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 25

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More Proverbs of Solomon  25:1 These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.
2

It is the glory of God to conceal things,

but the glory of kings is to search things out. 3

As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth,

so the heart of kings is unsearchable. 4

Take away the dross from the silver,

and the smith has material for a vessel; 5

take away the wicked from the presence of the king,

and his throne will be established in righteousness. 6

Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence

or stand in the place of the great,
7

for it is better to be told, “Come up here,”

than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

What your eyes have seen 8

do not hastily bring into court,

for what will you do in the end,

when your neighbor puts you to shame? 9

Argue your case with your neighbor himself,

and do not reveal another’s secret, 10

lest he who hears you bring shame upon you,

and your ill repute have no end.
11

A word fitly spoken

is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. 12

Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold

is a wise reprover to a listening ear. 13

Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest

is a faithful messenger to those who send him;

he refreshes the soul of his masters. 14

Like clouds and wind without rain

is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.
15

With patience a ruler may be persuaded,

and a soft tongue will break a bone. 16

If you have found honey, eat only enough for you,

lest you have your fill of it and vomit it. 17

Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house,

lest he have his fill of you and hate you. 18

A man who bears false witness against his neighbor

is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow. 19

Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble

is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips. 20

Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart

is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day,

and like vinegar on soda. 21

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,

and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, 22

for you will heap burning coals on his head,

and the Lord will reward you. 23

The north wind brings forth rain,

and a backbiting tongue, angry looks. 24

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop

than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. 25

Like cold water to a thirsty soul,

so is good news from a far country. 26

Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain

is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. 27

It is not good to eat much honey,

nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory. 28

A man without self-control

is like a city broken into and left without walls.

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.