Isaiah 42
1 “Jacob is My Servant; I will help Him. Israel is My chosen; My soul accepts Him. I put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.†
2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard outside.
3 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; but He will bring forth judgment in truth.
4 He will shine forth and not be broken until He establishes judgment in the earth; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
5 Thus says the Lord God, who made heaven and established it, who made firm the earth and the things in it, and who gives breath to the people in it, and spirit to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord God, called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand. I will strengthen You, and give You as the covenant of a race, as the light of the Gentiles,
7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners who are bound, and those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
8 I am the Lord God; this is My name. I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to carved images.†
9 Behold, things from of old came to pass, and new things I will declare. Before they spring forth, I will tell you of them.”
10 Sing to the Lord a new song, you His realm. Glorify His name from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea and sail on it, you coastlands and you who inhabit them.†
11 Be glad, O desert and its villages, the homesteads and those inhabiting Kedar. Those who dwell in Petra shall be glad; they shall shout from the tops of the mountains.
12 They will give glory to God and declare His virtues in the coastlands.
13 The Lord God of powers shall go forth and crush war. He shall stir up His zeal, and cry out against His enemies with strength.†
14 I held My peace, and I will not always be silent and restrain Myself. Now I will be steadfast, like a woman in labor. I shall amaze and dry up together.
15 I will make the rivers into coastlands and dry up marsh-meadows.
16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know, and will cause them to tread paths they have not known. I will turn darkness into light for them, and make crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.
17 But they turned back. You be greatly ashamed who trust in carved images, who say to the molded images, “You are our gods.”
18 Hear, you deaf; and look up, you blind, that you may see.
19 Who is blind but My servants, or deaf but those who rule over them? The servants of God are blind.
20 You often see, but do not take heed. Your ears were opened, but you do not listen.
21 The Lord God wished to show His righteousness and to magnify His praise.
22 But I saw the people robbed and plundered, for there was a snare in the secret chambers everywhere, and in the houses at the same time, where they hid them. They became as plunder, and there was no one to rescue the prey, and no one who said, “Restore them.”
23 Who among you will give ear to these things? Who will listen and hear what is coming?
24 Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to those who plunder him? Was it not God, against whom they sinned? For they would not walk in His ways nor heed His law.
25 So He brought upon them the fury of His wrath, and war overpowered them. They set them on fire all around, yet none of them knew or took it to heart.†
Psalms 87
1 An ode of a psalm for the sons of Korah; for the End, for the Mahalath to respond; understanding for Heman the Israelite. †
2 O Lord God of my salvation, I cry day and night before You.
3 Let my prayer come before You; Incline Your ear to my supplication, O Lord.
4 For my soul is filled with sorrows, And my soul draws near to Hades;
5 I am counted among those who go down into the pit; I am like a helpless man, free among the dead,
6 Like slain men thrown down and sleeping in a grave, Whom You remember no more, But they are removed from Your hand.
7 They laid me in the lowest pit, In dark places and in the shadow of death.
8 Your wrath rested upon me, And You brought all Your billows over me. (Pause)
9 You removed my acquaintances far from me; They made me an abomination among themselves; I was betrayed, and did not go forth.
10 My eyes weakened from poverty; O Lord, I cry to You the whole day long; I spread out my hands to You.
11 Will You work wonders for the dead? Or will physicians raise them up, and acknowledge You?
12 Shall anyone in the grave describe Your mercy And Your truth in destruction?
13 Shall Your wonders be known in darkness, And Your righteousness in a forgotten land?
14 But I cry to You, O Lord, And in the morning my prayer shall come near to You.
15 Why, O Lord, do You reject my soul, And turn away Your face from me?
16 I am poor and in troubles from my youth; But having been exalted, I was humbled and brought into despair.
17 Your fierce anger passed over me, And Your terrors greatly troubled me;
18 They compassed me like water all the day long; They surrounded me at once.
19 You removed far from me neighbor and friend, And my acquaintances because of my misery.
Proverbs of Solomon 18
11 The substance of a rich man is a strong city, And its glory casts a great shadow.
12 Before its destruction, the heart of a man exalts itself, And before its glory, it humbles itself.
13 He who replies to a word before he hears it Lacks discernment, and this is a reproach to him.
14 A servant with discernment calms the anger of a man, But who can support a discouraged man?†
15 A heart of discernment gains perception, And the ears of the wise seek understanding.†
16 The gift of a man enlarges him And seats him beside princes.
17 When a prosecutor speaks first, he seems righteous, But when the defendant examines his case, he is reproved.
Colossians 4
Spirituality for the World
2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;†
3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,
4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Greetings and Instructions
7 Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.†
8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts,
9 with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things which are happening here.
10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him),
11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me.
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
13 For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis.
14 Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.
15 Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house.
16 Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.†
17 And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”
18 This salutation by my own hand—Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen.