Isaiah 5-9
1 “Now I will sing to My Beloved a song of My Beloved regarding My vineyard: There was a vineyard for My Beloved, a place in power and richness. 2 He placed a wall around it and fortified it. He planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst and also made a winepress in it. So I waited for it to bring forth grapes, but it produced thorn-plants. 3 And now, man of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, judge between Me and My vineyard. 4 What shall I yet do for My vineyard that I have not done for it? For I waited for it to bring forth grapes, but it produced thorn-plants. 5 But now I will tell you what I shall do to My vineyard: I shall remove its wall and it shall be for booty. I shall break down its wall and it shall be trampled underfoot. 6 I will forsake My vineyard. It shall not be pruned or cultivated, but thorns shall sprout forth as in a barren land. I will also command the clouds not to rain on it.” 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is His beloved plant. I waited for it to bring forth judgment, but it brought forth lawlessness, and not righteousness, but a cry.
8 Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, to take something from their neighbor. Surely you will not dwell alone in the land. 9 For these things reached the ears of the Lord of hosts, for though many large and beautiful houses should be built, they shall be desolate, for there shall be no one to live in them. 10 For where ten yoke of oxen shall work, the land shall yield one jar, and whoever sows six homers shall receive three measures. 11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning to follow intoxicating drink; to those who continue until night, for wine shall inflame them. 12 For they drink wine with the harp, the strings, the tambourine and flute, but they do not look at the deeds of the Lord, nor consider the works of His hands!
13 Therefore my people became captives, because they did not know the Lord; and a multitude died through hunger and thirst for water. 14 Hades enlarged itself and opened its mouth continually. The glorious, the great, the wealthy, and the troublesome shall descend into it. 15 A man shall be humiliated, and a man shall be dishonored; and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. 16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the Holy God shall be glorified in righteousness. 17 Those plundered shall be fed as bulls, and lambs shall eat on the waste places of those taken away.
18 Woe to those who draw sins to themselves as with a long rope and lawlessness as with the strap of a cow’s yoke, 19 who say, “Let Him speedily hasten what He will do that we may see it, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it!” 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are intelligent in their own eyes and expert in their own sight! 22 Woe to your strong ones who drink wine and the mighty ones who mix intoxicating drink, 23 who justify the ungodly for a bribe and take away justice from the righteous man! 24 Therefore in the manner that stubble shall be burned by coals of fire and consumed by a violent flame, their root shall be like chaff and their flower shall go up like dust, for they did not will to do the law of the Lord of hosts, but despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 Thus the wrath of the Lord of hosts is furious against His people. He laid His hand on them and struck them. The mountains were provoked, and their carcasses were as refuse in the midst of the road. For all this His anger was not turned away, but His hand is still uplifted.
26 Consequently He shall take up a banner to the nations from afar and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth. Behold, they are coming swiftly and with speed. 27 They shall not hunger or be weary. Neither shall they slumber nor sleep. Nor shall they loose the belts from their loins. Neither shall their sandal-straps be broken. 28 Their arrows are sharp, and their bows are bent. The hooves of their horses seem like flint and their chariot-wheels like a sudden blast of wind. 29 They rush like lions, and stand like a young lion that seizes his prey and roars like a wild animal, then carries it away; and there shall be no one to deliver them. 30 In that day, they will bellow against them like the sound of the roaring sea. They will look at the land and behold harsh darkness in their despair.
1 In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. The house was full of His glory. 2 Around Him stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” 4 The lintel was lifted up by the voice of those who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said, “Woe is me, because I am pierced to the heart, for being a man and having unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips; for I saw the King, the Lord of hosts, with my eyes!” 6 Then one of the seraphim was sent to me. He had a live coal in his hand, which he took with tongs from the altar. 7 He touched my mouth, and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips. Your lawlessness is taken away, and your sin is cleansed.” 8 I also heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people?” Then I said, “Behold, here am I, send me.” 9 So He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You shall hear indeed, but not understand; and you shall see indeed, but not perceive.’ 10 For the heart of this people has become insensitive, and their ears hear with difficulty. They have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return, and I should heal them.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” So He answered, “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without people, and the land shall be left desolate. 12 After this God will remove the people far away, and those left in the land shall multiply. 13 Yet a tenth shall be left in it, and again it shall be for plundering, like a terebinth tree or like an acorn when it falls from its case.”
1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, there came up Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, against Jerusalem to war against it; but they could not conquer it. 2 Then it was reported to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces made an agreement with Ephraim.” So his soul and the soul of his people was confounded, as a tree of the woods is shaken by the wind. 3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, 4 and say to him, ‘Guard yourself and be silent; do not fear, neither let your soul be disheartened because of these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for when My fierce anger is over, again I shall heal. 5 The son of Syria and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and talk with them, and let us turn them to our side, and let us make the son of Tabel king of it.” 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “This counsel shall not continue, nor shall it come to pass. 8 But the head of Syria is Damascus; nevertheless, in sixty-five years the kingdom of Ephraim will cease being a people. 9 Also the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son, and if you do not believe this, neither will you understand it.” ’ ”
10 Moreover the Lord added this to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord.” 13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David, is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary the Lord also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Immanuel. 15 Butter and honey He shall eat before He knows to prefer evil or choose the good, 16 for before the Child knows good or evil, He refuses the evil to choose the good; and the land you fear because of the presence of the two kings will be abandoned. 17 But God will bring the king of Assyria upon you, your people and your father’s house—days that have not yet come, from the days Ephraim took away from Judah the king of the Assyrians.” 18 And it shall come to pass in that day, the Lord will whistle for the fly that rules over part of the river of Egypt, and for the bee in the land of Assyria. 19 All of them will come and rest in the ravines of the country, in the clefts of the rocks, in the caves and every crevice and tree. 20 In that day, the Lord will shave—with a large and blood-drenched razor belonging to the king of Assyria beyond the river—the head and the hair of the legs, and will also remove the beard. 21 It shall be in that day, a man will rear a heifer and two sheep. 22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give, everyone left in the land will eat butter and honey. 23 It shall happen in that day, wherever there could be a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, it will be a barren land with thorn-plants. 24 Men will enter there with bows and arrows, for all the land will be barren and with thorn-plants. 25 Every mountain shall certainly be plowed, and there shall be no fear there from barren land and thorn-plants, for it will be a pasture for sheep and a place for oxen to roam.
1 Moreover the Lord said to me, “Take for yourself a large new book, and write on it with a man’s pen concerning making a swift plunder of spoils, for it is near at hand. 2 Then make witnesses for Me of faithful men: Uriah and Zechariah, the son of Berechiah.” 3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son, and the Lord said to me, “Call his name Quickly Despoil, Swiftly Plunder; 4 for before the child shall know how to call for his father and mother, one shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria.” 5 The Lord also added this for me to speak as well, saying:
6 “Because this people did not choose the water of Siloam that flows quietly, but chose Rezin and Remaliah’s son to be king over you; 7 therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon you the mighty and abundant water of the river, the king of the Assyrians, and his glory. He shall come up over every ravine of yours and walk over all your walls, 8 and take away from Judah every man able to raise his head or accomplish anything. His encampment will fill the breadth of Your land, O God with us. 9 Know this, O Gentiles, and be defeated. Give ear, all you to the very ends of the earth. Be defeated although you are strong, for even if you should be strong again, you will be defeated again. 10 Then too, whatever counsel you take, the Lord will scatter it abroad; and whatever word you shall speak, it will not continue among you, for the Lord God is with us.”
11 Thus says the Lord: “With a strong hand they rebel against the course of the way of this people, saying, 12 that you should not say, ‘It is hard,’ for whatever this people says is hard; but do not be afraid of their terror, nor be troubled. 13 Sanctify the Lord Himself, and He shall be your fear. 14 So if you trust in Him, He shall be as a sanctuary for you, and you shall not come against Him as a stumbling stone nor as a rock of disaster. But the house of Jacob lies in wait with a snare, and those in Jerusalem with a trap. 15 Therefore many among them shall be powerless and fall, and be broken, and men who are in safety shall draw near and be conquered.”
16 Then they who seal the law so as not to learn it themselves shall be evident. 17 But One will say, “I shall wait for God who turned His face away from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in Him, 18 behold, I and the children God gave me.” This will be for signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion. 19 So if they should say to you, “Seek those who call from the earth and are ventriloquists, who speak from the belly,” should not a nation seek their God? Why do they seek the dead on behalf of the living? 20 He gave the law to help them, so as not to speak such a word as this, concerning which word there are no gifts to offer with it. 21 Thus a harsh famine will come upon you, and it shall be, when you are hungry, you will be grieved, and speak badly of your ruler and the idols. Then they shall look up to heaven above, 22 and on the earth below, and behold, tribulation, distress, and darkness. There will be severe despair and darkness, so dark one cannot see. 23 And the one who is in despair shall be perplexed, but only for a time.
1 Do this first and do it quickly: O country of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, and the rest dwelling along the seacoast and parts of Judea, and the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, a people who walk in darkness, behold a great light; and you who dwell in the country of the shadow of death, upon you a light will shine. 2 The multitude of the people, whom You brought down in Your joy, they shall also rejoice in Your presence, as those who rejoice in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoils. 3 For the yoke lying upon them and the rod upon their neck is taken away, for the Lord broke the rod of the exactors as in the day of Midian. 4 For every robe and garment gathered by deceit, they shall repay with money, and they shall be willing to do this, even though they were burned with fire. 5 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. His name will be called the Angel of Great Counsel, for I shall bring peace upon the rulers, peace and health by Him. 6 Great shall be His government, and of His peace there is no end. His peace shall be upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order and establish it with righteousness and judgment, from that time forward and unto ages of ages. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.
7 The Lord sent death against Jacob, and it came on Israel. 8 All the people will know—Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria—who say in pride and arrogance of heart, 9 “The bricks fell, but let us hew stones; and let us cut down sycamores and cedars, and we shall build ourselves a tower.” 10 But God shall overthrow those who rise up against them on Mt. Zion, and scatter their enemies: 11 the Syrians from the rising of the sun, the Greeks from the setting of the sun, and those who shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is still uplifted. 12 But the people did not turn until they were struck, yet they did not seek the Lord. 13 So the Lord took away head and tail from Israel, great and small, in one day. 14 The elder and those who admire persons, this is the head. The prophet who teaches lawlessness, this is the tail. 15 For those who bless this people lead them astray, and they lead them astray so as to destroy them. 16 Therefore God will have no joy in their young men, nor mercy on their orphans and widows. For all of them are lawless and evil. Every mouth speaks injustices. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is still uplifted. 17 For lawlessness burns like fire, and like dry grass, it shall be consumed by fire and burn in the thickets of the forest. It shall devour all the hills round about. 18 Because of the Lord’s wrath the entire land is burned up, and the people are as fuel for the fire. No man will have mercy on his brother. 19 But one shall turn aside to the right hand, for he shall be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand and not be satisfied. Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm. 20 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim and Ephraim Manasseh. Together they shall besiege Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is still uplifted.
Psalm 102:1–12
1 By David.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And everything within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His rewards:
3 Who is merciful to all your transgressions,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from corruption,
Who crowns you with mercy and compassion,
5 Who satisfies your desire with good things;
And your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord shows mercies
And judgment to all who are wronged.
7 He made known His ways to Moses,
The things He willed to the sons of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not become angry to the end,
Nor will He be wrathful forever;
10 He did not deal with us according to our sins,
Nor reward us according to our transgressions;
11 For according to the height of heaven from earth,
So the Lord reigns in mercy over those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So He removes our transgressions from us.
Proverbs 21:26–30
26 The sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord,
For they offer them lawlessly.
27 A false witness shall perish,
But an obedient man will speak guardedly.
28 An ungodly man resists shamelessly to the face,
But the upright man himself understands his ways.
29 There is no wisdom, there is no courage,
There is no counsel for the ungodly.
30 The horse is prepared for the day of war,
But help is from the Lord.
2 Timothy 3
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
The Man of God and the Word of God
10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,
11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.
12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.