ISAIAH 64-66

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Prayer for Mercy and Help64:1 Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down,

That the mountains might quake at Your presence--

2 As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil--

To make Your name known to Your adversaries,

That the nations may tremble at Your presence!

3 When You did awesome things which we did not expect,

You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

4 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,

Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,

Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

5 You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,

Who remembers You in Your ways.

Behold, You were angry, for we sinned,

We continued in them a long time;

And shall we be saved?

6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean,

And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;

And all of us wither like a leaf,

And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 There is no one who calls on Your name,

Who arouses himself to take hold of You;

For You have hidden Your face from us

And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father,

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all of us are the work of Your hand.

9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD,

Nor remember iniquity forever;

Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.

10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness,

Zion has become a wilderness,

Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and beautiful house,

Where our fathers praised You,

Has been burned by fire;

And all our precious things have become a ruin.

12 Will You restrain Yourself at these things, O LORD?

Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

A Rebellious People65:1 “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me;

I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.

I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’

To a nation which did not call on My name.

2 “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,

Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts,

3 A people who continually provoke Me to My face,

Offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks;

4 Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places;

Who eat swine’s flesh,

And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots.

5 “Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me,

For I am holier than you!’

These are smoke in My nostrils,

A fire that burns all the day.

6 “Behold, it is written before Me,

I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

I will even repay into their bosom,

7 Both their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,” says the LORD.

“Because they have burned incense on the mountains

And scorned Me on the hills,

Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”

    8 Thus says the LORD,

“As the new wine is found in the cluster,

And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is benefit in it,’

So I will act on behalf of My servants

In order not to destroy all of them.

9 “I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,

And an heir of My mountains from Judah;

Even My chosen ones shall inherit it,

And My servants will dwell there.

10 “Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,

And the valley of Achor a resting place for herds,

For My people who seek Me.

11 “But you who forsake the LORD,

Who forget My holy mountain,

Who set a table for Fortune,

And who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny,

12 I will destine you for the sword,

And all of you will bow down to the slaughter.

Because I called, but you did not answer;

I spoke, but you did not hear.

And you did evil in My sight

And chose that in which I did not delight.”

    13 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD,

“Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry.

Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty.

Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.

14 “Behold, My servants will shout joyfully with a glad heart,

But you will cry out with a heavy heart,

And you will wail with a broken spirit.

15 “You will leave your name for a curse to My chosen ones,

And the Lord GOD will slay you.

But My servants will be called by another name.

16 “Because he who is blessed in the earth

Will be blessed by the God of truth;

And he who swears in the earth

Will swear by the God of truth;

Because the former troubles are forgotten,

And because they are hidden from My sight!

New Heavens and a New Earth17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;

And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.

18 “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;

For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing

And her people for gladness.

19 “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;

And there will no longer be heard in her

The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.

20 “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,

Or an old man who does not live out his days;

For the youth will die at the age of one hundred

And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred

Will be thought accursed.

21 “They will build houses and inhabit them;

They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 “They will not build and another inhabit,

They will not plant and another eat;

For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,

And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.

23 “They will not labor in vain,

Or bear children for calamity;

For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD,

And their descendants with them.

24 It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.
Heaven Is God’s Throne  66:1 Thus says the LORD,

“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.

Where then is a house you could build for Me?

And where is a place that I may rest?

2 “For My hand made all these things,

Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD.

“But to this one I will look,

To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Hypocrisy Rebuked3 “But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man;

He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog’s neck;

He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood;

He who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol.

As they have chosen their own ways,

And their soul delights in their abominations,

4 So I will choose their punishments

And will bring on them what they dread.

Because I called, but no one answered;

I spoke, but they did not listen.

And they did evil in My sight

And chose that in which I did not delight.”

5 Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at His word:

“Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My name’s sake,

Have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy.’

But they will be put to shame.

6 “A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple,

The voice of the LORD who is rendering recompense to His enemies.

7 “Before she travailed, she brought forth;

Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy.

8 “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?

Can a land be born in one day?

Can a nation be brought forth all at once?

As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.

9 “Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD.

“Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.

Joy in Jerusalem’s Future

10 “Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her;

Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,

11 That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts,

That you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.”

12 For thus says the LORD, “Behold, I extend peace to her like a river,

And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;

And you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees.

13 “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;

And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”

14 Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad,

And your bones will flourish like the new grass;

And the hand of the LORD will be made known to His servants,

But He will be indignant toward His enemies.

15 For behold, the LORD will come in fire

And His chariots like the whirlwind,

To render His anger with fury,

And His rebuke with flames of fire.

16 For the LORD will execute judgment by fire

And by His sword on all flesh,

And those slain by the LORD will be many.

17 “Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens,

Following one in the center,

Who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice,

Will come to an end altogether,” declares the LORD.

    18 “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. 19 I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. 20 Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. 21 I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the LORD.

22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth

Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the LORD,

“So your offspring and your name will endure.

23 “And it shall be from new moon to new moon

And from sabbath to sabbath,

All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the LORD.

24 “Then they will go forth and look

On the corpses of the men

Who have transgressed against Me.

For their worm will not die

And their fire will not be quenched;

And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

2 CORINTHIANS 2

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Reaffirm Your Love  2:1 But I determined this for my own sake, that I would not come to you in sorrow again. 2 For if I cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful? 3 This is the very thing I wrote you, so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.
    5 But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree--in order not to say too much--to all of you. 6 Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, 7 so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
    12 Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia.
    14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.