Isaiah 36

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Sennacherib Invades Judah

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 3 And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. 4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6 Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’” 11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” 13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’” 21 But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Psalm 68

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God Shall Scatter His Enemies

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

God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
2
As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
3
But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall exult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!

4
Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord;
exult before him!
5
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6
God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

7
O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
8
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9
Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
you restored your inheritance as it languished;
10
your flock found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

11
The Lord gives the word;
the women who announce the news are a great host:
12
“The kings of the armies⁠—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil⁠—
13
though you men lie among the sheepfolds⁠—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with shimmering gold.
14
When the Almighty scatters kings there,
let snow fall on Zalmon.

15
O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
O many‑peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16
Why do you look with hatred, O many‑peaked mountain,
at the mount that God desired for his abode,
yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?
17
The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
18
You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.

19
Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah
20
Our God is a God of salvation,
and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
21
But God will strike the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
22
The Lord said,
“I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23
that you may strike your feet in their blood,
that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

24
Your procession is seen, O God,
the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary⁠—
25
the singers in front, the musicians last,
between them virgins playing tambourines:
26
“Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”
27
There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

28
Summon your power, O God,
the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
29
Because of your temple at Jerusalem
kings shall bear gifts to you.
30
Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.
31
Nobles shall come from Egypt;
Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.

32
O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord, Selah
33
to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
34
Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
and whose power is in the skies.
35
Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
the God of Israel⁠—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!

Psalm 69

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Save Me, O God

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David.

Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
2
I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
3
I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.

4
More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5
O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

6
Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7
For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8
I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons.

9
For zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10
When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11
When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12
I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.

13
But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14
Deliver me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
15
Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.

16
Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17
Hide not your face from your servant,
for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
18
Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!

19
You know my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20
Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
and for comforters, but I found none.
21
They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

22
Let their own table before them become a snare;
and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
23
Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
24
Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25
May their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26
For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
27
Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.
28
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

29
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high!

30
I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31
This will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32
When the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33
For the Lord hears the needy
and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.

34
Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35
For God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36
the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

Proverbs 11

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A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,
but a just weight is his delight.
2
When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with the humble is wisdom.
3
The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.
4
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death.
5
The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight,
but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.
6
The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.
7
When the wicked dies, his hope will perish,
and the expectation of wealth perishes too.
8
The righteous is delivered from trouble,
and the wicked walks into it instead.
9
With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,
but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
10
When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.
11
By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.
12
Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,
but a man of understanding remains silent.
13
Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets,
but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.
14
Where there is no guidance, a people falls,
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
15
Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm,
but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.
16
A gracious woman gets honor,
and violent men get riches.
17
A man who is kind benefits himself,
but a cruel man hurts himself.
18
The wicked earns deceptive wages,
but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.
19
Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,
but he who pursues evil will die.
20
Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord,
but those of blameless ways are his delight.
21
Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished,
but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
22
Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
is a beautiful woman without discretion.
23
The desire of the righteous ends only in good,
the expectation of the wicked in wrath.
24
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
25
Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered.
26
The people curse him who holds back grain,
but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.
27
Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,
but evil comes to him who searches for it.
28
Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
29
Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and whoever captures souls is wise.
31
If the righteous is repaid on earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.