ISAIAH 48

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Israel Refined for God’s Glory48:1

Hear this, O house of Jacob,

who are called by the name of Israel,

and who came from the waters of Judah,

who swear by the name of the Lord

and confess the God of Israel,

but not in truth or right. 2

For they call themselves after the holy city,

and stay themselves on the God of Israel;

the Lord of hosts is his name.
3

“The former things I declared of old;

they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;

then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. 4

Because I know that you are obstinate,

and your neck is an iron sinew

and your forehead brass, 5

I declared them to you from of old,

before they came to pass I announced them to you,

lest you should say, ‘My idol did them,

my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’
6

“You have heard; now see all this;

and will you not declare it?

From this time forth I announce to you new things,

hidden things that you have not known. 7

They are created now, not long ago;

before today you have never heard of them,

lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’ 8

You have never heard, you have never known,

from of old your ear has not been opened.

For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,

and that from before birth you were called a rebel.
9

“For my name’s sake I defer my anger;

for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,

that I may not cut you off. 10

Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. 11

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,

for how should my name be profaned?

My glory I will not give to another. The Lord’s Call to Israel12

“Listen to me, O Jacob,

and Israel, whom I called!

I am he; I am the first,

and I am the last. 13

My hand laid the foundation of the earth,

and my right hand spread out the heavens;

when I call to them,

they stand forth together.
14

“Assemble, all of you, and listen!

Who among them has declared these things?

The Lord loves him;

he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,

and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. 15

I, even I, have spoken and called him;

I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way. 16

Draw near to me, hear this:

from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,

from the time it came to be I have been there.”

And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.
17

Thus says the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“I am the Lord your God,

who teaches you to profit,

who leads you in the way you should go. 18

Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!

Then your peace would have been like a river,

and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; 19

your offspring would have been like the sand,

and your descendants like its grains;

their name would never be cut off

or destroyed from before me.”
20

Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea,

declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it,

send it out to the end of the earth;

say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!” 21

They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;

he made water flow for them from the rock;

he split the rock and the water gushed out.
22

“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

ISAIAH 49

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The Servant of the Lord49:1

Listen to me, O coastlands,

and give attention, you peoples from afar.

The Lord called me from the womb,

from the body of my mother he named my name. 2

He made my mouth like a sharp sword;

in the shadow of his hand he hid me;

he made me a polished arrow;

in his quiver he hid me away. 3

And he said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 4

But I said, “I have labored in vain;

I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;

yet surely my right is with the Lord,

and my recompense with my God.”
5

And now the Lord says,

he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him;

and that Israel might be gathered to him—

for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,

and my God has become my strength— 6

he says:

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant

to raise up the tribes of Jacob

and to bring back the preserved of Israel;

I will make you as a light for the nations,

that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7

Thus says the Lord,

the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,

the servant of rulers:

“Kings shall see and arise;

princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;

because of the Lord, who is faithful,

the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” The Restoration of Israel8

Thus says the Lord:

“In a time of favor I have answered you;

in a day of salvation I have helped you;

I will keep you and give you

as a covenant to the people,

to establish the land,

to apportion the desolate heritages, 9

saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’

They shall feed along the ways;

on all bare heights shall be their pasture; 10

they shall not hunger or thirst,

neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,

for he who has pity on them will lead them,

and by springs of water will guide them. 11

And I will make all my mountains a road,

and my highways shall be raised up. 12

Behold, these shall come from afar,

and behold, these from the north and from the west,

and these from the land of Syene.”
13

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

break forth, O mountains, into singing!

For the Lord has comforted his people

and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;

my Lord has forgotten me.”
15

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?

Even these may forget,

yet I will not forget you. 16

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;

your walls are continually before me. 17

Your builders make haste;

your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you. 18

Lift up your eyes around and see;

they all gather, they come to you.

As I live, declares the Lord,

you shall put them all on as an ornament;

you shall bind them on as a bride does.
19

“Surely your waste and your desolate places

and your devastated land—

surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,

and those who swallowed you up will be far away. 20

The children of your bereavement

will yet say in your ears:

‘The place is too narrow for me;

make room for me to dwell in.’ 21

Then you will say in your heart:

‘Who has borne me these?

I was bereaved and barren,

exiled and put away,

but who has brought up these?

Behold, I was left alone;

from where have these come?’”
22

Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,

and raise my signal to the peoples;

and they shall bring your sons in their arms,

and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. 23

Kings shall be your foster fathers,

and their queens your nursing mothers.

With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,

and lick the dust of your feet.

Then you will know that I am the Lord;

those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”
24

Can the prey be taken from the mighty,

or the captives of a tyrant be rescued? 25

For thus says the Lord:

“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,

and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,

for I will contend with those who contend with you,

and I will save your children. 26

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,

and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.

Then all flesh shall know

that I am the Lord your Savior,

and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

PROVERBS 24

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24:1

Be not envious of evil men,

nor desire to be with them, 2

for their hearts devise violence,

and their lips talk of trouble.
3

By wisdom a house is built,

and by understanding it is established; 4

by knowledge the rooms are filled

with all precious and pleasant riches. 5

A wise man is full of strength,

and a man of knowledge enhances his might, 6

for by wise guidance you can wage your war,

and in abundance of counselors there is victory. 7

Wisdom is too high for a fool;

in the gate he does not open his mouth.
8

Whoever plans to do evil

will be called a schemer. 9

The devising of folly is sin,

and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.
10

If you faint in the day of adversity,

your strength is small. 11

Rescue those who are being taken away to death;

hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. 12

If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”

does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?

Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,

and will he not repay man according to his work?
13

My son, eat honey, for it is good,

and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. 14

Know that wisdom is such to your soul;

if you find it, there will be a future,

and your hope will not be cut off.
15

Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous;

do no violence to his home; 16

for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,

but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.
17

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,

and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, 18

lest the Lord see it and be displeased,

and turn away his anger from him.
19

Fret not yourself because of evildoers,

and be not envious of the wicked, 20

for the evil man has no future;

the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
21

My son, fear the Lord and the king,

and do not join with those who do otherwise, 22

for disaster will arise suddenly from them,

and who knows the ruin that will come from them both? More Sayings of the Wise23 These also are sayings of the wise.

Partiality in judging is not good. 24

Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”

will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, 25

but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,

and a good blessing will come upon them. 26

Whoever gives an honest answer

kisses the lips.
27

Prepare your work outside;

get everything ready for yourself in the field,

and after that build your house.
28

Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause,

and do not deceive with your lips. 29

Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;

I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
30

I passed by the field of a sluggard,

by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, 31

and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;

the ground was covered with nettles,

and its stone wall was broken down. 32

Then I saw and considered it;

I looked and received instruction. 33

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest, 34

and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.

HEBREWS 12

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Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith  12:1 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 Weary3 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 Shaken18 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 assembly 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.