ISAIAH 29

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The Siege of Jerusalem29:1

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. 3

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 yourselves and be astonished;

blind yourselves and be blind!

Be drunk, but not with wine;

stagger, 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.”

ISAIAH 30

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Do Not Go Down to Egypt30:1

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,

“who carry out a plan, but not mine,

and who make an alliance, 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 People8

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. 9

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 returning 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 Gracious18

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 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”
    23 And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.
27

Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,

burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;

his lips are full of fury,

and his tongue is like a devouring fire; 28

his breath is like an overflowing stream

that reaches up to the neck;

to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,

and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.
    29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.

PROVERBS 15

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15:1

A soft answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger. 2

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,

but the mouths of fools pour out folly. 3

The eyes of the Lord are in every place,

keeping watch on the evil and the good. 4

A gentle tongue is a tree of life,

but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. 5

A fool despises his father’s instruction,

but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. 6

In the house of the righteous there is much treasure,

but trouble befalls the income of the wicked. 7

The lips of the wise spread knowledge;

not so the hearts of fools. 8

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,

but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him. 9

The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,

but he loves him who pursues righteousness. 10

There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way;

whoever hates reproof will die. 11

Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord;

how much more the hearts of the children of man! 12

A scoffer does not like to be reproved;

he will not go to the wise. 13

A glad heart makes a cheerful face,

but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. 14

The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,

but the mouths of fools feed on folly. 15

All the days of the afflicted are evil,

but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. 16

Better is a little with the fear of the Lord

than great treasure and trouble with it. 17

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is

than a fattened ox and hatred with it. 18

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,

but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. 19

The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns,

but the path of the upright is a level highway. 20

A wise son makes a glad father,

but a foolish man despises his mother. 21

Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense,

but a man of understanding walks straight ahead. 22

Without counsel plans fail,

but with many advisers they succeed. 23

To make an apt answer is a joy to a man,

and a word in season, how good it is! 24

The path of life leads upward for the prudent,

that he may turn away from Sheol beneath. 25

The Lord tears down the house of the proud

but maintains the widow’s boundaries. 26

The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord,

but gracious words are pure. 27

Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household,

but he who hates bribes will live. 28

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,

but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. 29

The Lord is far from the wicked,

but he hears the prayer of the righteous. 30

The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,

and good news refreshes the bones. 31

The ear that listens to life-giving reproof

will dwell among the wise. 32

Whoever ignores instruction despises himself,

but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. 33

The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom,

and humility comes before honor.

HEBREWS 5

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  5:1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. 3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
    5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”; 6 as he says also in another place,

“You are a priest forever,

after the order of Melchizedek.”
    7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Warning Against Apostasy11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.