Isaiah 31-36
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but who do not trust in the Holy One of Israel, nor seek God! 2 So He wisely brings evils upon them, and His word cannot be set aside, for He will rise up against the houses of evil men and against their vain hope. 3 Now an Egyptian is a man, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not a help. The Lord shall bring His hand against them, and those who help them shall become weary. All will perish together. 4 For thus the Lord said to me: “As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey, which he took and cries out upon it until the mountains are filled with his sound, and the animals are awestruck and terrified at the fierceness of his anger, so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion, even upon her mountains. 5 Like birds flying about, so will the Lord defend Jerusalem. He will deliver, preserve, and save it.” 6 Return, you who planned a deep and lawless counsel. 7 For in that day, men shall renounce their idols of silver and gold, which their hands made. 8 Then the Assyrian shall fall by a sword not of man, and a sword not of man shall devour him. He shall not flee from the sword, but his young men shall be overthrown. 9 For they shall be surrounded by a rock as by a barricade, and he who flees shall be caught.
1 The Lord says this: “Blessed is he who has a seed in Zion and kindred in Jerusalem. For behold, a righteous King shall reign, and rulers will govern with judgment. 2 A Man will hide His words, and be hidden as from flowing water; and He will appear in Zion as a glorious river flowing in a thirsty land. 3 And they will no longer trust in men, but their ears will incline to listen. 4 The heart of the sick will pay attention to listen, and the tongues that stammer will learn quickly to speak peace.” 5 Let them no longer tell a fool to rule, nor let Your servants say any longer, “Be silent.” 6 For the fool will speak foolishness, and his heart will think vain things: to practice lawlessness, to speak error against the Lord, to scatter hungry souls, and to make thirsty souls empty. 7 For the counsel of evil men plans lawlessness, to destroy the humble with unjust words, and to scatter the words of the humble with judgment. 8 But the godly plan wise things, and this counsel remains.
9 Rise up, you rich women, and hear my voice. You daughters with hope, listen to my words. 10 In pain, yet with hope, remember that for a full year the harvest will be consumed and cease. It shall by no means come again. 11 Be amazed, be grieved, you confident ones. Strip yourselves, and gird your loins with sackcloth. 12 Beat upon your breasts because of the desirable fields and the fruit of the vine. 13 On the land of my people, thorns and grass will come up, and gladness will be taken from every house. As for the rich city, 14 the houses are deserted, and they will leave behind the wealth of the city and desirable houses. The villages will become caves forever, and the gladness of wild donkeys and pastures of shepherds— 15 until the Spirit comes upon you from on high, and the desert becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest. 16 Then judgment will take rest in the desert, and righteousness shall dwell in Carmel. 17 The works of righteousness will be peace, and righteousness shall ensure rest and confidence forever. 18 His people will dwell in a city of peace, and will dwell in confidence, and they will rest with riches. 19 Though hail should come down, it would not fall upon you, and those who dwell in the forests shall be as confident as those in the plain. 20 Blessed are those who sow beside all waters, where the ox and the donkey tread.
1 Woe to those who distress you, though no one is causing you distress, and he who deals treacherously with you, though no one is dealing treacherously with you! Those who deal treacherously will be conquered and handed over, and like a moth in a garment they will be defeated. 2 O Lord, have mercy on us; for we trust in You. The seed of the disobedient was made for destruction, but our salvation is in a time of affliction. 3 The peoples were dismayed through fear of You, because of Your fearsome voice, and the nations were scattered. 4 So now the spoils of your small and great shall be gathered, as if someone might gather grasshoppers. Thus shall they make fun of you. 5 The God who dwells in the heights is holy. Zion is filled with judgment and righteousness. 6 They will be handed over to the law. Our salvation is in treasures wherein is wisdom, knowledge, and godliness toward the Lord—these are the treasures of righteousness. 7 Behold therefore, they will fear you greatly, and those you feared will fear you. For messengers shall be sent entreating for peace, weeping bitterly as they ask for peace. 8 For their ways will lie desolate. The fear of the nations has ceased, and the covenant with them is taken away, and you will not reckon them as a people. 9 The earth mourns, and Lebanon is shamed. Sharon has become marshlands, and Galilee and Carmel are laid bare. 10 “Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “now I will be glorified; now I will be exalted. 11 Now you shall see, now you shall perceive; the strength of your spirit is vain; fire shall devour you. 12 The nations shall be burned up, like thorns thrown in the field and burned up. 13 Those afar off will hear what I have done; and those near will know My strength.” 14 The lawless in Zion departed; trembling will seize the ungodly. Who will tell you a fire is burning? Who will tell you about the eternal place? 15 He who walks in righteousness and speaks uprightly, he who hates lawlessness and wrongdoing, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, he who stops his ears from hearing the judgment of blood, and he who shuts his eyes from seeing wrongdoing. 16 He will dwell in a high cave of a mighty rock. Bread will be given him, and his water will be plentiful. 17 All of you will see a King with His glory, and your eyes will see a land from afar. 18 Your soul will think about fear. Where are the scribes? Where are the advisors? Where is he who numbers those growing up, 19 both a small and great people, with whom they did not consult, nor did he know a deep-voiced people, that a despised people should not hear, and there is no understanding to him who hears? 20 Behold, there is Zion, the city of our salvation. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a wealthy city, a tabernacle which will not be shaken. Neither shall one of the tent-pegs of its tabernacle be moved forever, nor its cords broken; 21 for the name of the Lord is great to you. There will be a place for you—rivers and brooks, broad and spacious. You will not travel this way, nor will a boat with oars. 22 For my God is great. The Lord our judge will not pass me by. The Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king. He will save us. 23 Your ropes broke apart, for the boat was not strong. Your mast could not hold, and the sails slackened. It will not raise a flag until it is taken for booty. Therefore many lame men will make it a spoil. 24 And the people who dwell among them will not say, “I am weary,” for their sin shall be forgiven.
1 Come near, you nations, and listen, you rulers. Let the earth hear and those in it, the inhabited earth and the people therein. 2 For the anger of the Lord is against all the nations, and His wrath against all the number of them, to destroy them utterly and to deliver them over for slaughter. 3 Their slain and their dead shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their dead bodies, and the mountains shall be drenched with their blood. 4 Heaven shall also be rolled up like a scroll, and all the stars shall fall like leaves from a vine, as leaves fall from a fig tree. 5 My sword in heaven is soaked with blood. Behold, it shall come down on Edom, and with judgment on the people of destruction. 6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood. It is fattened with the fat of lambs, goats, and rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in Edom. 7 The mighty ones shall fall with them, and the rams and the bulls. Their land shall be soaked with blood and saturated with fatness. 8 For it is the day of the Lord’s judgment and the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9 Its valleys shall be turned into pitch and its land into brimstone. Its land shall become burning pitch. 10 It shall never be quenched day or night, and its smoke shall rise up. It shall lie waste for all time and generations. 11 But birds and hedgehogs shall live in it, and also ibises and ravens. He shall stretch out over it the measuring line of a desert, and donkey-centaurs will dwell in it. 12 Its rulers shall be no more, for its kings, rulers, and great ones shall be destroyed. 13 Thorn-trees shall come up in its cities and fortresses; it shall be a habitation of sirens, a courtyard for ostriches. 14 Demons shall also meet with donkey-centaurs, and one will cry out to another. Donkey-centaurs shall also rest there, for they found themselves a place of rest. 15 There the hedgehog made its nest, and the earth preserved its children in safety. There the deer also gathered and saw one another’s faces. 16 They passed by in numbers, and not one of them perished. Not one of them sought the other, for the Lord commanded them, and His Spirit gathered them. 17 He shall cast lots for them, and His hand divided it among them to graze upon. They shall inherit it for all time, and shall rest on it from generation to generation.
1 Be glad, you thirsty desert, and rejoice exceedingly, and let the desert blossom as a lily. 2 The desert places of the Jordan shall blossom abundantly and rejoice exceedingly. The glory of Lebanon and the honor of Carmel shall be given to it, and My people shall see the glory of the Lord and the majesty of our God. 3 Be strong, you relaxed hands and feeble knees. 4 Be comforted, you fainthearted. Be strong, do not fear. Behold, our God renders judgment and will render it. He will come and save us. 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will speak clearly. For water shall burst forth in the desert, and a valley in the thirsty land. 7 The waterless desert shall become meadows, and the thirsty land springs of water. There will be the gladness of birds, a habitation of reeds and marshes. 8 A pure way shall be there, and it shall be called a holy way. No unclean man shall pass through there, neither shall there be an unclean way there. But those dispersed shall walk in it, and they shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous animals go up on it, nor at all be found there. But the redeemed shall walk in it, 10 and those gathered by the Lord shall return and come to Zion with gladness, and with everlasting gladness over their head. For praise and exceeding joy will be on their head, and gladness shall possess them. Pain, sorrow, and sighing fled away.
1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 Then the king of the Assyrians sent Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, and he stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the way of the fuller’s field. 3 So Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, the steward, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him. 4 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of the Assyrians: “Why are you confident? 5 Is a war carried on by counsel or mere words? Now in whom do you trust, that you disobey me? 6 Behold, you are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will puncture his hand. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt and all who trust in him. 7 But will you say, ‘We trust in the Lord our God’?’ ” 8 Now therefore, make an agreement with my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them. 9 How are you able to turn back the face of one governor? Those who trust in the Egyptians for horse and rider are our servants. 10 Have we now come up without the Lord to make war against this country?”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Speak to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the men who are on the wall.” 12 But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my lord sent me to your lord or to you to speak these words? Has he not sent me to speak to the men who sit on the wall, so they may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you?” 13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians. 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you with words which will be unable to deliver you; 15 nor let Hezekiah say to you, “God will deliver you, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.’ ” 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘If you wish to be blessed, come out to me, and each of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and all of you will drink the waters of your own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, and of bread and vineyards.’ 18 Let not Hezekiah deceive you, saying, ‘God will deliver us.’ Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of the Assyrians? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these nations delivered his land from my hand, that God should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” 21 But they held their peace and answered him not a word, because of the king’s commandment not to answer him.
22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, the steward, Shebna the scribe of the army, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
Psalm 104:16–27
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 22:21–26
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 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.
Philemon’s Love and Faith
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.
The 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.
Philemon’s Obedience Encouraged
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.
Farewell
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.