ISAIAH 14

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The Restoration of Jacob  14:1 For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2 And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the Lord’s land as male and female slaves. They will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them. Israel’s Remnant Taunts Babylon3 When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, 4 you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

“How the oppressor has ceased,

the insolent fury ceased! 5

The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,

the scepter of rulers, 6

that struck the peoples in wrath

with unceasing blows,

that ruled the nations in anger

with unrelenting persecution. 7

The whole earth is at rest and quiet;

they break forth into singing. 8

The cypresses rejoice at you,

the cedars of Lebanon, saying,

‘Since you were laid low,

no woodcutter comes up against us.’ 9

Sheol beneath is stirred up

to meet you when you come;

it rouses the shades to greet you,

all who were leaders of the earth;

it raises from their thrones

all who were kings of the nations. 10

All of them will answer

and say to you:

‘You too have become as weak as we!

You have become like us!’ 11

Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,

the sound of your harps;

maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,

and worms are your covers.
12

“How you are fallen from heaven,

O Day Star, son of Dawn!

How you are cut down to the ground,

you who laid the nations low! 13

You said in your heart,

‘I will ascend to heaven;

above the stars of God

I will set my throne on high;

I will sit on the mount of assembly

in the far reaches of the north; 14

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15

But you are brought down to Sheol,

to the far reaches of the pit. 16

Those who see you will stare at you

and ponder over you:

‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

who shook kingdoms, 17

who made the world like a desert

and overthrew its cities,

who did not let his prisoners go home?’ 18

All the kings of the nations lie in glory,

each in his own tomb; 19

but you are cast out, away from your grave,

like a loathed branch,

clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,

who go down to the stones of the pit,

like a dead body trampled underfoot.
20

You will not be joined with them in burial,

because you have destroyed your land,

you have slain your people.

“May the offspring of evildoers

nevermore be named! 21

Prepare slaughter for his sons

because of the guilt of their fathers,

lest they rise and possess the earth,

and fill the face of the world with cities.”
    22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity,” declares the Lord. 23 “And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts. An Oracle Concerning Assyria24

The Lord of hosts has sworn:

“As I have planned,

so shall it be,

and as I have purposed,

so shall it stand, 25

that I will break the Assyrian in my land,

and on my mountains trample him underfoot;

and his yoke shall depart from them,

and his burden from their shoulder.”
26

This is the purpose that is purposed

concerning the whole earth,

and this is the hand that is stretched out

over all the nations. 27

For the Lord of hosts has purposed,

and who will annul it?

His hand is stretched out,

and who will turn it back? An Oracle Concerning Philistia28 In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle:
29

Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you,

that the rod that struck you is broken,

for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder,

and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent. 30

And the firstborn of the poor will graze,

and the needy lie down in safety;

but I will kill your root with famine,

and your remnant it will slay. 31

Wail, O gate; cry out, O city;

melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you!

For smoke comes out of the north,

and there is no straggler in his ranks.
32

What will one answer the messengers of the nation?

“The Lord has founded Zion,

and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

ISAIAH 15

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An Oracle Concerning Moab  15:1 An oracle concerning Moab.

Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone;

because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone. 2

He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon,

to the high places to weep;

over Nebo and over Medeba

Moab wails.

On every head is baldness;

every beard is shorn; 3

in the streets they wear sackcloth;

on the housetops and in the squares

everyone wails and melts in tears. 4

Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;

their voice is heard as far as Jahaz;

therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;

his soul trembles. 5

My heart cries out for Moab;

her fugitives flee to Zoar,

to Eglath-shelishiyah.

For at the ascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;

on the road to Horonaim

they raise a cry of destruction; 6

the waters of Nimrim

are a desolation;

the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,

the greenery is no more. 7

Therefore the abundance they have gained

and what they have laid up

they carry away

over the Brook of the Willows. 8

For a cry has gone

around the land of Moab;

her wailing reaches to Eglaim;

her wailing reaches to Beer-elim. 9

For the waters of Dibon are full of blood;

for I will bring upon Dibon even more,

a lion for those of Moab who escape,

for the remnant of the land.

PROVERBS 8

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The Blessings of Wisdom8:1

Does not wisdom call?

Does not understanding raise her voice? 2

On the heights beside the way,

at the crossroads she takes her stand; 3

beside the gates in front of the town,

at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: 4

“To you, O men, I call,

and my cry is to the children of man. 5

O simple ones, learn prudence;

O fools, learn sense. 6

Hear, for I will speak noble things,

and from my lips will come what is right, 7

for my mouth will utter truth;

wickedness is an abomination to my lips. 8

All the words of my mouth are righteous;

there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. 9

They are all straight to him who understands,

and right to those who find knowledge. 10

Take my instruction instead of silver,

and knowledge rather than choice gold, 11

for wisdom is better than jewels,

and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
12

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,

and I find knowledge and discretion. 13

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.

Pride and arrogance and the way of evil

and perverted speech I hate. 14

I have counsel and sound wisdom;

I have insight; I have strength. 15

By me kings reign,

and rulers decree what is just; 16

by me princes rule,

and nobles, all who govern justly. 17

I love those who love me,

and those who seek me diligently find me. 18

Riches and honor are with me,

enduring wealth and righteousness. 19

My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,

and my yield than choice silver. 20

I walk in the way of righteousness,

in the paths of justice, 21

granting an inheritance to those who love me,

and filling their treasuries.
22

“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work,

the first of his acts of old. 23

Ages ago I was set up,

at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 24

When there were no depths I was brought forth,

when there were no springs abounding with water. 25

Before the mountains had been shaped,

before the hills, I was brought forth, 26

before he had made the earth with its fields,

or the first of the dust of the world. 27

When he established the heavens, I was there;

when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28

when he made firm the skies above,

when he established the fountains of the deep, 29

when he assigned to the sea its limit,

so that the waters might not transgress his command,

when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 30

then I was beside him, like a master workman,

and I was daily his delight,

rejoicing before him always, 31

rejoicing in his inhabited world

and delighting in the children of man.
32

“And now, O sons, listen to me:

blessed are those who keep my ways. 33

Hear instruction and be wise,

and do not neglect it. 34

Blessed is the one who listens to me,

watching daily at my gates,

waiting beside my doors. 35

For whoever finds me finds life

and obtains favor from the Lord, 36

but he who fails to find me injures himself;

all who hate me love death.”

PHILEMON 1

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Greeting  1:1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
    To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:
    3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philemon’s Love and Faith4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. 7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. Paul’s Plea for Onesimus8 Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
    17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
    21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you. Final Greetings23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
    25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.