Isaiah 28
1 Woe to the crown of arrogance, the hirelings of Ephraim, the flower that fell from the glory on top of the fertile mountain, those who are drunk without wine.†
2 Behold, the anger of the Lord is a strong and harsh thing, like a falling hail where there is no shelter, falling violently like a great force of water, sweeping away the country. He shall bring relief for the earth with His hands.
3 The crown of arrogance, the hirelings of Ephraim, will be trampled underfoot.
4 But the flower that fell from the hope of the glory on the top of the high mountain shall be like the forerunner of the fig. He who sees it wishes to swallow it before he gets it in his hand.†
5 In that day, the Lord of hosts shall be the crown of hope, woven of glory, to the remnant of My people.
6 They shall be left in a spirit of judgment upon judgment and for the strength of those who prevent slaying.
7 For these are led astray with wine and are deceived by strong drink. Priest and prophet are out of their minds by reason of wine; they stagger because of drunkenness; they go astray. This is delusion.
8 A curse will devour this counsel, for this counsel was for the sake of covetousness.
9 To whom have we reported evils and declared a message? Those weaned from milk and withdrawn from the breasts.
10 Expect affliction upon affliction, hope upon hope, yet a little, yet a little.
11 By reason of the contempt of lips and another tongue they will speak to this people,
12 saying to them, “This is the rest for the hungry, and this is the affliction,” but they would not listen.
13 The teaching of the Lord God will be for them affliction upon affliction, hope upon hope, yet a little, yet a little, so they may go and fall backward; and they will be in danger, crushed and conquered.
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you afflicted men and rulers of this people in Jerusalem.
15 Because you said, “We made a covenant with Hades, and are in agreement with death, and if the rushing storm passes through, it will not come upon us, for we made falsehood our hope, and in falsehood we shall be protected”;
16 therefore, thus says the Lord: “Behold, I lay for the foundations of Zion a costly stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone for its foundations, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.†
17 I will also cause judgment to be for hope, and My mercy to be for a standard. The sudden blast of wind will not pass by you who trust vainly in falsehood,
18 except it also take away your covenant of death. Your hope in Hades will also not stand when the rushing storm passes through, for you will be beaten down by it.
19 When it passes through, it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through by day, and by night there will be an evil hope.” Learn to listen,
20 you in difficult straits. We cannot fight, and we ourselves are too weak to gather ourselves together.
21 As the mountain of the ungodly will rise up and be in the valley of Gibeon, He will do His deeds in anger, a work of bitterness. His anger will behave strangely, and His bitterness will be strange.†
22 So do not be glad, neither let your bands become strong; because I heard from the Lord of hosts the things He will perform upon all the earth.
23 Give ear and hear my voice. Listen and hear my words.
24 Will the plowman plow all day? Or will he prepare the seed before he cultivates the ground?
25 When he levels its surface, does he not then sow the small black cummin, and afterward sow the wheat, the barley, and the one-seeded wheat in your borders?
26 So you will be chastised by the judgment of your God and be gladdened by it.
27 For the black cummin is not cleansed with harshness, nor will the wheel of a wagon roll over the cummin; but the black cummin is threshed with a stick, and the cummin
28 will be eaten with bread. For I will not be angry with you forever, nor will the voice of my bitterness trample you underfoot.
29 These signs came forth from the Lord of hosts. Take counsel; exalt vain comfort.
Psalms 76
11 I said, “Now I am beginning to see; This change is by the right hand of the Most High.”
12 I remembered the Lord’s works, For I will remember Your wonders of old,
13 And I will meditate on all Your works; And I will consider Your ways.
14 O God, Your way is in the holy place; Who is so great a God as our God?
15 You are the God who does wonders; You made known Your power among the peoples;
16 You redeemed Your people with Your arm, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. (Pause)
17 The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You and were afraid, And the depths were troubled, A multitude like the sound of waters.
18 The clouds uttered their voice, For Your arrows passed through them;
19 The voice of Your thunder was in the wheel; Your lightning gave light to the world; It was shaken, and the earth was made to tremble.
20 Your way is in the sea, And Your paths are in many waters; And Your footsteps shall not be known.
21 You led Your people as sheep By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Proverbs of Solomon 16
Humility, Discernment, and Righteousness
1 All the works of the humble are evident before the Lord, But the ungodly will be destroyed in the evil day.†
2 Every high-hearted man is unclean before the Lord, And he who joins hands with the unrighteous will not go unpunished.
3 The beginning of a good way is to do righteous things, And this is more acceptable to God than to offer sacrifices.†
4 He who seeks the Lord will find knowledge with righteousness, And those who seek Him rightly will find peace.†
5 All the works of the Lord are with righteousness, But the ungodly man is kept for an evil day.
Ephesians 1
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:†
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Sovereignty of the Father
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,†
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,†
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
The Administration of the Son
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace†
8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,†
10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.
11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,†
12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
The Faithfulness of the Spirit
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,†
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.†
Prayer for Revelation
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,†
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,†
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.†
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.†