ISAIAH 33

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O Lord, Be Gracious to Us33:1

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’s 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;

cities 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.

ISAIAH 34

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Judgment on the Nations34:1

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, 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 Edom 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 porcupine shall possess it,

the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.

He shall stretch the line of confusion 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. 14

And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;

the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;

indeed, there the night bird 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.

PROVERBS 21

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21:1

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;

he turns it wherever he will. 2

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,

but the Lord weighs the heart. 3

To do righteousness and justice

is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. 4

Haughty eyes and a proud heart,

the lamp of the wicked, are sin. 5

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,

but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. 6

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue

is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death. 7

The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,

because they refuse to do what is just. 8

The way of the guilty is crooked,

but the conduct of the pure is upright. 9

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop

than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. 10

The soul of the wicked desires evil;

his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes. 11

When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise;

when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge. 12

The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked;

he throws the wicked down to ruin. 13

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor

will himself call out and not be answered. 14

A gift in secret averts anger,

and a concealed bribe, strong wrath. 15

When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous

but terror to evildoers. 16

One who wanders from the way of good sense

will rest in the assembly of the dead. 17

Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;

he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. 18

The wicked is a ransom for the righteous,

and the traitor for the upright. 19

It is better to live in a desert land

than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. 20

Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling,

but a foolish man devours it. 21

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness

will find life, righteousness, and honor. 22

A wise man scales the city of the mighty

and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. 23

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue

keeps himself out of trouble. 24

“Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man

who acts with arrogant pride. 25

The desire of the sluggard kills him,

for his hands refuse to labor. 26

All day long he craves and craves,

but the righteous gives and does not hold back. 27

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;

how much more when he brings it with evil intent. 28

A false witness will perish,

but the word of a man who hears will endure. 29

A wicked man puts on a bold face,

but the upright gives thought to his ways. 30

No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel

can avail against the Lord. 31

The horse is made ready for the day of battle,

but the victory belongs to the Lord.

HEBREWS 7

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The Priestly Order of Melchizedek  7:1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.
    4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Jesus Compared to Melchizedek11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
    15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,

“You are a priest forever,

after the order of Melchizedek.” 18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
    20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

“The Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind,

‘You are a priest forever.’” 22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
    23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
    26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.