Isaiah 48
1 “Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel and have come forth from Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord God of Israel, mentioning it, but not with truth nor with righteousness,†
2 and who are devoted to the name of the holy city, and lean on the God of Israel for support—the Lord of hosts is His name.
3 I still declare the former things that went forth from My mouth, and they became well known. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 I know you are stubborn, and your neck is an iron nerve; and your forehead is made of bronze.
5 Yet I told you long ago, before it came to pass. I made it well known to you, lest you should say, ‘My idols did them’; and lest you should say, ‘My carved images and my molten images commanded them for me.’†
6 You heard all this, yet you knew not what you heard. But I also made new things known to you, things about to happen from that present time; yet you said not so.
7 Now they come to pass, and not long ago, but you did not listen to these things in former days. You do not say, ‘Yes, I know this.’
8 You neither know nor understand, nor have I opened your ears from the beginning. For I knew you would deal treacherously and reject them, and would be called lawless from the womb.
9 For My name’s sake, I will show you My anger, and I will bring before you my glorious acts, so as not to utterly destroy you.
10 Behold, I sold you, but not for silver; and I delivered you from the furnace of poverty.
11 For My own sake, I will do this for you, because My name is profaned; and I will not give My glory to another.
12 Listen to Me, O Jacob and Israel, whom I call: I am the first, and I am forever.
13 My hand also laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand established heaven. I shall call them, and they will stand together.
14 All shall be gathered and hear: Who declared these things to them? Because I love you, I did your will against Babylon, to slay the seed of the Chaldeans.
15 I have spoken, I have called him, I have brought him, and made his way prosper.†
16 Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning, nor did I speak in a dark place of the earth. When it took place, I was there, and now the Lord and His Spirit have sent Me.Ӡ
17 Thus says the Lord who delivers you, the Holy One of Israel: “I am your God, who showed you how to find the way wherein you should walk.†
18 If only you had heeded My commandments, then your peace would be like a river, and your righteousness as a wave of the sea.
19 Your seed would also be like the sand, and the offspring of your womb like the dust of the ground. Neither would you be utterly destroyed now, nor would your name perish before Me.”
20 Go forth from Babylon, you who are fleeing from the Chaldeans. Proclaim a voice of gladness and let it become well known. Proclaim it to the end of the earth, and say, “The Lord delivered His servant Jacob.”
21 If they shall thirst, He will lead them through the desert, and water shall flow from the rock for them. He will split the rock, the water shall flow, and My people will drink.
22 “There is no rejoicing,” says the Lord, “for the ungodly.”
Psalms 91
1 A psalm of an ode; for the Sabbath day. †
2 It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing to Your name, O Most High,
3 To proclaim Your mercy in the morning And Your truth at night,
4 On the harp of ten strings, with an ode on the lyre.
5 For You make me glad, O Lord, with Your work, And I will greatly rejoice in the works of Your hands.
6 How magnificent are Your works, O Lord; Your thoughts are exceedingly deep.
7 A man without discernment shall not know these things, And a senseless man shall not understand them.
8 When sinners grow like grass, And all the workers of lawlessness have arrogant looks, It is so that they may be destroyed unto ages of ages.
9 But You, O Lord, are Most High forever;
10 For behold, Your enemies shall perish, And all who work lawlessness shall be scattered abroad;
11 And my horn shall be exalted like the unicorn, And my old age shall be blessed with rich mercy;
12 My eye looked upon my enemies, And my ear shall hear of evildoers who rise up against me.
13 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree; He shall be multiplied like the cedar in Lebanon.
14 Those planted in the house of the Lord Shall blossom forth in the courts of our God;
15 They shall still be increased in a rich old age, And shall be prospering
16 So as to proclaim, “The Lord my God is upright, And there is no wrongdoing in Him.”
Proverbs of Solomon 19
25 When a pestilent man is punished, a man without discernment becomes more astute, But if you reprove a discerning man, he will understand perception.†
26 He who dishonors his father and pushes away his mother, He will be shamed and reproached.
27 A son who forsakes guarding his father’s instruction, He will think about evil sayings.
28 He who becomes surety for an undiscerning child despises the ordinance, And the mouth of the ungodly swallows judgments.
29 Lashes are prepared for the intemperate And punishments for the shoulders of those without discernment.†
2 Thessalonians 1
Greeting
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Present Persecution
3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other,†
4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,
5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer;
6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you,
7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,†
12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.