Isaiah 29

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The Siege of Jerusalem


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.”

Psalm 65

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O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
2
O you who hear prayer,
to you shall all flesh come.
3
When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.
4
Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!

5
By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
6
the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
7
who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples,
8
so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

9
You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
11
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
12
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
13
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

Psalm 66

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How Awesome Are Your Deeds

To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
2
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
3
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
4
All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Selah

5
Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
6
He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
7
who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations⁠—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

8
Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9
who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip.
10
For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11
You brought us into the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
12
you let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

13
I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will perform my vows to you,
14
that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
15
I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

16
Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17
I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
18
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19
But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20
Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!

Proverbs 4

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A Father’s Wise Instruction


Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
2
for I give you good precepts;
do not forsake my teaching.
3
When I was a son with my father,
tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
4
he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments, and live.
5
Get wisdom; get insight;
do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6
Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will guard you.
7
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get insight.
8
Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
9
She will place on your head a graceful garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

10
Hear, my son, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
11
I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
12
When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.
13
Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;
guard her, for she is your life.
14
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of the evil.
15
Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16
For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17
For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
19
The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble.

20
My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21
Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.
22
For they are life to those who find them,
and healing to all their flesh.
23
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24
Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25
Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26
Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27
Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.