Isaiah 19
1 The vision of Egypt: Behold, the Lord sits on a swift cloud and shall come to Egypt, and the things made by hands in Egypt shall be shaken by His presence, and their heart shall be overcome within them.
2 “Egyptians shall be stirred up against Egyptians, and a man shall fight against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city and law against law.†
3 The spirit of the Egyptians will be troubled within them, and I will reject their counsel, and they shall consult their gods and their statues, and those who speak from the earth and are ventriloquists.
4 And I will deliver Egypt into the hands of harsh lords and kings who will rule over them,” thus says the Lord of hosts.
5 And the Egyptians will drink water from the sea, for the river will run dry and have no water.
6 The streams and canals of the river will fail; and every reservoir shall dry up, as well as every marsh of reed and papyrus.
7 All the greenery around the river and everything sown alongside the river shall be blasted by the wind and dried up.
8 The fishermen will also groan, and all who cast a fishhook into the river will also lament, and those who cast dragnets and the anglers shall mourn.
9 Shame shall fall on those who work fine flax, and those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed.
10 Those who work these things will be in pain. All who make strong drink shall grieve and suffer in their souls.
11 The rulers of Tanis are fools. As for the king’s wise counselors, their counsel will be turned into foolishness. How will you say to the king, “We are sons of the wise, we are sons of kings of old”?
12 Where are your wise men now? Let them now tell you, and let them say what the Lord of hosts planned against Egypt.
13 The rulers of Tanis have failed, and the rulers of Memphis are exalted, and they shall lead Egypt astray according to tribes.
14 For the Lord prepared for them a spirit of error, and they led Egypt astray in all their works, like a drunken man who staggers and vomits.
15 There shall be no work for the Egyptians that will bring about employer and employee, and beginning and completion.
16 In that day, the Egyptians shall be like women in fear and trembling because of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He shall lay upon them.
17 The country of the Jews will be a terror to the Egyptians. If anyone mentions it to them, they will be in fear, because of the counsel the Lord purposed concerning it.
18 In that day, five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the name of the Lord; one city will be called the City of Justice.
19 In that day, there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the country of Egypt and a pillar to the Lord at its border.
20 It will be a sign forever to the Lord in the country of Egypt, for they will cry to the Lord because of their oppressors, and the Lord will send them a Man who will save them. He will judge and save them.
21 Then the Lord will be known to the Egyptians, and in that day the Egyptians will know the Lord and offer sacrifices. Yes, they will make vows to the Lord and pay them.
22 The Lord shall strike the Egyptians with a great wound and completely heal them. They will return to the Lord, and He shall hear and heal them.
23 In that day there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria. The Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day, Israel will be one of three with the Egyptians and Assyrians; a blessing in the land,
25 which the Lord of hosts blessed, saying, “Blessed are my people in Egypt, and in Assyria and Israel, My inheritance.”
Psalms 71
1 For Solomon. †O God, give Your judgments to the King, And Your righteousness to the King’s Son,
2 That He may judge Your people in righteousness And Your poor with judgment.
3 Let the mountains raise up peace for Your people And the hills in righteousness.
4 He shall judge the poor of the people, And shall serve the sons of the poor; He shall humble the false accuser,
5 And He shall continue as long as the sun And before the moon from generation to generation;
6 And He shall come down like rain on the fleece, Like raindrops falling on the earth.
7 In His days, righteousness and abundance of peace shall flourish, Until the moon is removed.
8 And He shall rule from sea to sea, And from the river to the ends of the inhabited earth.
9 The Ethiopians shall bow down before Him, And His enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and their islands will come bearing gifts; The kings of Arabia and Saba will bring presents.
11 All the kings of the earth shall worship Him; All the Gentiles shall serve Him.
12 For He rescued the poor from the hand of a strong man, And the needy, for whom there was no helper.
13 He shall spare the poor and needy, And He shall save the souls of the needy;
14 He shall redeem their souls from usury and injustice, And precious shall be their name in His sight.
15 He shall live, and there shall be given Him from the gold of Arabia; They shall pray continually because of Him, All the day long shall they bless Him.
16 He shall be a support on the earth upon the summits of the mountains; His fruit shall be exalted more than Lebanon, And they shall flourish from the city like the grass of the earth.
17 Let His name be blessed unto the ages; His name shall remain before the sun, And all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in Him; All the Gentiles shall bless Him.
18 Blessed is the Lord God, The God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
19 And blessed is the name of His glory forever and unto ages of ages, And all the earth shall be filled with His glory. Amen! Amen!
20 The hymns of David the son of Jesse are ended.
Proverbs of Solomon 14
31 A man with a gentle spirit is a healer of the heart, But a sensual heart is the moth of the bones.†
32 He who oppresses the poor provokes his Maker, But he who honors Him has mercy upon a poor man.
33 In his evil an ungodly man will be rejected, But a righteous man has confidence in his own holiness.
34 There is wisdom in the good heart of a man, But wisdom is unknown in the heart of those without discernment.†
35 Righteousness exalts a nation, But sins diminish tribes.
36 A wise servant is acceptable to a king, And by his own versatility he removes dishonor.
2 Corinthians 12
Paul’s Visions
1 It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord:†
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—
4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
5 Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.
6 For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.
A Thorn in the Flesh
7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.†
8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul’s Miracles
11 I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.†
12 Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.
13 For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong!
A Love Rejected
14 Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.†
16 But be that as it may, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning!
17 Did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you?
18 I urged Titus, and sent our brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?
19 Again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ. But we do all things, beloved, for your edification.
20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;†
21 lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.