Isaiah 36
1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.†
2 Then the king of the Assyrians sent Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, and he stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the way of the fuller’s field.
3 So Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, the steward, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.†
4 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of the Assyrians: “Why are you confident?†
5 Is a war carried on by counsel or mere words? Now in whom do you trust, that you disobey me?
6 Behold, you are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will puncture his hand. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt and all who trust in him. †
7 But will you say, ‘We trust in the Lord our God’?’ ”
8 Now therefore, make an agreement with my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them.
9 How are you able to turn back the face of one governor? Those who trust in the Egyptians for horse and rider are our servants.
10 Have we now come up without the Lord to make war against this country?”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Speak to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the men who are on the wall.”
12 But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my lord sent me to your lord or to you to speak these words? Has he not sent me to speak to the men who sit on the wall, so they may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you?”
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.
14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you with words which will be unable to deliver you;
15 nor let Hezekiah say to you, “God will deliver you, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.’ ”
16 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘If you wish to be blessed, come out to me, and each of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and all of you will drink the waters of your own cistern,
17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, and of bread and vineyards.’
18 Let not Hezekiah deceive you, saying, ‘God will deliver us.’ Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of the Assyrians?
19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
20 Who among all the gods of these nations delivered his land from my hand, that God should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
21 But they held their peace and answered him not a word, because of the king’s commandment not to answer him.†
22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, the steward, Shebna the scribe of the army, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
Psalms 81
1 A psalm for Asaph. †God stood in the assembly of gods; He judges in the midst of gods, saying,
2 “How long will you judge unjustly, And favor the persons of sinners?” (Pause)
3 Judge an orphan and a poor man; Justify a humble and poor man;
4 Rescue a poor and needy man; Deliver them from a sinner’s hand.
5 They do not know nor understand; They carry on in darkness; All the foundations of the earth shall be shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods, And you are all sons of the Most High.
7 But you die like men, And like one of the rulers, you fall.”
8 Arise, O God; judge the earth, For You shall inherit all the Gentiles.
Proverbs of Solomon 17
11 A threat breaks the heart of a man with discernment, But a man without discernment, though flogged, has no perception.
12 Every evil man stirs up controversy, But the Lord will send him a merciless messenger.
13 Care will befall a thoughtful man, But men without discernment devise evil things.
14 He who repays evil for good, Evil will not be removed from his house.†
15 The foundation of righteousness gives authority to words, But discord and quarreling precede poverty.
Philippians 2
Preserve Unity in Humility
1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.†
4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,†
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.†
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Strive for Obedience
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;†
13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things without complaining and disputing,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
Apostolic Support for Philippi
17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.†
18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.
19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.†
20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state.
21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.
22 But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.
23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me.
24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.
25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need;
26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.
27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem;
30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.