Isaiah 13
1 The vision against Babylon seen by Isaiah the son of Amoz:†
2 “Lift up a sign on the mountain of the plain and raise your voice to them. Do not fear; comfort with your hand; open the gates, O you rulers.
3 I command and I lead them. They are sanctified, and I lead them. My mighty ones come to fulfill My anger—rejoicing and insulting at the same time.”
4 The sound of many nations upon the mountains, like that of many nations, the voice of kings and nations gathered together—the Lord of hosts commanded a warring nation
5 to come from a far country, from the end of heaven, the Lord and His weapons, to destroy all the inhabited world.
6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and destruction will come from God.
7 Therefore every hand will grow weary, and every man’s soul will be fearful.
8 The elders will be troubled. Pangs will take hold of them, like a woman in childbirth, and they will wail at one another and be amazed; and their countenance shall change like a flame.
9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, a day that cannot be averted, a day of anger and wrath, to make all the inhabited world a desert, and to destroy the sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and Orion and all the ornament of heaven will not give their light. It will be dark when the sun goes forth, and the moon will not give its light.
11 “I will command evils for all the inhabited world and the ungodly because of their sins, and I will destroy the insolence of the lawless and humble the haughtiness of the arrogant.
12 Those left behind will be more valuable than fine gold tried in the fire, and a man more precious than the stone of Ophir.
13 For heaven will be angry, and the earth will be shaken from its foundations because of the fierce anger of the Lord of hosts, in the day His anger comes.
14 Those who are left shall be as the fleeing gazelle and as a wandering sheep, and there shall be no one to gather them, that a man may return to his own people and a man may seek his own country.
15 For whoever is taken will be overcome, and those who are gathered together will fall by the sword.
16 Their children also will be dashed before their eyes. They shall plunder their houses and possess their wives.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against you, who will not regard silver, neither do they have need of gold.
18 They will break in pieces the bows of the young, and show your children no mercy; nor will their eyes spare your children.
19 It shall be that Babylon, called glorious by the king of the Chaldeans, will be as when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.†
20 It shall never be inhabited, nor will any enter it for many generations. Neither shall the Arabians pass through it, nor will shepherds take their rest in it.
21 But wild animals of the desert will rest there, and their houses will be filled with noise. Sirens will rest there, and demons will dance there.
22 Donkey-centaurs will dwell there, and hedgehogs will make dens in their homes. It will come quickly and not delay.”
Psalms 68
21 My soul expected disgrace and trouble, And I waited for someone to sympathize with me; but no one was there, And for comforters, but I found not one.
22 They gave me gall for my food, And they gave me vinegar for my drink.
23 Let their table become a snare before them, And a recompense and a stumbling block.
24 Let their eyes be darkened so they may not see, And bend down their backs continually;
25 Pour out Your anger upon them, And let the fury of Your wrath lay hold of them.
26 Let their dwelling place be laid waste, And let no one live in their tents.
27 For they pursued closely the one You slew, And they added to the pain of my wounds.
28 Add lawlessness to their lawlessness, And let them not enter into Your righteousness;
29 Let them be blotted out from the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous.
30 I am poor and suffering, And the salvation of Your presence, O God, lays hold of me.
31 I will praise God’s name with a song; I will magnify Him in praise,
32 And this shall be more pleasing to God Than a young bull with horns and hooves.
33 Let the poor behold this, and be glad; Seek God, and your soul shall live,
34 For the Lord hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners.
35 Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them.
36 For God shall save Zion, And the cities of Judah shall be built; And they shall dwell therein, and inherit it;
37 And the seed of His servants shall possess it, And those who love His name shall dwell in it.
Proverbs of Solomon 14
11 The houses of the ungodly will be destroyed, But the tents of the upright shall stand.
12 There is a road that seems to be right with men, But the ends of it reach into the depths of Hades.†
13 Sorrow does not mingle with gladness, But in the end, this joy turns to sorrow.
14 A bold-hearted man will be filled with his own ways, But a good man with all his thoughts.†
15 A simple man believes in every word, But an astute man comes to repentance.†
2 Corinthians 9
1 Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you;
2 for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority.
3 Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready;†
4 lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting.
5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.
Cheerful Giving
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.†
7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
9 As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,
11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,
13 while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men,
14 and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.
15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!