Isaiah 61
1 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because of which He anointed Me. He sent Me to proclaim good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind;
2 to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of recompense, and to comfort all who mourn;
3 to give those who mourn in Zion glory instead of ashes, the oil of gladness to those who mourn; the garment of glory instead of a spirit of indifference. They shall be called generations of righteousness, the planting of the Lord for glory.†
4 They shall build the ancient deserts, raise up those formerly abandoned, and renew the desert cities that laid waste for generations.
5 Foreigners shall come and shepherd your sheep, and aliens shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
6 but you shall be called priests of the Lord and the ministers of God. You shall eat the strength of nations and be admired because of their wealth.
7 So they shall inherit the land a second time, and eternal gladness shall be upon their head.†
8 For I am the Lord, who loves righteousness and hates robberies of wrongdoing. I will give their labor to the righteous and will make with them an everlasting covenant.
9 Their seed and their offspring shall be known among the Gentiles. All who see them shall know these are the seed blessed by God;
10 and they shall have exceeding gladness in the Lord.” Let my soul rejoice exceedingly in the Lord, for He clothed me with the garment of salvation and the tunic of gladness. He put a miter around me like a bridegroom and adorned me with ornaments like a bride.
11 As the earth causes its flower to grow, and as a garden its seeds, so shall the Lord cause righteousness to rise up, and exceeding joy before all the Gentiles.
Isaiah 62
1 For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until My righteousness goes forth as light, and My salvation burns like a lamp.
2 The Gentiles will see your righteousness, and kings your glory; and one will call you by your new name, which the Lord shall name.
3 You shall also be a crown of beauty in the Lord’s hand, and the diadem of a kingdom in the hand of your God.†
4 You shall no longer be called Forsaken, and your land shall not be called Desert; for you shall be called My Will, and in your land, the Inhabited Earth.
5 As a young man lives in wedlock with a virgin, so shall your sons dwell with you, and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so the Lord shall rejoice over you.
6 I will place guards on your walls all day and all night, O Jerusalem, who shall never keep silent in the remembrance of the Lord.†
7 For there shall be no one like you, O Jerusalem, when He amends and makes you the pride of the earth.†
8 The Lord swore by His right hand and by the strength of His arm, “I will not give your grain and your food to your enemies, and the sons of foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you labored;†
9 but rather, those who gather the food shall eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather the grapes shall drink their wine in My holy courts.
10 Go through My gates, make a way for My people, throw the stones off the road, and lift up a standard for the Gentiles.”
11 For behold, the Lord caused this to be heard to the ends of the earth: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your Savior is come, and has His reward, and His work before His face.’ ”
12 One shall call them a holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and you shall be called a City Sought for and Not Forsaken.
Psalms 103
1 By David. †Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, You are magnified exceedingly; You clothe Yourself with thanksgiving and majesty,
2 Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain;
3 You are He who covers His upper chambers with waters, Who makes the clouds His means of approach, Who walks on the wings of the winds,
4 Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.
5 He established the earth on its stable foundation; It shall not be moved unto ages of ages.
6 The deep like a garment is His covering; The waters shall stand upon the mountains;
7 At Your rebuke they shall flee; At the sound of Your thunder, they shall be afraid.
8 The mountains rise up, and the plains sink down To the place You founded for them.
9 You set a boundary they shall not pass over; Neither shall they return to cover the earth.
10 You are He who sends springs into the valley; The waters shall pass between the mountains;
11 They shall give drink to all the wild animals of the field; The wild asses shall quench their thirst;
12 The birds of heaven shall dwell beside them; They shall sing from the midst of the rocks.
13 You are He who waters the mountains from His higher places; The earth shall be satisfied with the fruit of Your works.
14 You are He who causes grass to grow for the cattle, And the green plant for the service of man, To bring forth bread from the earth;
15 And wine gladdens the heart of man, To brighten his face with oil; And bread strengthens man’s heart.
16 The trees of the plain shall be full of fruit, The cedars of Lebanon, which You planted;
17 There the sparrows shall make their nests; The house of the heron takes the lead among them.
18 The high mountains are for the deer; The cliff is a refuge for the rabbits.
Proverbs of Solomon 22
6 The rich will rule over the poor, And servants will lend to their own masters.
7 He who sows worthless things will reap evil things, And bring to an end the plague of his works.
8 God blesses a cheerful man and a giver, And he will bring to an end the vanity of his works.†
9 He who shows mercy to a poor man shall himself be supported, For he gave his own bread to the poor man.
10 He who gives gifts to a poor man gains victory and honor for himself; However, he who buys him takes away his soul.
Titus 1
Greeting
1 Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness,†
2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,
3 but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;
4 To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
Ordination of Sound Elders
5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you—†
6 if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.
7 For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,
8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled,
9 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. †
Opposition to False Teachers
10 For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,†
11 whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.
12 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,
14 not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.
15 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.
16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.