Isaiah 15-21
1 The word against the land of Moab:
In the night the land of Moab shall be destroyed, for the wall of the land of Moab shall be destroyed in the night. 2 Lament for yourselves, for even Dibon, where your altar is, shall be destroyed. Go there to weep over Nebo in the land of Moab. Wail, for baldness shall be on every head, and all arms shall be mutilated. 3 In her streets, dress yourselves with sackcloth and strike yourselves on her housetops. All of you cry out with bitter wailing in her streets. 4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out until their voice is heard as far as Jahaz; therefore, the loins of the land of Moab cry aloud, for its soul shall know this. 5 The heart of the land of Moab cries aloud in itself as far as Zoar, like a three-year-old heifer. On the ascent of Luhith, they shall go up to you with weeping by way of Horonaim. She cries, “Destruction and earthquake!” 6 The water of Nemerim shall be a desert, and its grass shall fail, for there will be no green grass. 7 “Even so, will Moab be saved? For I will bring the Arabs upon the valley, and they shall take it. 8 For the cry reaches the border of the land of Moab, even of Eglaim, and its wailing as far as the well of Elim. 9 For the water of Dimon shall be full of blood, for I will bring Arabs upon Dimon. I shall take away the seed of Moab, Ariel and the remnant of Adama.
1 “I shall send them like reptiles upon the land, for is not Mount Zion a deserted rock? 2 O Daughter of Moab, you shall be like a young bird taken away from a bird that has flown. Then, O Arnon, 3 take more counsel and make for her a shelter of mourning continually. In the middle of the day they flee in darkness; they are amazed; do not be led away. 4 The outcasts of Moab will sojourn with you. They will shelter you from the face of the pursuer, for your alliance has been taken away, and the ruler who trampled the land underfoot has perished from the earth. 5 A throne will be established with mercy, and in the tabernacle of David, one will sit upon it in truth, judging, seeking justice, and hastening righteousness.”
6 We heard of the insolence of Moab, exceedingly insolent. You drove away his arrogance. Your divination is not in this way, 7 no not in this way. Moab shall wail, for everyone shall wail in the land of Moab. For you will think about those who dwell in Deseth, and not be ashamed. 8 The plains of Heshbon and the vine of Sibmah swallow the nations and shall mourn. Trample down her vines. Do not reach to Jazer. Wander in the desert. Those sent were left behind, for they passed through the desert. 9 Therefore I will weep for the vine of Sibmah with the weeping of Jazer. O Heshbon and Elealeh, he struck down your trees, for I shall trample on your harvest and vintage, and both shall fall. 10 Gladness is taken away, so too the joy from your vineyards, for in the vineyards there shall be no rejoicing; and no treaders will tread out wine in the wine vats, for the wine has ceased. 11 Therefore my belly will resound like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts like a wall you renewed. 12 Then it shall come to pass, when you are shamed (for Moab grows weary at his altars), that he will go in to pray to the things made with hands, but they will be unable to deliver him.
13 This is the word the Lord spoke against Moab when He spoke. 14 “So now I say to you, within three years, as in the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab, with its great wealth, shall be dishonored, and he will be left few in number and not honored.”
1 The word against Damascus:
“Behold, Damascus will be taken away from among cities and will fall, 2 abandoned forever. It shall be a fold and resting-place for sheep. No one will pursue them. 3 There shall no longer be a strong place for Ephraim to flee to, and there shall no longer be a kingdom in Damascus and a remnant of Syrians; for you are no better than the sons of Israel and their glory,” says the Lord of hosts.
4 “In that day, there shall be an eclipse of the glory of Jacob, and the riches of his glory shall be shaken. 5 It will be as when one gathers a standing harvest and reaps ears of corn with his arm. It shall be as when one gathers heads of grain in a rich valley. 6 It shall be as when straw is left in it, or as when the berries of an olive tree, two or three on the uppermost bough, or as when four or five are left on their branches,” says the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 In that day, a man will trust in Him who made him, and his eyes will look at the Holy One of Israel. 8 They will not trust in their altars, nor in the works of their hands, which their fingers made. They will not look to their trees, nor to their abominations. 9 In that day, your cities will be abandoned, as the Amorites and the Evites forsook theirs, because of the children of Israel. They will be desolate, 10 because you forsook God your Savior, and have not been mindful of the Lord your helper. Therefore you will be a faithless plant and a faithless seed. 11 In the day you plant, you will be deceived; but if you sow in the morning, it will blossom into a harvest, in which you will receive an inheritance in that day; and as a man’s father, you will obtain an inheritance for your sons.
12 Woe to the multitude of many nations; as the swelling sea, so shall you be troubled; and the surging of many nations will sound like water, 13 many nations like much water, as when much water rushes violently; and he will curse him and pursue him afar, as when the dust of chaff scatters before the wind, and a sudden blast of wind whirls the dust of a wheel! 14 Toward evening there will be mourning, and before morning, he will be no more. This is the portion of those who plundered you, and the inheritance of those who robbed you of your inheritance.
1 Woe, O farthest edge of the land of ships, beyond the rivers of Ethiopia! 2 He sends hostages by sea and paper letters over the water, for swift messengers will go to an exalted nation and a strange and violent people. Who is beyond it, a nation without hope and trampled underfoot? Now all the rivers of the land 3 shall be inhabited, like an inhabited country. Their country shall be like a sign raised by a mountain and an audible sound like a trumpet. 4 So the Lord said to me, “There will be security in My city, as the light of the midday heat, and as a cloud of dew in the day of harvest.” 5 Before the time of harvest, when the flower has been completely formed, and the unripe grape has put forth its flower and produced sour grapes, then He shall take away the small clusters with sickles and the brushwood, and cut them off. 6 Then He shall leave them together for the birds of heaven and the wild animals of the earth; and the birds of heaven shall gather upon them, and all the wild animals of the earth will come upon him. 7 At that time gifts shall be brought to the Lord of hosts by a people afflicted and peeled, and by a people great from now on and forever, a nation hoping and trampled on, which is in a part of a river of his country, to the place, Mount Zion, where the name of the Lord of hosts is called upon.
1 The vision of Egypt:
Behold, the Lord sits on a swift cloud and shall come to Egypt, and the things made by hands in Egypt shall be shaken by His presence, and their heart shall be overcome within them. 2 “Egyptians shall be stirred up against Egyptians, and a man shall fight against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city and law against law. 3 The spirit of the Egyptians will be troubled within them, and I will reject their counsel, and they shall consult their gods and their statues, and those who speak from the earth and are ventriloquists. 4 And I will deliver Egypt into the hands of harsh lords and kings who will rule over them,” thus says the Lord of hosts. 5 And the Egyptians will drink water from the sea, for the river will run dry and have no water. 6 The streams and canals of the river will fail; and every reservoir shall dry up, as well as every marsh of reed and papyrus. 7 All the greenery around the river and everything sown alongside the river shall be blasted by the wind and dried up. 8 The fishermen will also groan, and all who cast a fishhook into the river will also lament, and those who cast dragnets and the anglers shall mourn. 9 Shame shall fall on those who work fine flax, and those who weave fine fabric will be ashamed. 10 Those who work these things will be in pain. All who make strong drink shall grieve and suffer in their souls. 11 The rulers of Tanis are fools. As for the king’s wise counselors, their counsel will be turned into foolishness. How will you say to the king, “We are sons of the wise, we are sons of kings of old”? 12 Where are your wise men now? Let them now tell you, and let them say what the Lord of hosts planned against Egypt. 13 The rulers of Tanis have failed, and the rulers of Memphis are exalted, and they shall lead Egypt astray according to tribes. 14 For the Lord prepared for them a spirit of error, and they led Egypt astray in all their works, like a drunken man who staggers and vomits. 15 There shall be no work for the Egyptians that will bring about employer and employee, and beginning and completion.
16 In that day, the Egyptians shall be like women in fear and trembling because of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He shall lay upon them. 17 The country of the Jews will be a terror to the Egyptians. If anyone mentions it to them, they will be in fear, because of the counsel the Lord purposed concerning it. 18 In that day, five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the name of the Lord; one city will be called the City of Justice. 19 In that day, there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the country of Egypt and a pillar to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign forever to the Lord in the country of Egypt, for they will cry to the Lord because of their oppressors, and the Lord will send them a Man who will save them. He will judge and save them. 21 Then the Lord will be known to the Egyptians, and in that day the Egyptians will know the Lord and offer sacrifices. Yes, they will make vows to the Lord and pay them. 22 The Lord shall strike the Egyptians with a great wound and completely heal them. They will return to the Lord, and He shall hear and heal them. 23 In that day there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria. The Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day, Israel will be one of three with the Egyptians and Assyrians; a blessing in the land, 25 which the Lord of hosts blessed, saying, “Blessed are my people in Egypt, and in Assyria and Israel, My inheritance.”
1 In the year Tartan came to Azotus, when he was sent by Sargon the king of the Assyrians, and he fought Ashdod and took it, 2 then the Lord spoke to Isaiah, saying, “Go and remove the sackcloth from your loins, and take your sandals off your feet.” Thus he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3 Then the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against the Egyptians and Ethiopians, 4 so shall the king of the Assyrians lead the captivity of Egypt and the Ethiopians, young men and old, naked and barefoot, exposing the shame of Egypt. 5 The Egyptians being defeated shall be ashamed before the Ethiopians, in whom they trusted, for they were their glory. 6 Those also who dwell in this island shall say, ‘Behold, we hoped to flee for help to those who were unable to save themselves from the king of the Assyrians. How then shall we be saved?’ ”
1 The vision of the desert:
As though a whirlwind should pass through the desert, coming from a desert, from a fearful land, 2 so a fearful and harsh vision was declared to me. He who is treacherous deals treacherously; the lawless one deals lawlessly. The Elamites and the ambassador of the Persians come against me. Now I will groan and comfort myself. 3 Therefore my loins are filled with feebleness, and agony seizes me as a woman giving birth. I did wrong, so I cannot hear; I am so troubled, I cannot see. 4 My heart is led astray, and lawlessness permeates me. My soul is occupied with fear. 5 Prepare the table, eat and drink. Arise, you princes, and prepare your shields. 6 For thus the Lord said to me: “Go, set a watchman for yourself and declare whatever you see.” 7 So I saw two mounted horsemen, a rider on a donkey, and a rider on a camel. Listen with much attention, 8 and call Uriah to the lookout-place of the Lord. Then he said, “I stood continually during the day, and in the camp throughout the night. 9 Behold, he is coming, a rider on a chariot.” Then he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, and all her statues and those made by hand are crushed to the ground.” 10 Listen, you who remain and are suffering pain, hear what things I heard from the Lord of hosts, which the God of Israel declared to us.
11 The vision of Edom:
He calls to me from Seir, “Guard the battlements. 12 I guard in the morning and at night. If you will inquire, inquire, and dwell with me.” 13 In the forest on the road of Dedan you will lodge. 14 Bring water to meet him who is thirsty, you inhabitants of the land of Teman; meet those who are fleeing with bread, 15 because of the multitude who are fleeing and the multitude who are wandering, and because of the multitude of swords and bent bows, and the multitude of those fallen in war. 16 For thus the Lord said to me: “Within a year, according to the year of a hired servant, all the glory of the sons of Kedar shall fail. 17 The remainder of the archers and the mighty men of the sons of Kedar shall be few, for the Lord God of Israel has spoken.”
Psalm 103:1–18
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 22:6–10
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
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.
Qualified 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.
The Elders’ Task
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.