Isaiah 41
1 “Be renewed before Me, O coastlands, for the rulers will gain their strength. Let them come near and speak together, then let them declare judgment.
2 Who raised up righteousness from the east, and called it to his feet, that it should go forth? He will establish it before the Gentiles and amaze kings. He shall bury their swords in the earth and cast away their bows as sticks.†
3 He will pursue them, and the way of His feet will pass through in peace.
4 Who worked and performed these things? He called righteousness, He who calls it from generations of old. I, God, am the first, and into the future I Am.†
5 The Gentiles saw His righteousness and feared. The ends of the earth drew near and came together,†
6 each one judging for his neighbor, that he might help his brother. One will say,
7 ‘The craftsman is strong, as is the metalworker who strikes with the hammer and forges at the same time.’ Sometimes one will say, ‘It is put together well, and they fastened it with nails. They arranged them, and they shall not be moved.’
8 “But you, O Israel, are My servant, and Jacob, whom I chose, the seed of Abraham, whom I loved.†
9 I took you from the ends of the earth, and called you from its height. I said to you, ‘You are My servant. I chose you, and have not forsaken you.
10 Fear not, for I am with you. Do not go astray, for I am your God who strengthens you; and I will help and secure you with My righteous right hand.’
11 Behold, all your adversaries shall be put to shame and disgraced. For they shall be as though they did not exist, and all who oppose you shall perish.
12 You shall seek but not find the men who rage against you, for those who war against you shall be as though they did not exist.
13 For I am your God who holds your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not.’
14 O Jacob, O Israel, few in number, I will help you, and I will redeem you, O Israel,” says God.†
15 “Behold, I will make you like new saw-shaped threshing wheels of a wagon, and you shall thresh the mountains and beat the hills to powder, and make them like chaff.
16 You shall crush them, and the wind shall carry them away; and the whirlwind will scatter them; but you shall be glad among the saints, O Israel.
17 The poor and needy shall rejoice exceedingly, for when they shall seek water, but there is none, and their tongues are parched with thirst, I, the Lord God, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 But I will open rivers in the mountain and fountains in the midst of the plains. I will make the desert into marsh-meadows, and the dry land into aqueducts.
19 I will plant the cedar, the box-tree, the myrtle, the cypress, and the white poplar in the waterless ground,
20 so they may see, know, consider, and understand together that the Lord’S hand did all these things; and the Holy One of Israel created them.†
21 “Your judgment draws near,” says the Lord God. “Your counsels draw near,” says the King of Jacob.
22 “Let them draw near, and tell you what will happen; or tell you about the former things, what they were; and we shall be able to understand and know them, and know what are the last things; and tell us about the future.
23 Declare to us things coming at the end of time, and we will know you are gods. Do good and evil, and we shall marvel and see it together.
24 Where do you come from? Where does your work come from? They chose you, an abomination out of the earth.
25 I raised up one from the north and from the rising of the sun, and they shall be called by My name. Let the rulers come, and you will be trampled down, as potter’s clay and as a potter tramples down the clay.
26 For who will declare the things from the beginning, that we may also know the former things and say they are true? There is no one who foretells or hears your words.
27 I will give Zion the power to rule, and I shall comfort Jerusalem in the way.
28 For I looked, and there was no one from the nations or from their idols to declare it to me. If I should ask them where they are from, they would not answer me.
29 For they are the ones who made you, so you think, and in vain they are leading you astray.
Psalms 86
1 A psalm of an ode for the sons of Korah. †His foundations are in the holy mountains;
2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things were said concerning you, O city of God. (Pause)
4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me; And behold, foreigners, and the people of Tyre and Ethiopia, These were born there.
5 A man will say, “Mother Zion,” And a man was born in her; For the Most High Himself founded it.
6 The Lord shall describe it in a written account of the peoples And of the rulers, of those who were born in her. (Pause)
7 How glad are all who have their dwelling in you.
Proverbs of Solomon 18
6 The lips of a man without discernment lead him into evil things, And his rash mouth calls upon death.
7 The mouth of a man without discernment is destruction to him, And his lips are the snare of his soul.†
8 Fear destroys slothful men, And the souls of cowardly men shall hunger.†
9 He who does not heal himself by his works, He is the brother of him who maltreats himself.
10 The name of the Lord is of great strength, And when the righteous run to it, they are exalted.†
11 The substance of a rich man is a strong city, And its glory casts a great shadow.
Colossians 3
Spirituality in the Church
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.†
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.†
6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,
7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,†
11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.†
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Spirituality in the Home
18 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.†
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
Colossians 4
1 Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.