Isaiah 41-43
1 “Be renewed before Me, O coastlands, for the rulers will gain their strength. Let them come near and speak together, then let them declare judgment. 2 Who raised up righteousness from the east, and called it to his feet, that it should go forth? He will establish it before the Gentiles and amaze kings. He shall bury their swords in the earth and cast away their bows as sticks. 3 He will pursue them, and the way of His feet will pass through in peace. 4 Who worked and performed these things? He called righteousness, He who calls it from generations of old. I, God, am the first, and into the future I Am. 5 The Gentiles saw His righteousness and feared. The ends of the earth drew near and came together, 6 each one judging for his neighbor, that he might help his brother. One will say, 7 ‘The craftsman is strong, as is the metalworker who strikes with the hammer and forges at the same time.’ Sometimes one will say, ‘It is put together well, and they fastened it with nails. They arranged them, and they shall not be moved.’
8 “But you, O Israel, are My servant, and Jacob, whom I chose, the seed of Abraham, whom I loved. 9 I took you from the ends of the earth, and called you from its height. I said to you, ‘You are My servant. I chose you, and have not forsaken you. 10 Fear not, for I am with you. Do not go astray, for I am your God who strengthens you; and I will help and secure you with My righteous right hand.’ 11 Behold, all your adversaries shall be put to shame and disgraced. For they shall be as though they did not exist, and all who oppose you shall perish. 12 You shall seek but not find the men who rage against you, for those who war against you shall be as though they did not exist. 13 For I am your God who holds your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not.’ 14 O Jacob, O Israel, few in number, I will help you, and I will redeem you, O Israel,” says God. 15 “Behold, I will make you like new saw-shaped threshing wheels of a wagon, and you shall thresh the mountains and beat the hills to powder, and make them like chaff. 16 You shall crush them, and the wind shall carry them away; and the whirlwind will scatter them; but you shall be glad among the saints, O Israel. 17 The poor and needy shall rejoice exceedingly, for when they shall seek water, but there is none, and their tongues are parched with thirst, I, the Lord God, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18 But I will open rivers in the mountain and fountains in the midst of the plains. I will make the desert into marsh-meadows, and the dry land into aqueducts. 19 I will plant the cedar, the box-tree, the myrtle, the cypress, and the white poplar in the waterless ground, 20 so they may see, know, consider, and understand together that the Lord’s hand did all these things; and the Holy One of Israel created them.
21 “Your judgment draws near,” says the Lord God. “Your counsels draw near,” says the King of Jacob. 22 “Let them draw near, and tell you what will happen; or tell you about the former things, what they were; and we shall be able to understand and know them, and know what are the last things; and tell us about the future. 23 Declare to us things coming at the end of time, and we will know you are gods. Do good and evil, and we shall marvel and see it together. 24 Where do you come from? Where does your work come from? They chose you, an abomination out of the earth. 25 I raised up one from the north and from the rising of the sun, and they shall be called by My name. Let the rulers come, and you will be trampled down, as potter’s clay and as a potter tramples down the clay. 26 For who will declare the things from the beginning, that we may also know the former things and say they are true? There is no one who foretells or hears your words. 27 I will give Zion the power to rule, and I shall comfort Jerusalem in the way. 28 For I looked, and there was no one from the nations or from their idols to declare it to me. If I should ask them where they are from, they would not answer me. 29 For they are the ones who made you, so you think, and in vain they are leading you astray.
1 “Jacob is My Servant; I will help Him. Israel is My chosen; My soul accepts Him. I put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard outside. 3 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; but He will bring forth judgment in truth. 4 He will shine forth and not be broken until He establishes judgment in the earth; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” 5 Thus says the Lord God, who made heaven and established it, who made firm the earth and the things in it, and who gives breath to the people in it, and spirit to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the Lord God, called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand. I will strengthen You, and give You as the covenant of a race, as the light of the Gentiles, 7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners who are bound, and those who sit in darkness from the prison house. 8 I am the Lord God; this is My name. I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to carved images. 9 Behold, things from of old came to pass, and new things I will declare. Before they spring forth, I will tell you of them.”
10 Sing to the Lord a new song, you His realm. Glorify His name from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea and sail on it, you coastlands and you who inhabit them. 11 Be glad, O desert and its villages, the homesteads and those inhabiting Kedar. Those who dwell in Petra shall be glad; they shall shout from the tops of the mountains. 12 They will give glory to God and declare His virtues in the coastlands. 13 The Lord God of powers shall go forth and crush war. He shall stir up His zeal, and cry out against His enemies with strength. 14 I held My peace, and I will not always be silent and restrain Myself. Now I will be steadfast, like a woman in labor. I shall amaze and dry up together. 15 I will make the rivers into coastlands and dry up marsh-meadows. 16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know, and will cause them to tread paths they have not known. I will turn darkness into light for them, and make crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them. 17 But they turned back. You be greatly ashamed who trust in carved images, who say to the molded images, “You are our gods.”
18 Hear, you deaf; and look up, you blind, that you may see. 19 Who is blind but My servants, or deaf but those who rule over them? The servants of God are blind. 20 You often see, but do not take heed. Your ears were opened, but you do not listen. 21 The Lord God wished to show His righteousness and to magnify His praise. 22 But I saw the people robbed and plundered, for there was a snare in the secret chambers everywhere, and in the houses at the same time, where they hid them. They became as plunder, and there was no one to rescue the prey, and no one who said, “Restore them.” 23 Who among you will give ear to these things? Who will listen and hear what is coming? 24 Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to those who plunder him? Was it not God, against whom they sinned? For they would not walk in His ways nor heed His law. 25 So He brought upon them the fury of His wrath, and war overpowered them. They set them on fire all around, yet none of them knew or took it to heart.
1 And now, thus says the Lord God who made you, O Jacob, and who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I redeemed you. I called you by your name, for you are Mine. 2 If you pass through water, I am with you; and the rivers shall not overflow you. If you pass through fire, you shall not be burned up, nor shall the flame consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, who saves you. I made Egypt and Ethiopia your ransom and gave Seba on your behalf. 4 Since you were precious in My sight, you became glorious, and I love you. I will give many men for you and rulers to lead you. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, ‘Bring them,’ and to the south, ‘Do not keep them back. Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone called by My name.’ 7 For in my glory I prepared him, and formed and made him. 8 I brought forth the blind people, and their eyes are alike blind, and their ears deaf.” 9 All the nations are gathered together, and the rulers shall be assembled from among them. Who will declare these things or tell us things from the beginning? Let them bring forth their witnesses, and be proven right; and let them speak the truth. 10 “You are My witnesses, and I am a witness,” says the Lord God, “and My Servant whom I chose, that you may know and believe, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no other God, nor shall there be after Me. 11 I am God, and besides Me there is no one who saves. 12 I proclaimed, and I saved. I denounced foreign gods so there were none among you. You are My witnesses, and I am a witness,” says the Lord God. 13 “Even from the beginning, there is no one who can deliver out of My hands; I will work, and who will reverse it?”
14 Thus says the Lord God who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and arouse all who flee, and the Chaldeans shall be bound in ships. 15 I am the Lord God, your Holy One, who made known your King, O Israel.” 16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea and a path in the mighty water, 17 who brings forth chariot and horse, and a mighty host. But they fell asleep, and shall not arise. They are extinguished, like a quenched lamp-wick: 18 “Do not remember the former things, nor reason about the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do new things, which shall now spring forth, and you shall know them; and l will make a road in the desert and rivers in the waterless places. 20 The wild animals of the field will bless Me, the sirens and the daughters of sparrows, because I gave water in the wilderness and rivers in the waterless place, to give drink to My race, My chosen, 21 My people whom I preserved to declare My virtues. 22 I have not called on you now, O Jacob, neither have I made you grow weary, O Israel. 23 You have not brought Me sheep for your whole burnt offerings, neither have you glorified Me with your sacrifices, nor have I wearied you with frankincense. 24 Neither have you purchased sweet incense for Me with money, nor have I desired the fat of your sacrifices; but I set before you your sins and wrongdoings. 25 I, even I, am He who blots out your lawlessness, and I will not remember them. 26 But remember, and let us judge; tell your lawless first, that you may be made righteous. 27 Your fathers first, and their rulers after them, acted lawlessly against Me. 28 Your rulers defiled My holy things; thus I gave Jacob to destruction and Israel for reproach.”
Psalm 105:1–15
1 Alleluia.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
For His mercy endures forever.
2 Who shall tell the mighty deeds of the Lord,
Who shall make all His praises heard?
3 Blessed are those who keep His judgment,
And do righteousness at all times.
4 Remember us, O Lord, because of the goodwill of Your people;
Visit us with Your salvation,
5 So as to see it in the goodness of Your chosen ones;
So as to be glad with the joy of Your nation,
So as to praise You in the midst of Your inheritance.
6 We sinned with our fathers;
We committed lawlessness; we acted wrongfully.
7 Our fathers did not understand Your wonders in Egypt;
They did not remember the multitude of Your mercy,
But rebelled when they went up to the Red Sea.
8 But He saved them because of His name,
So they might know His power;
9 And He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up;
And He led them in the sea as though it were a desert.
10 He saved them from the hands of those who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy;
11 So the water covered those who afflicted them;
There was not one left among them.
12 Then they believed His words
And sang His praise.
13 They were quick to forget His works;
They did not wait for His counsel;
14 And they desired exceedingly in the desert,
And tempted God in a waterless place.
15 So He gave them their request
And fully satisfied their souls.
Proverbs 23:1–5
1 If you sit down to dine at a table of princes,
Understand carefully the things put before you;
2 And apply your hand,
Knowing you should prepare certain things;
3 And if you are insatiable, do not desire its delicacies,
For these things belong to a false life.
4 If you are poor, do not measure yourself with a rich man,
But keep away from this in your thinking;
5 If you fix your eye on him, he will disappear,
For wings like an eagle’s are prepared for him,
And he returns to the house of his master.
Hebrews 2
1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,
3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
The Son Made Lower than Angels
(cf. Ps. 8:1–9)
5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.
6 But one testified in a certain place, saying:
“What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?
7 You have made him a little lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And set him over the works of Your hands.
8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”
For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
Bringing Many Sons to Glory
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 saying:
“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
13 And again:
“I will put My trust in Him.”
And again:
“Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.