Wednesday, May 26

2And many nations will go there and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. They will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

3And He will judge between many peoples and rebuke strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into sickles. Nation shall no more lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

4But everyone shall be at rest under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord Almighty has spoken these things.

5For all the peoples shall walk each one his own way, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

6'In that day,' says the Lord, 'I shall gather her who has been broken, and I will welcome her who has been exiled, even those whom I have rejected.

7And I shall make her who has been broken into a remnant, and her that was rejected into a strong nation. So the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion henceforth and forever.

8And you, O daughter of Zion, dark tower of the flock, on you it will come and enter in, even the former kingdom of Babylon to the daughter of Jerusalem.'

9And now, why have you experienced such evils? Was there no king in your midst? Or did your counsel perish? For your birth pangs have seized you as one in labor.

10Suffer birth pains and take courage, O daughter of Zion, and draw near like a woman giving birth; for now you will be exiled from the city, and you will abide in the flat open country, and you will have come as far off as Babylon; and from that place the Lord your God shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

11Now many nations have gathered against you, saying, 'We will rejoice, and our eyes will gaze upon Zion.'

12But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord nor perceive His counsel, for He gathered them like sheaves for the threshing floor.

13'Arise and thresh them, O daughter of Zion, for I shall make your horns iron, and I will make your hooves bronze. And you will cause the nations to melt away, and you will winnow many peoples. You will dedicate their abundance to the Lord and their strength to the Lord of all the earth.

14Now the daughter of Ephraim will be blockaded by a siege wall; for he ordered affliction against us, and they shall smite the tribes of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.'

1And you, O Bethlehem, House of Ephrathah, though you are fewest in number among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the One to be ruler of Israel. His goings forth were from the beginning, even from everlasting.'

2Therefore He shall give them up until the appointed time for her to give birth, and then the remnant of their brothers will return to the sons of Israel.

3And He shall stand and see, and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, and they will dwell in the glory of the name of the Lord their God, for now they will be magnified unto the ends of the earth.

4And she will have peace; for when the Assyrian comes into our land and goes up upon our country, then seven shepherds and eight attacks from men will be raised up against them.

5They will tend the Assyrian with a sword and the land of Nimrod in her trench. And He shall deliver you from the Assyrian should he come into your land, and should he come up over your borders.

6And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as dew falling from the Lord and as lambs in a field of grass, in order that none among the sons of men may assemble together nor resist.

7And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the cattle in the forest, and as a young lion among a flock of sheep, which, whenever it passes through, seizes and carries off its prey, and there is none to rescue.

8But your hand will be exalted above those oppressing you, and all your enemies will be completely cut off.

9'And it shall come to pass in that day,' says the Lord, 'I shall utterly destroy your horses from your midst and destroy your chariots.

10I shall utterly destroy the cities of your land and demolish all your strongholds.

11And I shall drive away your sorceries out of your hands, and there shall be no soothsayers among you.

12I shall utterly destroy your carved images and the sacred pillars from your midst, and you will no longer worship the work of your hands;

13and I shall cut off your sacred groves from your midst and destroy your cities.

14And I shall exact vengeance on the nations with wrath and anger among those who did not heed.'

1Now hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says, 'Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

2Hear, O mountains, the judgment of the Lord, and you valleys, the foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a case against His people, and He will contend with Israel.

3O My people, what have I done to you? How have I grieved you? Answer Me!

4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage; and I sent you Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam.

5O My people, remember now what King Balak of Moab plotted against you, and what answer Balaam the son of Beor gave to him from the reeds as far as to Gilgal, that the righteousness of the Lord might be known.'

6How shall I come to understand the Lord and devote myself to the Most High God? Shall I reach Him with burnt offerings? with year-old calves?

7Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams? or with a myriad of streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8He has shown you, O man, what is good. Or what does the Lord seek from you but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to be ready to walk with the Lord your God?

4And she will have peace; for when the Assyrian comes into our land and goes up upon our country, then seven shepherds and eight attacks from men will be raised up against them.

5They will tend the Assyrian with a sword and the land of Nimrod in her trench. And He shall deliver you from the Assyrian should he come into your land, and should he come up over your borders.

1You who are thirsty, go to the water, and all who have no money, go and buy wine and fat, and eat and drink without money and price.

3You will draw water with gladness from the wells of salvation.

4In that day, you will say, 'Praise the Lord; call upon His name. Declare His glorious things among the Gentiles and make mention that His name is exalted.

5Sing to the name of the Lord, for He has done great things. Declare this in all the earth.

6Exult and be glad, O inhabitants of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is exalted in her midst.'

1The vision against Babylon seen by Isaiah the son of Amoz:

2'Lift up a sign on the mountain of the plain and raise your voice to them. Do not fear; comfort with your hand; open the gates, O you rulers.

3I command and I lead them. They are sanctified, and I lead them. My mighty ones come to fulfill My anger—rejoicing and insulting at the same time.'

4The sound of many nations upon the mountains, like that of many nations, the voice of kings and nations gathered together—the Lord of hosts commanded a warring nation

5to come from a far country, from the end of heaven, the Lord and His weapons, to destroy all the inhabited world.

6Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and destruction will come from God.

7Therefore every hand will grow weary, and every man's soul will be fearful.

8The elders will be troubled. Pangs will take hold of them, like a woman in childbirth, and they will wail at one another and be amazed; and their countenance shall change like a flame.

9Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, a day that cannot be averted, a day of anger and wrath, to make all the inhabited world a desert, and to destroy the sinners from it.

10For the stars of heaven and Orion and all the ornament of heaven will not give their light. It will be dark when the sun goes forth, and the moon will not give its light.

11'I will command evils for all the inhabited world and the ungodly because of their sins, and I will destroy the insolence of the lawless and humble the haughtiness of the arrogant.

12Those left behind will be more valuable than fine gold tried in the fire, and a man more precious than the stone of Ophir.

13For heaven will be angry, and the earth will be shaken from its foundations because of the fierce anger of the Lord of hosts, in the day His anger comes.

14Those who are left shall be as the fleeing gazelle and as a wandering sheep, and there shall be no one to gather them, that a man may return to his own people and a man may seek his own country.

15For whoever is taken will be overcome, and those who are gathered together will fall by the sword.

16Their children also will be dashed before their eyes. They shall plunder their houses and possess their wives.

17Behold, I will stir up the Medes against you, who will not regard silver, neither do they have need of gold.

18They will break in pieces the bows of the young, and show your children no mercy; nor will their eyes spare your children.

19It shall be that Babylon, called glorious by the king of the Chaldeans, will be as when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

20It shall never be inhabited, nor will any enter it for many generations. Neither shall the Arabians pass through it, nor will shepherds take their rest in it.

21But wild animals of the desert will rest there, and their houses will be filled with noise. Sirens will rest there, and demons will dance there.

22Donkey-centaurs will dwell there, and hedgehogs will make dens in their homes. It will come quickly and not delay.'

1For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet choose Israel to take rest in their land. The sojourner will be added to them, and they will be added to the house of Jacob.

2Then the Gentiles will take them and bring them to their place. They will inherit them, and they will multiply in God's land as male and female servants. Those who captured them shall be captives to them, and those who ruled over them shall be ruled by them.

3Then it shall come to pass in that day that God will give you rest from your sorrow and anger and your hard slavery in which you served them.

4You shall take up this lamentation against the king of Babylon, and will say in that day, 'How the exacter has ceased, and the compeller ceased!

5God broke the yoke of sinners in pieces, the yoke of the rulers, and

6in His anger He struck a nation with an incurable wound; and striking a nation with a plague of anger, which did not spare them,

7He rested in confidence. All the earth cries aloud with gladness.

8Indeed, the trees of Lebanon rejoice against you and the cedar of Lebanon, saying, 'From the time you fell asleep, no one has come up to cut us down.'

9Hades from below was embittered to meet you. All the mighty who ruled over the earth rose up to meet you. Those who raised from their thrones all the kings of the nations,

10all shall answer and say to you, 'You also were conquered, even as we, and are numbered among us.

11Your glory and great gladness have come down to Hades. They will spread decay under you, and the worm will be your covering.'

12How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who rose up in the morning! He who sends for all the nations is crushed to the earth.

13For you said in your mind, 'I will ascend into heaven; I will place my throne above the stars of heaven. I will sit on a lofty mountain, on the lofty mountains toward the north.

14I will ascend above the clouds; I will be like the Most High.'

15But now you shall descend to Hades, to the foundations of the earth.

16Those who see you will marvel at you, and they will say, 'This is the man who greatly upset the earth, who shook kingdoms,

17and who made all the inhabited world a desert. He destroyed its cities, and did not set free those in captivity.'

18All the kings of the nations sleep in honor, every man in his house.

19But you shall be cast forth on the mountains like a loathsome dead person, with many dead pierced with swords who go down into Hades; and as a garment defiled in blood, you will not be clean.

20So you will not be clean, because you destroyed My land and killed My people. You, an evil seed, will not endure forever.

21Prepare your children for slaughter for the sins of their father, that they may not arise and inherit the earth, and fill it with wars.'

22'For I will rise up against them,' says the Lord of hosts, 'and I will destroy their name, their remnant and their seed'—so says the Lord—

23'and I will make Babylon a desert, that hedgehogs may dwell there; and it shall come to nothing; and I will make it a pit of clay for destruction.'

24Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'As I said, so it shall come to pass. As I purposed, so it shall remain—

25to destroy the Assyrians in My land and on My mountains. They shall be for trampling underfoot, and their yoke shall be taken away; and their renown shall be removed from their shoulders.'

26This is the purpose the Lord purposed upon all the inhabited world. His hand is lifted up over all the nations of the inhabited earth.

27For who will reject what the holy God purposed? Who will turn away His uplifted hand?

28In the year King Ahaz died, this word came:

29'Do not be glad, all you foreigners, for the yoke of him who struck you is broken to pieces. For from the seed of serpents shall come forth the young asps, and their offspring shall be flying serpents.

30The poor will be fed by him, and poor men will rest in peace, but he shall destroy your seed with hunger, and he will destroy your remnant.

31Wail, gates of the cities, cry out, troubled cities, even all the foreigners, for smoke is coming from the north, and you will be no more!'

32What will the kings of the nations answer? For the Lord founded Zion, and the humble of His people shall be saved.

1The word against the land of Moab: In the night the land of Moab shall be destroyed, for the wall of the land of Moab shall be destroyed in the night.

2Lament for yourselves, for even Dibon, where your altar is, shall be destroyed. Go there to weep over Nebo in the land of Moab. Wail, for baldness shall be on every head, and all arms shall be mutilated.

1Wisdom built her house, And she supported it with seven pillars.

2She offered her sacrifices; She mixed her wine in a bowl And prepared her table.

3She sent her servants, Inviting people to the bowl with a lofty proclamation, saying,

4"He who is without discernment, Let him turn aside to me"; And to those in need of discernment, she says,

5"Come, eat my bread And drink the wine I mixed for you;

6Forsake lack of discernment, and you shall live; Seek discernment so you may live, And keep straight your understanding with knowledge."

7He who chastises evil men shall receive dishonor to himself, And he who reproves the ungodly man shall be blamed himself.

8Do not reprove evil men, so they may not hate you; Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

9Give the opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser; Instruct a righteous man, and he shall continue to receive it.

10The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the counsel of saints is understanding; For to know the law is characteristic of a good mind.

11For in this manner you will live a long time, And the years of your life shall be increased.

6they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region.

7And they were preaching the gospel there.

8And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked.

9This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

10said with a loud voice, 'Stand up straight on your feet!' And he leaped and walked.

11Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, 'The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!'

12And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

13Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.

14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out

15and saying, 'Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,

16who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.

17Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.'

18And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.

14Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.

15And the Jews marveled, saying, 'How does this Man know letters, having never studied?'

16Jesus answered them and said, 'My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

17If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.

18He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.

19Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?'

20The people answered and said, 'You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?'

21Jesus answered and said to them, 'I did one work, and you all marvel.

22Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.

23If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

24Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.'

25Now some of them from Jerusalem said, 'Is this not He whom they seek to kill?

26But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?

27However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.'

28Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, 'You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.

29But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.'

30Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

11For 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,

12saying: 'I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.'

13And again: 'I will put My trust in Him.' And again: 'Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.'

14Inasmuch 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,

15and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

16For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.

17Therefore, 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.

18For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

1After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.

3In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.

4For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.