   When you give it to them, they gather it up;    when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.29   When you hide your face, they are dismayed;    when you take away their breath, they die    and return to their dust.30   When you send forth your Spirit,3 they are created,    and you renew the face of the ground. 31   May the glory of the LORD endure forever;    may the LORD rejoice in his works,32   who looks on the earth and it trembles,    who touches the mountains and they smoke!33   I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.34   May my meditation be pleasing to him,    for I rejoice in the LORD.35   Let sinners be consumed from the earth,    and let the wicked be no more!  Bless the LORD, O my soul!  Praise the LORD! Footnotes [1] 104:19 Or the appointed times (compare Genesis 1:14) [2] 104:26 Or you formed to play with [3] 104:30 Or breath (ESV) In private: Isaiah 44; Revelation 14 Isaiah 44 (Listen) Israel the Lord's Chosen 44   “But now hear, O Jacob my servant,    Israel whom I have chosen!2   Thus says the LORD who made you,    who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant,    Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3   For I will pour water on the thirsty land,    and streams on the dry ground;  I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,    and my blessing on your descendants.4   They shall spring up among the grass    like willows by flowing streams.5   This one will say, ‘I am the LORD's,'    another will call on the name of Jacob,  and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD's,'    and name himself by the name of Israel.” Besides Me There Is No God 6   Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel    and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:  “I am the first and I am the last;    besides me there is no god.7   Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.1    Let him declare and set it before me,  since I appointed an ancient people.    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.8   Fear not, nor be afraid;    have I not told you from of old and declared it?    And you are my witnesses!  Is there a God besides me?    There is no Rock; I know not any.” The Folly of Idolatry 9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. 12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” The Lord Redeems Israel 21   Remember these things, O Jacob,    and Israel, for you are my servant;  I formed you; you are my servant;    O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.22   I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud    and your sins like mist;  return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23   Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;    shout, O depths of the earth;  break forth into singing, O mountains,    O forest, and every tree in it!  For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,    and will be glorified3 in Israel. 24   Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,    who formed you from the womb:  “I am the LORD, who made all things,    who alone stretched out the heavens,    who spread out the earth by myself,25   who frustrates the signs of liars    and makes fools of diviners,  who turns wise men back    and makes their knowledge foolish,26   who confirms the word of his servant    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,  who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,'    and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,    and I will raise up their ruins';27   who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;    I will dry up your rivers';28   who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,    and he shall fulfill all my purpose';  saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,'    and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.'” Footnotes [1] 44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it? [2] 44:13 Hebrew stylus [3] 44:23 Or will display his beauty (ESV) Revelation 14 (Listen) The Lamb and the 144,000 14 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. The Messages of the Three Angels 6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” 8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion1 of her sexual immorality.” 9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” 12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.2 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” The Harvest of the Earth 14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.3 Footnotes [1] 14:8 Or wrath [2] 14:12 Greek and the faith of Jesus [3] 14:20 About 184 miles; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters (ESV)

Isaiah 23–27 Isaiah 23–27 (Listen) An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon 23 The oracle concerning Tyre.   Wail, O ships of Tarshish,    for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor!  From the land of Cyprus1    it is revealed to them.2   Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;    the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.3   And on many waters  your revenue was the grain of Shihor,    the harvest of the Nile;    you were the merchant of the nations.4   Be ashamed, O 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.”5   When the report comes to Egypt,    they will be in anguish2 over the report about Tyre.6   Cross over to Tarshish;    wail, O inhabitants of the coast!7   Is this your exultant city    whose origin is from days of old,  whose feet carried her    to settle far away?8   Who has purposed this    against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,  whose merchants were princes,    whose traders were the honored of the earth?9   The LORD of hosts has purposed it,    to defile the pompous pride of all glory,3    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   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 Sidon;  arise, cross over to Cyprus,    even there you will have no rest.” 13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;4 Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin. 14   Wail, O ships of Tarshish,    for your stronghold is laid waste. 15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days5 of one king. At the end of 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 seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and 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, the LORD will empty the earth6 and make it desolate,    and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.2   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;  as with the buyer, so with the seller;    as with the lender, so with the borrower;    as with the creditor, so with the debtor.3   The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;    for the LORD has spoken this word. 4   The earth mourns and withers;    the world languishes and withers;    the highest people of the earth languish.5   The earth lies defiled    under its inhabitants;  for they have transgressed the laws,    violated the statutes,    broken the everlasting covenant.6   Therefore a curse devours the earth,    and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;  therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,    and few men are left.7   The wine mourns,    the vine languishes,    all the merry-hearted sigh.8   The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,    the noise of the jubilant has ceased,    the mirth of the lyre is stilled.9   No more do they drink wine with singing;    strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.10   The wasted city is broken down;    every house is shut up so that none can enter.11   There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;    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,  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.715   Therefore in the east8 give glory to the LORD;    in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.16   From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,    of glory to the Righteous One.  But I say, “I waste away,    I waste away. Woe is me!  For the traitors have betrayed,    with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.” 17   Terror and the pit and the snare9    are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!18   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 the windows of heaven are opened,    and 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 staggers like a drunken man;    it sways like a hut;  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 the kings of the earth, on the earth.22   They will be gathered together    as prisoners in a pit;  they will be shut up in a prison,    and after many days they will be punished.23   Then the moon will be confounded    and the sun ashamed,  for the LORD of hosts reigns    on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,  and his glory will be before his elders. God Will Swallow Up Death Forever 25   O LORD, you are my God;    I will exalt you; I will praise your name,  for you have done wonderful things,    plans formed of old, faithful and sure.2   For you have made the city a heap,    the fortified city a ruin;  the foreigners' palace is a city no more;    it will never be rebuilt.3   Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;    cities of ruthless nations will fear you.4   For you have been a stronghold to the poor,    a stronghold to the needy in his distress,    a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;  for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,5     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. 6   On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.7   And he will swallow up on this mountain    the covering that is cast over all peoples,    the veil that is spread over all nations.8     He will swallow up death forever;  and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,    for the LORD has spoken.9   It will be said on that day,    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.    This is the LORD; we have waited for him;    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”10   For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain,    and Moab shall be trampled down in his place,    as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.1011   And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it    as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,    but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill11 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 this song will be sung in the land of Judah:   “We have a strong city;    he sets up salvation    as walls and bulwarks.2   Open the gates,    that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.3   You keep him in perfect peace    whose mind is stayed on you,    because he trusts in you.4   Trust in the LORD forever,    for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.5   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.6   The foot tramples it,    the feet of the poor,    the steps of the needy.” 7   The path of the righteous is level;    you make level the way of the righteous.8   In the path of your judgments,    O LORD, we wait for you;  your name and remembrance    are the desire of our soul.9   My soul yearns for you in the night;    my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.  For when your judgments are in the earth,    the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.10   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, your hand is lifted up,    but they do not see it.  Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.    Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.12   O LORD, you will ordain peace for us,    for you have indeed done for us all our works.13   O LORD our God,    other lords besides you have ruled over us,    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   But you have increased the nation, O LORD,    you have increased the nation; you are glorified;    you have enlarged all the borders of the land. 16   O LORD, in distress they sought you;    they poured out a whispered prayer    when your discipline was upon them.17   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     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   Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.    You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!  For 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 for a little while    until the fury has passed by.21   For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place    to punish the inhabitants of 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 sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. 2   In that day,  “A pleasant vineyard,12 sing of it!3     I, the LORD, am its keeper;    every moment I water it.    Lest anyone punish it,  I keep it night and day;4     I have no wrath.  Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!    I would march against them,    I would burn them up together.5   Or let them lay hold of my protection,    let them make peace with me,    let them make peace with me.”

Isaiah 18–22 Isaiah 18–22 (Listen) An Oracle Concerning Cush 18   Ah, land of whirring wings    that is beyond the rivers of Cush,12   which sends ambassadors by the sea,    in vessels of papyrus on the waters!  Go, you swift messengers,    to a nation tall and smooth,  to a people feared near and far,    a nation mighty and conquering,    whose land the rivers divide. 3   All you inhabitants of the world,    you who dwell on the earth,  when a signal is raised on the mountains, look!    When a trumpet is blown, hear!4   For thus the LORD said to me:  “I will quietly look from my dwelling    like clear heat in sunshine,    like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”5   For before the harvest, when the blossom is over,    and the flower becomes a ripening grape,  he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks,    and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away.6   They shall all of them be left    to the birds of prey of the mountains    and to the beasts of the earth.  And the birds of prey will summer on them,    and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them. 7 At that time tribute will be brought to the LORD of hosts   from a people tall and smooth,    from a people feared near and far,  a nation mighty and conquering,    whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the LORD of hosts. An Oracle Concerning Egypt 19 An oracle concerning Egypt.   Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud    and comes to Egypt;  and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,    and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.2   And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,    and they will fight, each against another    and each against his neighbor,    city against city, kingdom against kingdom;3   and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,    and I will confound2 their counsel;  and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,    and the mediums and the necromancers;4   and I will give over the Egyptians    into the hand of a hard master,  and a fierce king will rule over them,    declares the Lord GOD of hosts. 5   And the waters of the sea will be dried up,    and the river will be dry and parched,6   and its canals will become foul,    and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up,    reeds and rushes will rot away.7   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.8   The fishermen will mourn and lament,    all who cast a hook in the Nile;  and they will languish    who spread nets on the water.9   The workers in combed flax will be in despair,    and the weavers of white cotton.10   Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed,    and all who work for pay will be grieved. 11   The princes of 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 wise men?    Let them tell you    that they might know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt.13   The princes of Zoan have become fools,    and the princes of Memphis are deluded;  those who are the cornerstones of her tribes    have made Egypt stagger.14   The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion,  and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,    as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.15   And there will be nothing for Egypt    that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do. Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed 16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and 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 In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.3 19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. 20 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, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. 21 And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. 22 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 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.” A Sign Against Egypt and Cush 20 In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it—2 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 naked and barefoot. 3 Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,4 4 so shall the 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. 5 Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. 6 And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and 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 oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.   As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,    it comes from the wilderness,    from a terrible land.2   A stern vision is told to me;    the traitor betrays,    and the destroyer destroys.  Go up, O Elam;    lay siege, O Media;  all the sighing she has caused    I bring to an end.3   Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;    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.4   My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;    the twilight I longed for    has been turned for me into trembling.5   They prepare the table,    they spread the rugs,5    they eat, they drink.  Arise, O princes;    oil the shield!6   For thus the Lord said to me:  “Go, set a watchman;    let him announce what he sees.7   When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,    riders on donkeys, riders on camels,  let him listen diligently,    very diligently.”8   Then he who saw cried out:6  “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,    continually by day,  and at my post I am stationed    whole nights.9   And behold, here come riders,    horsemen in pairs!”  And he answered,    “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;  and all the carved images of her gods    he has shattered to the ground.”10   O my threshed and winnowed one,    what I have heard from the LORD of hosts,    the God of Israel, I announce to you. 11 The oracle concerning Dumah.   One is calling to me from Seir,    “Watchman, what time of the night?    Watchman, what time of the night?”12   The watchman says:  “Morning comes, and also the night.    If you will inquire, inquire;    come back again.” 13 The oracle concerning Arabia.   In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,    O caravans of Dedanites.14   To the thirsty bring water;    meet the fugitive with bread,    O inhabitants of the land of 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, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.” An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem 22 The oracle concerning the valley of vision.   What do you mean that you have gone up,    all of you, to the housetops,2   you who are full of shoutings,    tumultuous city, exultant town?  Your slain are not slain with the sword    or dead in battle.3   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.4   Therefore I said:  “Look away from me;    let me weep bitter tears;  do not labor to comfort me    concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.” 5   For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day    of tumult and trampling and confusion    in the valley of vision,  a battering down of walls    and a shouting to the mountains.6   And Elam bore the quiver    with chariots and horsemen,    and Kir uncovered the shield.7   Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,    and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.8   He has taken away the covering of Judah. In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, 9 and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. 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 You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago. 12   In that day the Lord GOD of hosts    called for weeping and mourning,    for baldness and wearing sackcloth;13   and behold, joy and gladness,    killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,    eating flesh and drinking wine.  “Let us eat and drink,    for tomorrow we die.”14   The LORD of hosts has revealed himself in my ears:  “Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,”    says the Lord GOD of hosts. 15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you 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. 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 your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. 19 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 Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and 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 a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become 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, 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.” Footnotes [1] 18:1 Probably Nubia [2] 19:3 Or I will swallow up [3] 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun [4] 20:3 Probably Nubia [5] 21:5 Or they set the watchman [6] 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion (ESV)

Israel's Supreme Court rejected four petitions on Sunday that sought to derail controversial plans to build a cable car to Jerusalem's Old City, paving the way for the project to progress. Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem, environmentalists, urban planners, archaeologists and a small community from the Jewish Karaite sect had all lodged protests with the court in recent years. They said the project would harm the holy city's historic character, desecrate a Karaite cemetery, and impact the lives and businesses of local residents. The proposed cable car is being advanced by Israel's Tourism Ministry and the Jerusalem municipality as a transportation solution to the city's traffic-snarled streets and poor accessibility to the ancient walled Old City. Critics have pointed out that a cable car is not a suitable transit solution and the massive steel towers supporting the cables will mar the historic landscape. The route would start near the “First Station,” a renovated old railway station that's now a popular pedestrian mall, and span the biblical Valley of Hinnom to Mount Zion and terminate at the Dung Gate, the entrance to the Old City closest to the Western Wall, 2 kilometers (1 mile) away. It is further complicated by the fact that it will be constructed in east Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing in the 1967 Mideast war, but which the Palestinians seek as capital of a future state. Most of the international community does not recognize Israel's sovereignty over east Jerusalem. In its decision, the court said any decision to relieve congestion around the Old City “even if it was decided not to do anything, would harm someone one way or another. There is no ‘perfect' solution.” Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion wrote on Facebook that the cable car would get underway following the court ruling. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Isaiah 9–12 Isaiah 9–12 (Listen) For to Us a Child Is Born 9 1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.2 2   3 The people who walked in darkness    have seen a great light;  those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,    on them has light shone.3   You have multiplied the nation;    you have increased its joy;  they rejoice before you    as with joy at the harvest,    as they are glad when they divide the spoil.4   For the yoke of his burden,    and the staff for his shoulder,    the rod of his oppressor,    you have broken as on the day of Midian.5   For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult    and every garment rolled in blood    will be burned as fuel for the fire.6   For to us a child is born,    to us a son is given;  and the government shall be upon4 his shoulder,    and his name shall be called5  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.7   Of the increase of his government and of peace    there will be no end,  on the throne of David and over his kingdom,    to establish it and to uphold it  with justice and with righteousness    from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression 8   The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,    and it will fall on Israel;9   and all the people will know,    Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,    who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:10   “The bricks have fallen,    but we will build with dressed stones;  the sycamores have been cut down,    but we will put cedars in their place.”11   But the LORD raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,    and stirs up his enemies.12   The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west    devour Israel with open mouth.  For all this his anger has not turned away,    and his hand is stretched out still. 13   The people did not turn to him who struck them,    nor inquire of the LORD of hosts.14   So the LORD cut off from Israel head and tail,    palm branch and reed in one day—15   the elder and honored man is the head,    and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;16   for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,    and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.17   Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,    and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;  for everyone is godless and an evildoer,    and every mouth speaks folly.6  For all this his anger has not turned away,    and his hand is stretched out still. 18   For wickedness burns like a fire;    it consumes briers and thorns;  it kindles the thickets of the forest,    and they roll upward in a column of smoke.19   Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts    the land is scorched,  and the people are like fuel for the fire;    no one spares another.20   They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,    and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;  each devours the flesh of his own arm,21   Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;    together they are against Judah.  For all this his anger has not turned away,    and his hand is stretched out still. 10   Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,    and the writers who keep writing oppression,2   to turn aside the needy from justice    and to rob the poor of my people of their right,  that widows may be their spoil,    and that they may make the fatherless their prey!3   What will you do on the day of punishment,    in the ruin that will come from afar?  To whom will you flee for help,    and where will you leave your wealth?4   Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners    or fall among the slain.  For all this his anger has not turned away,    and his hand is stretched out still. Judgment on Arrogant Assyria 5   Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger;    the staff in their hands is my fury!6   Against a godless nation I send him,    and against the people of my wrath I command him,  to take spoil and seize plunder,    and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.7   But he does not so intend,    and his heart does not so think;  but it is in his heart to destroy,    and to cut off nations not a few;8   for he says:  “Are not my commanders all kings?9   Is not Calno like Carchemish?    Is not Hamath like Arpad?    Is not Samaria like Damascus?10   As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,    whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,11   shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols    as I have done to Samaria and her images?” 12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he7 will punish the speech8 of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 For he says:   “By the strength of my hand I have done it,    and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;  I remove the boundaries of peoples,    and plunder their treasures;    like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.14   My hand has found like a nest    the wealth of the peoples;  and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,    so I have gathered all the earth;  and there was none that moved a wing    or opened the mouth or chirped.” 15   Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it,    or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?  As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,    or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!16   Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts    will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,  and under his glory a burning will be kindled,    like the burning of fire.17   The light of Israel will become a fire,    and his Holy One a flame,  and it will burn and devour    his thorns and briers in one day.18   The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land    the LORD will destroy, both soul and body,    and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.19   The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few    that a child can write them down. The Remnant of Israel Will Return 20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth. 24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25 For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And the LORD of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. 27 And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”9 28   He has come to Aiath;  he has passed through Migron;    at Michmash he stores his baggage;29   they have crossed over the pass;    at Geba they lodge for the night;  Ramah trembles;    Gibeah of Saul has fled.30   Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim!    Give attention, O Laishah!    O poor Anathoth!31   Madmenah is in flight;    the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.32   This very day he will halt at Nob;    he will shake his fist    at the mount of the daughter of Zion,    the hill of Jerusalem. 33   Behold, the Lord GOD of hosts    will lop the boughs with terrifying power;  the great in height will be hewn down,    and the lofty will be brought low.34   He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe,    and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One. The Righteous Reign of the Branch 11   There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.2   And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,    the Spirit of counsel and might,    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.3   And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.  He shall not judge by what his eyes see,    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,4   but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;  and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.5   Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,    and faithfulness the belt of his loins. 6   The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,  and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;    and a little child shall lead them.7   The cow and the bear shall graze;    their young shall lie down together;    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.8   The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.9   They shall not hurt or destroy    in all my holy mountain;  for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD    as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush,10 from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. 12   He will raise a signal for the nations    and will assemble the banished of Israel,  and gather the dispersed of Judah    from the four corners of the earth.13   The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,    and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;  Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,    and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.14   But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,    and together they shall plunder the people of the east.  They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab,    and the Ammonites shall obey them.15   And the LORD will utterly destroy11    the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,  and will wave his hand over the River12    with his scorching breath,13  and strike it into seven channels,    and he will lead people across in sandals.16   And there will be a highway from Assyria    for the remnant that remains of his people,  as there was for Israel    when they came up from the land of Egypt. The Lord Is My Strength and My Song 12   You14 will say in that day:  “I will give thanks to you, O LORD,    for though you were angry with me,  your anger turned away,    that you might comfort me. 2   “Behold, God is my salvation;    I will trust, and will not be afraid;  for the LORD GOD15 is my strength and my song,    and he has become my salvation.” 3 With joy you16 will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:   “Give thanks to the LORD,    call upon his name,  make known his deeds among the peoples,    proclaim that his name is exalted. 5   “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;    let this be made known17 in all the earth.6   Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,    for great in your18 midst is the Holy One of Israel.” Footnotes [1] 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew [2] 9:1 Or of the Gentiles [3] 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew [4] 9:6 Or is upon [5] 9:6 Or is called [6] 9:17 Or speaks disgraceful things [7] 10:12 Hebrew I [8] 10:12 Hebrew fruit [9] 10:27 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [10] 11:11

Isaiah 5–8 Isaiah 5–8 (Listen) The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed 5   Let me sing for my beloved    my love song concerning his vineyard:  My beloved had a vineyard    on a very fertile hill.2   He dug it and cleared it of stones,    and planted it with choice vines;  he built a watchtower in the midst of it,    and hewed out a wine vat in it;  and he looked for it to yield grapes,    but it yielded wild grapes. 3   And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem    and men of Judah,  judge between me and my vineyard.4   What more was there to do for my vineyard,    that I have not done in it?  When I looked for it to yield grapes,    why did it yield wild grapes? 5   And now I will tell you    what I will do to my vineyard.  I will remove its hedge,    and it shall be devoured;1  I will break down its wall,    and it shall be trampled down.6   I will make it a waste;    it shall not be pruned or hoed,    and briers and thorns shall grow up;  I will also command the clouds    that they rain no rain upon it. 7   For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts    is the house of Israel,  and the men of Judah    are his pleasant planting;  and he looked for justice,    but behold, bloodshed;2  for righteousness,    but behold, an outcry!3 Woe to the Wicked 8   Woe to those who join house to house,    who add field to field,  until there is no more room,    and you are made to dwell alone    in the midst of the land.9   The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing:  “Surely many houses shall be desolate,    large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.10   For ten acres4 of vineyard shall yield but one bath,    and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”5 11   Woe to those who rise early in the morning,    that they may run after strong drink,  who tarry late into the evening    as wine inflames them!12   They have lyre and harp,    tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,  but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD,    or see the work of his hands. 13   Therefore my people go into exile    for lack of knowledge;6  their honored men go hungry,7    and their multitude is parched with thirst.14   Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite    and opened its mouth beyond measure,  and the nobility of Jerusalem8 and her multitude will go down,    her revelers and he who exults in her.15   Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,    and the eyes of the haughty9 are brought low.16   But the LORD of hosts is exalted10 in justice,    and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.17   Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture,    and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich. 18   Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,    who draw sin as with cart ropes,19   who say: “Let him be quick,    let him speed his work    that we may see it;  let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,    and let it come, that we may know it!”20   Woe to those who call evil good    and good evil,  who put darkness for light    and light for darkness,  who put bitter for sweet    and sweet for bitter!21   Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,    and shrewd in their own sight!22   Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,    and valiant men in mixing strong drink,23   who acquit the guilty for a bribe,    and deprive the innocent of his right! 24   Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,    and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,  so their root will be as rottenness,    and their blossom go up like dust;  for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts,    and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.25   Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people,    and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,    and the mountains quaked;  and their corpses were as refuse    in the midst of the streets.  For all this his anger has not turned away,    and his hand is stretched out still. 26   He will raise a signal for nations far away,    and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;  and behold, quickly, speedily they come!27   None is weary, none stumbles,    none slumbers or sleeps,  not a waistband is loose,    not a sandal strap broken;28   their arrows are sharp,    all their bows bent,  their horses' hoofs seem like flint,    and their wheels like the whirlwind.29   Their roaring is like a lion,    like young lions they roar;  they growl and seize their prey;    they carry it off, and none can rescue.30   They will growl over it on that day,    like the growling of the sea.  And if one looks to the land,    behold, darkness and distress;  and the light is darkened by its clouds. Isaiah's Vision of the Lord 6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train11 of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:   “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;  the whole earth is full of his glory!”12 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” Isaiah's Commission from the Lord 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:   “‘Keep on hearing,13 but do not understand;  keep on seeing,14 but do not perceive.'10   Make the heart of this people dull,15    and their ears heavy,    and blind their eyes;  lest they see with their eyes,    and hear with their ears,  and understand with their hearts,    and turn and be healed.”11   Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”  And he said:  “Until cities lie waste    without inhabitant,  and houses without people,    and the land is a desolate waste,12   and the LORD removes people far away,    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.13   And though a tenth remain in it,    it will be burned16 again,  like a terebinth or an oak,    whose stump remains    when it is felled.”  The holy seed17 is its stump. Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz 7 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with18 Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz19 and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. 3 And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub20 your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 4 And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it21 for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord GOD:   “‘It shall not stand,    and it shall not come to pass.8   For the head of Syria is Damascus,    and the head of Damascus is Rezin.  And within sixty-five years    Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.9   And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,    and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.  If you22 are not firm in faith,    you will not be firm at all.'” The Sign of Immanuel 10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the LORD your23 God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” 13 And he24 said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.25 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17 The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!” 18 In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.26 20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River27—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also. 21 In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey. 23 In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels28 of silver, will become briers and thorns. 24 With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. 25 And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread. The Coming Assyrian Invasion 8 Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters,29 ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.'30 2 And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.” 3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father' or ‘My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.” 5 The LORD spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River,31 mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.” 9   Be broken,32 you peoples, and be shattered;33    give ear, all you far countries;  strap on your armor and be shattered;    strap on your armor and be shattered.10   Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;    speak a word, but it will not stand,    for God is with us.34 Fear God, Wait for the Lord 11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.” 16 Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching35 among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21 They will pass through the land,36 greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against37 their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness. Footnotes [1] 5:5 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5 [2] 5:7 The Hebrew words for justice and bloodshed sound alike [3] 5:7 The Hebrew words for righteous and outcry sound alike [4] 5:10 Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day [5] 5:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters [6] 5:13

Isaiah 1–4 Isaiah 1–4 (Listen) 1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The Wickedness of Judah 2   Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;    for the LORD has spoken:  “Children1 have I reared and brought up,    but they have rebelled against me.3   The ox knows its owner,    and the donkey its master's crib,  but Israel does not know,    my people do not understand.” 4   Ah, sinful nation,    a people laden with iniquity,  offspring of evildoers,    children who deal corruptly!  They have forsaken the LORD,    they have despised the Holy One of Israel,    they are utterly estranged. 5   Why will you still be struck down?    Why will you continue to rebel?  The whole head is sick,    and the whole heart faint.6   From the sole of the foot even to the head,    there is no soundness in it,  but bruises and sores    and raw wounds;  they are not pressed out or bound up    or softened with oil. 7   Your country lies desolate;    your cities are burned with fire;  in your very presence    foreigners devour your land;    it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.8   And the daughter of Zion is left    like a booth in a vineyard,  like a lodge in a cucumber field,    like a besieged city. 9   If the LORD of hosts    had not left us a few survivors,  we should have been like Sodom,    and become like Gomorrah. 10   Hear the word of the LORD,    you rulers of Sodom!  Give ear to the teaching2 of our God,    you people of Gomorrah!11   “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?    says the LORD;  I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams    and the fat of well-fed beasts;  I do not delight in the blood of bulls,    or of lambs, or of goats. 12   “When you come to appear before me,    who has required of you    this trampling of my courts?13   Bring no more vain offerings;    incense is an abomination to me.  New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—    I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.14   Your new moons and your appointed feasts    my soul hates;  they have become a burden to me;    I am weary of bearing them.15   When you spread out your hands,    I will hide my eyes from you;  even though you make many prayers,    I will not listen;    your hands are full of blood.16   Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;    remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;  cease to do evil,17     learn to do good;  seek justice,    correct oppression;  bring justice to the fatherless,    plead the widow's cause. 18   “Come now, let us reason3 together, says the LORD:  though your sins are like scarlet,    they shall be as white as snow;  though they are red like crimson,    they shall become like wool.19   If you are willing and obedient,    you shall eat the good of the land;20   but if you refuse and rebel,    you shall be eaten by the sword;    for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” The Unfaithful City 21   How the faithful city    has become a whore,4    she who was full of justice!  Righteousness lodged in her,    but now murderers.22   Your silver has become dross,    your best wine mixed with water.23   Your princes are rebels    and companions of thieves.  Everyone loves a bribe    and runs after gifts.  They do not bring justice to the fatherless,    and the widow's cause does not come to them. 24   Therefore the Lord declares,    the LORD of hosts,    the Mighty One of Israel:  “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies    and avenge myself on my foes.25   I will turn my hand against you    and will smelt away your dross as with lye    and remove all your alloy.26   And I will restore your judges as at the first,    and your counselors as at the beginning.  Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,    the faithful city.” 27   Zion shall be redeemed by justice,    and those in her who repent, by righteousness.28   But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,    and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.29   For they5 shall be ashamed of the oaks    that you desired;  and you shall blush for the gardens    that you have chosen.30   For you shall be like an oak    whose leaf withers,    and like a garden without water.31   And the strong shall become tinder,    and his work a spark,  and both of them shall burn together,    with none to quench them. The Mountain of the Lord 2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2   It shall come to pass in the latter days    that the mountain of the house of the LORD  shall be established as the highest of the mountains,    and shall be lifted up above the hills;  and all the nations shall flow to it,3     and many peoples shall come, and say:  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,    to the house of the God of Jacob,  that he may teach us his ways    and that we may walk in his paths.”  For out of Zion shall go forth the law,6    and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.4   He shall judge between the nations,    and shall decide disputes for many peoples;  and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,    and their spears into pruning hooks;  nation shall not lift up sword against nation,    neither shall they learn war anymore. 5   O house of Jacob,    come, let us walk    in the light of the LORD. The Day of the Lord 6   For you have rejected your people,    the house of Jacob,  because they are full of things from the east    and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,    and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.7   Their land is filled with silver and gold,    and there is no end to their treasures;  their land is filled with horses,    and there is no end to their chariots.8   Their land is filled with idols;    they bow down to the work of their hands,    to what their own fingers have made.9   So man is humbled,    and each one is brought low—    do not forgive them!10   Enter into the rock    and hide in the dust  from before the terror of the LORD,    and from the splendor of his majesty.11   The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,    and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,  and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. 12   For the LORD of hosts has a day    against all that is proud and lofty,    against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;13   against all the cedars of Lebanon,    lofty and lifted up;    and against all the oaks of Bashan;14   against all the lofty mountains,    and against all the uplifted hills;15   against every high tower,    and against every fortified wall;16   against all the ships of Tarshish,    and against all the beautiful craft.17   And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,    and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,    and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.18   And the idols shall utterly pass away.19   And people shall enter the caves of the rocks    and the holes of the ground,7  from before the terror of the LORD,    and from the splendor of his majesty,    when he rises to terrify the earth. 20   In that day mankind will cast away    their idols of silver and their idols of gold,  which they made for themselves to worship,    to the moles and to the bats,21   to enter the caverns of the rocks    and the clefts of the cliffs,  from before the terror of the LORD,    and from the splendor of his majesty,    when he rises to terrify the earth.22   Stop regarding man    in whose nostrils is breath,    for of what account is he? Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem 3   For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts    is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah  support and supply,8    all support of bread,    and all support of water;2   the mighty man and the soldier,    the judge and the prophet,    the diviner and the elder,3   the captain of fifty    and the man of rank,  the counselor and the skillful magician    and the expert in charms.4   And I will make boys their princes,    and infants9 shall rule over them.5   And the people will oppress one another,    every one his fellow    and every one his neighbor;  the youth will be insolent to the elder,    and the despised to the honorable. 6   For a man will take hold of his brother    in the house of his father, saying:  “You have a cloak;    you shall be our leader,  and this heap of ruins    shall be under your rule”;7   in that day he will speak out, saying:  “I will not be a healer;10    in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;  you shall not make me    leader of the people.”8   For Jerusalem has stumbled,    and Judah has fallen,  because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD,    defying his glorious presence.11 9   For the look on their faces bears witness against them;    they proclaim their sin like Sodom;    they do not hide it.  Woe to them!    For they have brought evil on themselves.10   Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,    for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.11   Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,    for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.12   My people—infants are their oppressors,    and women rule over them.  O my people, your guides mislead you    and they have swallowed up12 the course of your paths. 13   The LORD has taken his place to contend;    he stands to judge peoples.14   The LORD will enter into judgment    with the elders and princes of his people:  “It is you who have devoured13 the vineyard,    the spoil of the poor is in your houses.15   What do you mean by crushing my people,    by grinding the face of the poor?”      declares the Lord GOD of hosts. 16   The LORD said:  Because the daughters of Zion are haughty    and walk with outstretched necks,    glancing wantonly with their eyes,  mincing along as they go,    tinkling with their feet,17   therefore the Lord will strike with a scab    the heads of the daughters of Zion,    and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves;

Habakkuk 1–3 Habakkuk 1–3 (Listen) 1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. Habakkuk's Complaint 2   O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,    and you will not hear?  Or cry to you “Violence!”    and you will not save?3   Why do you make me see iniquity,    and why do you idly look at wrong?  Destruction and violence are before me;    strife and contention arise.4   So the law is paralyzed,    and justice never goes forth.  For the wicked surround the righteous;    so justice goes forth perverted. The Lord's Answer 5   “Look among the nations, and see;    wonder and be astounded.  For I am doing a work in your days    that you would not believe if told.6   For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,    that bitter and hasty nation,  who march through the breadth of the earth,    to seize dwellings not their own.7   They are dreaded and fearsome;    their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.8   Their horses are swifter than leopards,    more fierce than the evening wolves;    their horsemen press proudly on.  Their horsemen come from afar;    they fly like an eagle swift to devour.9   They all come for violence,    all their faces forward.    They gather captives like sand.10   At kings they scoff,    and at rulers they laugh.  They laugh at every fortress,    for they pile up earth and take it.11   Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,    guilty men, whose own might is their god!” Habakkuk's Second Complaint 12   Are you not from everlasting,    O LORD my God, my Holy One?    We shall not die.  O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment,    and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.13   You who are of purer eyes than to see evil    and cannot look at wrong,  why do you idly look at traitors    and remain silent when the wicked swallows up    the man more righteous than he?14   You make mankind like the fish of the sea,    like crawling things that have no ruler.15   He1 brings all of them up with a hook;    he drags them out with his net;  he gathers them in his dragnet;    so he rejoices and is glad.16   Therefore he sacrifices to his net    and makes offerings to his dragnet;  for by them he lives in luxury,2    and his food is rich.17   Is he then to keep on emptying his net    and mercilessly killing nations forever? 2   I will take my stand at my watchpost    and station myself on the tower,  and look out to see what he will say to me,    and what I will answer concerning my complaint. The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith 2 And the LORD answered me:   “Write the vision;    make it plain on tablets,    so he may run who reads it.3   For still the vision awaits its appointed time;    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it;    it will surely come; it will not delay. 4   “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,    but the righteous shall live by his faith.3 5   “Moreover, wine4 is a traitor,    an arrogant man who is never at rest.5  His greed is as wide as Sheol;    like death he has never enough.  He gathers for himself all nations    and collects as his own all peoples.” Woe to the Chaldeans 6 Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,   “Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own—    for how long?—    and loads himself with pledges!”7   Will not your debtors suddenly arise,    and those awake who will make you tremble?    Then you will be spoil for them.8   Because you have plundered many nations,    all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,  for the blood of man and violence to the earth,    to cities and all who dwell in them. 9   “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,    to set his nest on high,    to be safe from the reach of harm!10   You have devised shame for your house    by cutting off many peoples;    you have forfeited your life.11   For the stone will cry out from the wall,    and the beam from the woodwork respond. 12   “Woe to him who builds a town with blood    and founds a city on iniquity!13   Behold, is it not from the LORD of hosts    that peoples labor merely for fire,    and nations weary themselves for nothing?14   For the earth will be filled    with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD    as the waters cover the sea. 15   “Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink—    you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,    in order to gaze at their nakedness!16   You will have your fill of shame instead of glory.    Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!  The cup in the LORD's right hand    will come around to you,    and utter shame will come upon your glory!17   The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,    as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,  for the blood of man and violence to the earth,    to cities and all who dwell in them. 18   “What profit is an idol    when its maker has shaped it,    a metal image, a teacher of lies?  For its maker trusts in his own creation    when he makes speechless idols!19   Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake;    to a silent stone, Arise!  Can this teach?  Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,    and there is no breath at all in it.20   But the LORD is in his holy temple;    let all the earth keep silence before him.” Habakkuk's Prayer 3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. 2   O LORD, I have heard the report of you,    and your work, O LORD, do I fear.  In the midst of the years revive it;    in the midst of the years make it known;    in wrath remember mercy.3   God came from Teman,    and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah  His splendor covered the heavens,    and the earth was full of his praise.4   His brightness was like the light;    rays flashed from his hand;    and there he veiled his power.5   Before him went pestilence,    and plague followed at his heels.66   He stood and measured the earth;    he looked and shook the nations;  then the eternal mountains were scattered;    the everlasting hills sank low.    His were the everlasting ways.7   I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;    the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.8   Was your wrath against the rivers, O LORD?    Was your anger against the rivers,    or your indignation against the sea,  when you rode on your horses,    on your chariot of salvation?9   You stripped the sheath from your bow,    calling for many arrows.7 Selah    You split the earth with rivers.10   The mountains saw you and writhed;    the raging waters swept on;  the deep gave forth its voice;    it lifted its hands on high.11   The sun and moon stood still in their place    at the light of your arrows as they sped,    at the flash of your glittering spear.12   You marched through the earth in fury;    you threshed the nations in anger.13   You went out for the salvation of your people,    for the salvation of your anointed.  You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,    laying him bare from thigh to neck.8 Selah14   You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,    who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,    rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.15   You trampled the sea with your horses,    the surging of mighty waters. 16   I hear, and my body trembles;    my lips quiver at the sound;  rottenness enters into my bones;    my legs tremble beneath me.  Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble    to come upon people who invade us. Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord 17   Though the fig tree should not blossom,    nor fruit be on the vines,  the produce of the olive fail    and the fields yield no food,  the flock be cut off from the fold    and there be no herd in the stalls,18   yet I will rejoice in the LORD;    I will take joy in the God of my salvation.19   GOD, the Lord, is my strength;    he makes my feet like the deer's;    he makes me tread on my high places.   To the choirmaster: with stringed9 instruments. Footnotes [1] 1:15 That is, the wicked foe [2] 1:16 Hebrew his portion is fat [3] 2:4 Or faithfulness [4] 2:5 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll wealth [5] 2:5 The meaning of the Hebrew of these two lines is uncertain [6] 3:5 Hebrew feet [7] 3:9 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain [8] 3:13 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain [9] 3:19 Hebrew my stringed (ESV) Obadiah Obadiah (Listen) 1 The vision of Obadiah. Edom Will Be Humbled   Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom:  We have heard a report from the LORD,    and a messenger has been sent among the nations:  “Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”2   Behold, I will make you small among the nations;    you shall be utterly despised.13   The pride of your heart has deceived you,    you who live in the clefts of the rock,2    in your lofty dwelling,  who say in your heart,    “Who will bring me down to the ground?”4   Though you soar aloft like the eagle,    though your nest is set among the stars,    from there I will bring you down,      declares the LORD. 5   If thieves came to you,    if plunderers came by night—    how you have been destroyed!—    would they not steal only enough for themselves?  If grape gatherers came to you,    would they not leave gleanings?6   How Esau has been pillaged,    his treasures sought out!7   All your allies have driven you to your border;    those at peace with you have deceived you;  they have prevailed against you;    those who eat your bread3 have set a trap beneath you—    you have4 no understanding. 8   Will I not on that day, declares the LORD,    destroy the wise men out of Edom,    and understanding out of Mount Esau?9   And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,    so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter. Edom's Violence Against Jacob 10   Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,    shame shall cover you,    and you shall be cut off forever.11   On the day that you stood aloof,    on the day that strangers carried off his wealth  and foreigners entered his gates    and cast lots for Jerusalem,    you were like one of them.12   But do not gloat over the day of your brother    in the day of his misfortune;  do not rejoice over the people of Judah    in the day of their ruin;  do not boast5

Old Testament: 1 Kings 3–4 1 Kings 3–4 (Listen) Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom 3 Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the LORD. 3 Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. 4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” 10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. 14 And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” 15 And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants. Solomon's Wisdom 16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. 19 And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” 22 But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king. 23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead'; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.'” 24 And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice. Solomon's Officials 4 King Solomon was king over all Israel, 2 and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 4 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 5 Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king's friend; 6 Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor. 7 Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. 8 These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land. Solomon's Wealth and Wisdom 20 Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. 1 21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates2 to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. 22 Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors3 of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates4 from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. 25 And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. 26 Solomon also had 40,0005 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty. 29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. Footnotes [1] 4:20 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew [2] 4:21 Hebrew the River [3] 4:22 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters [4] 4:24 Hebrew the River; twice in this verse [5] 4:26 Hebrew; one Hebrew manuscript (see 2 Chronicles 9:25 and Septuagint of 1 Kings 10:26) 4,000 (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 125 Psalm 125 (Listen) The Lord Surrounds His People A Song of Ascents. 125   Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,    which cannot be moved, but abides forever.2   As the mountains surround Jerusalem,    so the LORD surrounds his people,    from this time forth and forevermore.3   For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest    on the land allotted to the righteous,  lest the righteous stretch out    their hands to do wrong.4   Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,    and to those who are upright in their hearts!5   But those who turn aside to their crooked ways    the LORD will lead away with evildoers!    Peace be upon Israel! (ESV) New Testament: Titus 1–3 Titus 1–3 (Listen) Greeting 1 Paul, a servant1 of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began2 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word3 through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. Qualifications for Elders 5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,4 and his children are believers5 and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,6 as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound7 doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. 10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.8 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans,9 a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”10 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Teach Sound Doctrine 2 But as for you, teach what accords with sound11 doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Bondservants12 are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Be Ready for Every Good Work 3 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. Final Instructions and Greetings 12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. 15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Footnotes [1] 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface [2] 1:2 Greek before times eternal [3] 1:3 Or manifested his word [4] 1:6 Or a man of one woman [5] 1:6 Or are faithful [6] 1:7 Or bishop; Greek episkopos [7] 1:9 Or healthy; also verse 13 [8] 1:10 Or especially those of the circumcision [9] 1:12 Greek One of them [10] 1:12 Probably from Epimenides of Crete [11] 2:1 Or healthy; also verses 2, 8 [12] 2:9 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface (ESV)

Old Testament: 1 Kings 3–4 1 Kings 3–4 (Listen) Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom 3 Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the LORD. 3 Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. 4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” 6 And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” 10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. 14 And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” 15 And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants. Solomon's Wisdom 16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. 19 And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” 22 But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king. 23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead'; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.'” 24 And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” 27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice. Solomon's Officials 4 King Solomon was king over all Israel, 2 and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 4 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 5 Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king's friend; 6 Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor. 7 Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. 8 These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land. Solomon's Wealth and Wisdom 20 Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. 1 21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates2 to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. 22 Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors3 of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates4 from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. 25 And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. 26 Solomon also had 40,0005 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty. 29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32 He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. Footnotes [1] 4:20 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew [2] 4:21 Hebrew the River [3] 4:22 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters [4] 4:24 Hebrew the River; twice in this verse [5] 4:26 Hebrew; one Hebrew manuscript (see 2 Chronicles 9:25 and Septuagint of 1 Kings 10:26) 4,000 (ESV) New Testament: Romans 1:18–32 Romans 1:18–32 (Listen) God's Wrath on Unrighteousness 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,1 in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Footnotes [1] 1:20 Or clearly perceived from the creation of the world (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 125 Psalm 125 (Listen) The Lord Surrounds His People A Song of Ascents. 125   Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,    which cannot be moved, but abides forever.2   As the mountains surround Jerusalem,    so the LORD surrounds his people,    from this time forth and forevermore.3   For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest    on the land allotted to the righteous,  lest the righteous stretch out    their hands to do wrong.4   Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,    and to those who are upright in their hearts!5   But those who turn aside to their crooked ways    the LORD will lead away with evildoers!    Peace be upon Israel! (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 17:2–3 Proverbs 17:2–3 (Listen) 2   A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully    and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.3   The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,    and the LORD tests hearts. (ESV)