Isaiah 65
1 “I was manifest to those who did not seek Me; I was found by those who did not ask for Me. I said, ‘Behold, I am here,’ to a nation that did not call on My name.
2 I stretched out My hands the whole day long to a people who disobeyed and contradicted Me, who did not walk in the true way, but after their sins.†
3 This is a people who provoke Me continually to My face. They sacrifice in gardens and burn incense on bricks to the demons, which do not exist;†
4 and they sleep in graves and caves for the sake of dreams, they who eat swine’s flesh and the sauce of their sacrifices, which defiles all their vessels;
5 who say, ‘Stay away from me; do not come near me, for I am clean.’ This is the smoke of My anger; a fire burns in it all day long.
6 Behold, it is written before Me: I will not be silent,” says the Lord, “until I repay into their bosom their sins and the sins of their fathers,
7 who burned incense on the mountains and reproached Me on the hills. I will repay their works into their bosom.”
8 Thus says the Lord: “As the grape shall be found in a cluster, and they shall say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing from the Lord in it,’ so shall I do for the sake of him who serves Me. For his sake I will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth the seed of Jacob and the seed of Judah, and they shall inherit My holy mountain. My elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there.
10 There shall be in the forest a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor shall be for the resting place of herds for My people who sought Me.
11 But you are those who forsook Me, and forget My holy mountain, and prepare a table for the devil, and fill a drink-offering to Fortune.
12 I will deliver you to the sword, and all of you shall fall in the slaughter; because I called you, but you did not obey; I spoke, but you refused to listen. You did evil in My sight, and did not choose the things I willed.”
13 Therefore, thus says the Lord: “Behold, My servants shall eat, but you shall hunger. Behold, My servants shall drink, but you shall thirst. Behold, My servants shall be glad, but you shall be ashamed.
14 Behold, My servants shall rejoice exceedingly in gladness, but you shall cry out because of the pain in your heart; and you shall wail from the crushing of your spirit.
15 For you shall leave your name as an example of excess to My elect, and the Lord shall destroy you. But those who serve Him shall be called by a new name,
16 which shall be blessed upon the earth. For they shall bless the true God, and those who swear upon the earth shall swear by the true God; for they shall forget their former tribulation, and it shall not come into their heart.†
17 “For there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and they shall not remember the former things, nor shall these things come into their heart.†
18 But they shall find gladness and exceeding joy in her, for behold, I will make Jerusalem an exceeding joy, and My people gladness.
19 I will rejoice exceedingly in Jerusalem, and I will be glad in My people. There shall no longer be heard in her a voice of weeping, nor a voice of crying.
20 There shall not be the untimely death of a child there, nor shall there be an old man who does not fulfill his time. For a young man shall be a hundred years old, but a sinner who dies at a hundred years old shall be cursed.
21 They shall build houses and dwell in them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat their produce.
22 But they shall not build, and others inhabit; and they shall not plant, and others eat. For according to the days of the tree of life, so shall be the days of My people, and the works of their labors shall not grow old.
23 My elect shall not labor in vain, nor shall they bear children to be a curse; for they are a seed blessed by God; and their offspring shall be with them.
24 It shall be, before they cry out, I will listen to them; while they are still speaking, I will say, ‘What is it?’
25 The wolves and lambs shall feed together, and the lion, like the ox, shall eat chaff; and the serpent, the ground as bread. They shall not injure, neither destroy in My holy mountain,” says the Lord.
Psalms 104
16 And He called a famine upon the land; He shattered all their provision of bread;
17 He sent a man before them; He sold Joseph into slavery.
18 They humbled his feet with fetters; His soul passed into the iron
19 Until his word came to pass; The revelation of the Lord tried him in the fire.
20 The king, the ruler of the people, sent and released him, And he acquitted him.
21 He made him lord of his house And ruler of all his domain,
22 To instruct his rulers as himself And to teach his elders wisdom.
23 And Israel came into Egypt, And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham;
24 He increased His people greatly, And made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He changed their heart to hate His people, To deal craftily with His servants.
26 He sent Moses His servant; He sent Aaron, whom He chose.
27 He put among them the words of His signs And of His wonders in the land of Ham.
Proverbs of Solomon 22
21 And if you apply them to your heart, They will gladden you and at the same time be upon your lips;
22 That your hope might be in the Lord, And His way might be known to you.
23 And register them upon the breadth of your heart for yourself threefold, For counsel and knowledge.
24 Therefore, I teach you a true word and good knowledge to be obeyed, That you might answer words of truth to those who question you.
25 Do not rob the poor, for he is needy, And do not dishonor the helpless at the gates;
26 For the Lord will judge his cause, And you will deliver your soul from violence.
Philemon 1
Greeting
1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer,†
2 to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Commendation of Philemon
4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers,
5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,†
6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.†
7 For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.†
Plea for Onesimus
8 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting,†
9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you —being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ—
10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains,†
11 who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me.†
12 I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,
13 whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
14 But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.†
15 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,
16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me.
18 But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account.†
19 I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides.†
20 Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.†
22 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you.
Personal Request, Greetings, and Benediction
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,
24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.
25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.