Isaiah 3:1-5:30 1 Look, the sovereign
Lord who commands armies
is about to remove from Jerusalem
and Judah every source of security, including
all the food and water,
2 the mighty men and warriors, judges and prophets, omen readers and leaders,
3 captains of groups of fifty, the respected citizens,
advisers and those skilled in magical arts,
and those who know incantations.
4 The
Lord says,
“I will make youths their officials; malicious young men
will rule over them.
5 The people will treat each other harshly; men will oppose each other; neighbors will fight.
Youths will proudly defy the elderly and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected.
6 Indeed, a man will grab his brother right in his father’s house
and say,
‘You own a coat – you be our leader! This heap of ruins will be under your control.’
7 At that time
the brother will shout,
‘I am no doctor,
I have no food or coat in my house; don’t make me a leader of the people!’”
8 Jerusalem certainly stumbles, Judah falls, for their words and their actions offend the
Lord;
they rebel against his royal authority.
9 The look on their faces
testifies to their guilt;
like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin.
Too bad for them!
For they bring disaster on themselves.
10 Tell the innocent
it will go well with them,
for they will be rewarded for what they have done.
11 Too bad for the wicked sinners! For they will get exactly what they deserve.
12 Oppressors treat my
people cruelly; creditors rule over them.
My people’s leaders mislead them; they give you confusing directions.
13 The
Lord takes his position to judge; he stands up to pass sentence on his people.
14 The
Lord comes to pronounce judgment on the leaders of his people and their officials. He says,
“It is you
who have ruined
the vineyard!
You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor.
15 Why do you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?”
The sovereign
Lord who commands armies
has spoken.
16 The
Lord says, “The women
of Zion are proud. They walk with their heads high
and flirt with their eyes. They skip along
and the jewelry on their ankles jingles.
17 So
the sovereign master
will afflict the foreheads of Zion’s women
with skin diseases,
the
Lord will make the front of their heads bald.”
18 At that time
the sovereign master will remove their beautiful ankle jewelry,
neck ornaments, crescent shaped ornaments,
19 earrings, bracelets, veils,
20 headdresses, ankle ornaments, sashes, sachets,
amulets,
21 rings, nose rings,
22 festive dresses, robes, shawls, purses,
23 garments, vests, head coverings, and gowns.
24 A putrid stench will replace the smell of spices,
a rope will replace a belt, baldness will replace braided locks of hair, a sackcloth garment will replace a fine robe, and a prisoner’s brand will replace beauty.
25 Your
men will fall by the sword, your strong men will die in battle.
26 Her gates will mourn and lament; deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground.
1 Seven women will grab hold of one man at that time.
They will say, “We will provide
our own food, we will provide
our own clothes; but let us belong to you
– take away our shame!”
2 At that time
the crops given by the
Lord will bring admiration and honor;
the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight to those who remain in Israel.
3 Those remaining in Zion,
those left in Jerusalem,
will be called “holy,”
all in Jerusalem who are destined to live.
4 At that time
the sovereign master
will wash the excrement
from Zion’s women, he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst,
as he comes to judge and to bring devastation.
5 Then the
Lord will create over all of Mount Zion
and over its convocations a cloud and smoke by day and a bright flame of fire by night;
indeed a canopy will accompany the
Lord’s glorious presence.
6 By day it will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat, as well as safety and protection from the heavy downpour.
1 I
will sing to my love – a song to my lover about his vineyard.
My love had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
2 He built a hedge around it,
removed its stones, and planted a vine. He built a tower in the middle of it, and constructed a winepress. He waited for it to produce edible grapes, but it produced sour ones instead.
3 So now, residents of Jerusalem,
people
of Judah, you decide between me and my vineyard!
4 What more can I do for my vineyard beyond what I have already done? When I waited for it to produce edible grapes, why did it produce sour ones instead?
5 Now I will inform you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture,
I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there.
6 I will make it a wasteland; no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground,
and thorns and briers will grow there. I will order the clouds not to drop any rain on it.
7 Indeed
Israel
is the vineyard of the
Lord who commands armies, the people
of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight. He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience!
He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help!
8 Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead,
those who also accumulate landed property
until there is no land left,
and you are the only landowners remaining within the land.
9 The
Lord who commands armies told me this:
“Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.
10 Indeed, a large vineyard
will produce just a few gallons,
and enough seed to yield several bushels
will produce less than a bushel.”
11 Those who get up early to drink beer are as good as dead,
those who keep drinking long after dark until they are intoxicated with wine.
12 They have stringed instruments,
tambourines, flutes, and wine at their parties. So they do not recognize what the
Lord is doing, they do not perceive what he is bringing about.
13 Therefore my
people will be deported
because of their lack of understanding. Their
leaders will have nothing to eat,
their
masses will have nothing to drink.
14 So Death
will open up its throat, and open wide its mouth;
Zion’s dignitaries and masses will descend into it, including those who revel and celebrate within her.
15 Men will be humiliated, they will be brought low; the proud will be brought low.
16 The
Lord who commands armies will be exalted
when he punishes,
the sovereign God’s authority will be recognized when he judges.
17 Lambs
will graze as if in their pastures, amid the ruins the rich sojourners will graze.
18 Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead,
who pull sin as with cart ropes.
19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly,
so we can see; let the plan of the Holy One of Israel
take shape
and come to pass, then we will know it!”
20 Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead,
who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter.
21 Those who think they are wise are as good as dead,
those who think they possess understanding.
22 Those who are champions
at drinking wine are as good as dead,
who display great courage when mixing strong drinks.
23 They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent.
24 Therefore, as flaming fire
devours straw, and dry grass disintegrates in the flames, so their root will rot, and their flower will blow away like dust.
For they have rejected the law of the
Lord who commands armies, they have spurned the commands
of the Holy One of Israel.
25 So the
Lord is furious
with his people; he lifts
his hand and strikes them. The mountains shake, and corpses lie like manure
in the middle of the streets. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again.
26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation,
he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth. Look, they
come quickly and swiftly.
27 None tire or stumble, they don’t stop to nap or sleep. They don’t loosen their belts, or unstrap their sandals to rest.
28 Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are prepared.
The hooves of their horses are hard as flint,
and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm.
29 Their roar is like a lion’s; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they drag it away and no one can come to the rescue.
30 At that time
they will growl over their prey,
it will sound like sea waves crashing against rocks.
One will look out over the land and see the darkness of disaster, clouds will turn the light into darkness.
Context (NET) 2 Corinthians 11:1-15 1 I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me!
2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband,
to present you as a pure
virgin to Christ.
3 But I am afraid that
just as the serpent
deceived Eve by his treachery,
your minds may be led astray
from a sincere and pure
devotion to Christ.
4 For if someone comes and proclaims
another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed,
or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received,
or a different gospel than the one you accepted,
you put up with it well enough!
5 For I consider myself not at all inferior to those “super-apostles.”
6 And even if I am unskilled
in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way.
7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself
so that you could be exalted, because I proclaimed
the gospel of God to you free of charge?
8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so that I could serve you!
9 When
I was with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia fully supplied my needs.
I
kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.
10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine
will not be stopped
in the regions of Achaia.
11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals
in the things they boast about.
13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful
workers, disguising themselves
as apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself
as an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves
as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions.
Context (NET) Psalm 53:1-6 1 For the music director; according to the
machalath style;
a well-written song
by David. Fools say to themselves,
“There is no God.”
They sin and commit evil deeds;
none of them does what is right.
2 God looks down from heaven
at the human race,
to see if there is anyone who is wise
and seeks God.
3 Everyone rejects God;
they are all morally corrupt.
None of them does what is right,
not even one!
4 All those who behave wickedly
do not understand
– those who devour my people as if they were eating bread, and do not call out to God.
5 They are absolutely terrified,
even by things that do not normally cause fear.
For God annihilates
those who attack you.
You are able to humiliate them because God has rejected them.
6 I wish the deliverance
of Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the well-being of his people,
may Jacob rejoice,
may Israel be happy!
Context (NET) Proverbs 22:28-29 28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone
which was put in place by your ancestors.
29 Do you see a person skilled
in his work? He will take his position before kings; he will not take his position
before obscure people.
Context (NET)
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