Isaiah 54:1-57:14 1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth! Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one are more numerous than the children of the married woman,” says the
Lord.
2 Make your tent larger, stretch your tent curtains farther out!
Spare no effort, lengthen your ropes, and pound your stakes deep.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your children will conquer
nations and will resettle desolate cities.
4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame! Don’t be intimidated,
for you will not be humiliated! You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth; you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment.
5 For your husband is the one who made you – the
Lord who commands armies is his name. He is your protector,
the Holy One of Israel.
He is called “God of the entire earth.”
6 “Indeed, the
Lord will call you back like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression,
like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a short time I abandoned
you, but with great compassion I will gather you.
8 In a burst
of anger I rejected you
momentarily, but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,” says your protector,
the
Lord.
9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time,
when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood
would never again cover the earth. In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.
10 Even if the mountains are removed and the hills displaced, my devotion will not be removed from you, nor will my covenant of friendship
be displaced,” says the
Lord, the one who has compassion on you.
11 “O afflicted one, driven away,
and unconsoled! Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.
12 I will make your pinnacles out of gems,
your gates out of beryl,
and your outer wall
out of beautiful
stones.
13 All your children will be followers of the
Lord, and your children will enjoy great prosperity.
14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate you.
You will not experience oppression;
indeed, you will not be afraid. You will not be terrified,
for nothing frightening
will come near you.
15 If anyone dares to
challenge you, it will not be my doing! Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated.
16 Look, I create the craftsman, who fans the coals into a fire and forges a weapon.
I create the destroyer so he might devastate.
17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed; you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you.
This is what the
Lord will do for his servants – I will vindicate them,”
says the
Lord.
1 “Hey,
all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you?
Why spend
your hard-earned money
on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully
to me and eat what is nourishing!
Enjoy fine food!
3 Pay attention and come to me! Listen, so you can live!
Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to
you, just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David.
4 Look, I made him a witness to nations,
a ruler and commander of nations.”
5 Look, you will summon nations
you did not previously know; nations
that did not previously know you will run to you, because of the
Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he bestows honor on you.
6 Seek the
Lord while he makes himself available;
call to him while he is nearby!
7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle
and sinful people their plans.
They should return
to the
Lord, and he will show mercy to them,
and to their God, for he will freely forgive them.
8 “Indeed,
my plans
are not like
your plans, and my deeds
are not like
your deeds,
9 for just as the sky
is higher than the earth, so my deeds
are superior to
your deeds and my plans
superior to your plans.
10 The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.
11 In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing.
No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.”
12 Indeed you will go out with joy; you will be led along in peace; the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you, and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.
13 Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes, firs will grow in place of nettles; they will be a monument to the
Lord,
a permanent reminder that will remain.
1 This is what the
Lord says, “Promote
justice! Do what is right! For I am ready to deliver you; I am ready to vindicate you openly.
2 The people who do this will be blessed,
the people who commit themselves to obedience,
who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, who refrain from doing anything that is wrong.
3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of
the
Lord should say, ‘The
Lord will certainly
exclude me from his people.’ The eunuch should not say, ‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”
4 For this is what the
Lord says: “For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and are faithful to
my covenant,
5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument
that will be better than sons and daughters. I will set up a permanent monument
for them that will remain.
6 As for foreigners who become followers of
the
Lord and serve him, who love the name of the
Lord and want to be his servants – all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, and who are faithful to
my covenant –
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain; I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.”
8 The sovereign
Lord says this, the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will still gather them up.”
9 All you wild animals in the fields, come and devour, all you wild animals in the forest!
10 All their watchmen
are blind, they are unaware.
All of them are like mute dogs, unable to bark. They pant,
lie down, and love to snooze.
11 The dogs have big appetites; they are never full.
They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain.
12 Each one says,
‘Come on, I’ll get some wine! Let’s guzzle some beer! Tomorrow will be just like today! We’ll have everything we want!’
1 The godly
perish, but no one cares.
Honest people disappear,
when no one
minds
that the godly
disappear
because of
evil.
2 Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace; they rest on their beds.
3 But approach, you sons of omen readers, you offspring of adulteresses and prostitutes!
4 At whom are you laughing? At whom are you opening your mouth and sticking out your tongue? You are the children of rebels, the offspring of liars,
5 you who practice ritual sex
under the oaks and every green tree, who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs.
6 Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love; they, they are the object of your devotion.
You pour out liquid offerings to them, you make an offering. Because of these things I will seek vengeance.
7 On every high, elevated hill you prepare your bed; you go up there to offer sacrifices.
8 Behind the door and doorpost you put your symbols.
Indeed,
you depart from me
and go up and invite them into bed with you.
You purchase favors from them,
you love their bed, and gaze longingly
on their genitals.
9 You take olive oil as tribute
to your king,
along with many perfumes.
You send your messengers to a distant place; you go all the way to Sheol.
10 Because of the long distance you must travel, you get tired,
but you do not say, ‘I give up.’
You get renewed energy,
so you don’t collapse.
11 Whom are you worried about? Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully and not remember me or think about me?
Because I have been silent for so long,
you are not afraid of me.
12 I will denounce your so-called righteousness and your deeds,
but they will not help you.
13 When you cry out for help, let your idols
help you! The wind blows them all away,
a breeze carries them away.
But the one who looks to me for help
will inherit the land and will have access to
my holy mountain.”
14 He says,
“Build it! Build it! Clear a way! Remove all the obstacles out of the way of my people!”
Context (NET) Ephesians 6:1-24 1 Children,
obey your parents in the Lord
for this is right.
2 “
Honor your father and mother,”
which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely,
3 “
that it may go well with you and that you will live a long time on the earth.”
4 Fathers,
do not provoke your children to anger,
but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
5 Slaves,
obey your human masters
with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ,
6 not like those who do their work only when someone is watching
– as people-pleasers – but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.
7 Obey
with enthusiasm, as though serving the Lord
and not people,
8 because you know that each person, whether slave or free, if he does something good, this
will be rewarded by the Lord.
9 Masters,
treat your slaves
the same way,
giving up the use of threats,
because you know that both you and they have the same master in heaven,
and there is no favoritism with him.
10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.
11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes
of the devil.
12 For our struggle
is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavens.
13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground
on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening
the belt of truth around your waist,
by putting on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 by fitting your
feet with the preparation that comes from the good news
of peace,
16 and in all of this,
by taking up the shield
of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take
the helmet of salvation and the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 With every prayer and petition, pray
at all times in the Spirit, and to this end
be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints.
19 Pray
for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak
– that I may confidently make known
the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.
21 Tychicus, my
dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will make everything known to you, so that you too may know about my circumstances,
how I am doing.
22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know our circumstances
and that he may encourage your hearts.
23 Peace to the brothers and sisters,
and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Grace be
with all of those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
Context (NET) Psalm 70:1-5 1 For the music director; by David; written to get God’s attention.
O God, please be willing to rescue me!
O
Lord, hurry and help me!
2 May those who are trying to take my life be embarrassed and ashamed!
May those who want to harm me be turned back and ashamed!
3 May those who say, “Aha! Aha!” be driven back
and disgraced!
4 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you! May those who love to experience
your deliverance say continually,
“May God
be praised!”
5 I am oppressed and needy!
O God, hurry to me!
You are my helper and my deliverer! O
Lord,
do not delay!
Context (NET) Proverbs 24:8 8 The one who plans to do evil will be called a scheming person.
Context (NET)
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