ISAIAH 14

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Israel’s Taunt  14:1 When the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel, and settle them in their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2 The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the LORD as male servants and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors.
    3 And it will be in the day when the LORD gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved, 4 that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,

“How the oppressor has ceased,

And how fury has ceased!

5 “The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,

The scepter of rulers

6 Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,

Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.

7 “The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;

They break forth into shouts of joy.

8 “Even the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying,

‘Since you were laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.’

9 “Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come;

It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth;

It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.

10 “They will all respond and say to you,

‘Even you have been made weak as we,

You have become like us.

11 ‘Your pomp and the music of your harps

Have been brought down to Sheol;

Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you

And worms are your covering.’

12 “How you have fallen from heaven,

O star of the morning, son of the dawn!

You have been cut down to the earth,

You who have weakened the nations!

13 “But you said in your heart,

‘I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God,

And I will sit on the mount of assembly

In the recesses of the north.

14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’

15 “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol,

To the recesses of the pit.

16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,

They will ponder over you, saying,

‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

Who shook kingdoms,

17 Who made the world like a wilderness

And overthrew its cities,

Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?’

18 “All the kings of the nations lie in glory,

Each in his own tomb.

19 “But you have been cast out of your tomb

Like a rejected branch,

Clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword,

Who go down to the stones of the pit

Like a trampled corpse.

20 “You will not be united with them in burial,

Because you have ruined your country,

You have slain your people.

May the offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever.

21 “Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter

Because of the iniquity of their fathers.

They must not arise and take possession of the earth

And fill the face of the world with cities.”

22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, offspring and posterity,” declares the LORD. 23 “I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.
Judgment on Assyria24 The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, 25 to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder. 26 This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. 27 For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
    28 In the year that King Ahaz died this oracle came:
Judgment on Philistia

29 “Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you,

Because the rod that struck you is broken;

For from the serpent’s root a viper will come out,

And its fruit will be a flying serpent.

30 “Those who are most helpless will eat,

And the needy will lie down in security;

I will destroy your root with famine,

And it will kill off your survivors.

31 “Wail, O gate; cry, O city;

Melt away, O Philistia, all of you;

For smoke comes from the north,

And there is no straggler in his ranks.

32 “How then will one answer the messengers of the nation?

That the LORD has founded Zion,

And the afflicted of His people will seek refuge in it.”

ISAIAH 15

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Judgment on Moab  15:1 The oracle concerning Moab.

Surely in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined;

Surely in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.

2 They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep.

Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba;

Everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.

3 In their streets they have girded themselves with sackcloth;

On their housetops and in their squares

Everyone is wailing, dissolved in tears.

4 Heshbon and Elealeh also cry out,

Their voice is heard all the way to Jahaz;

Therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;

His soul trembles within him.

5 My heart cries out for Moab;

His fugitives are as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah,

For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping;

Surely on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their ruin.

6 For the waters of Nimrim are desolate.

Surely the grass is withered, the tender grass died out,

There is no green thing.

7 Therefore the abundance which they have acquired and stored up

They carry off over the brook of Arabim.

8 For the cry of distress has gone around the territory of Moab,

Its wail goes as far as Eglaim and its wailing even to Beer-elim.

9 For the waters of Dimon are full of blood;

Surely I will bring added woes upon Dimon,

A lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon the remnant of the land.

PROVERBS 11

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked11:1 A false balance is an abomination to the LORD,

But a just weight is His delight.

2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor,

But with the humble is wisdom.

3 The integrity of the upright will guide them,

But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.

4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,

But righteousness delivers from death.

5 The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way,

But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,

But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

7 When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish,

And the hope of strong men perishes.

8 The righteous is delivered from trouble,

But the wicked takes his place.

9 With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,

But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,

And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

11 By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

12 He who despises his neighbor lacks sense,

But a man of understanding keeps silent.

13 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,

But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

14 Where there is no guidance the people fall,

But in abundance of counselors there is victory.

15 He who is guarantor for a stranger will surely suffer for it,

But he who hates being a guarantor is secure.

16 A gracious woman attains honor,

And ruthless men attain riches.

17 The merciful man does himself good,

But the cruel man does himself harm.

18 The wicked earns deceptive wages,

But he who sows righteousness gets a true reward.

19 He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life,

And he who pursues evil will bring about his own death.

20 The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD,

But the blameless in their walk are His delight.

21 Assuredly, the evil man will not go unpunished,

But the descendants of the righteous will be delivered.

22 As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout

So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

23 The desire of the righteous is only good,

But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

24 There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more,

And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.

25 The generous man will be prosperous,

And he who waters will himself be watered.

26 He who withholds grain, the people will curse him,

But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

27 He who diligently seeks good seeks favor,

But he who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

28 He who trusts in his riches will fall,

But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.

29 He who troubles his own house will inherit wind,

And the foolish will be servant to the wisehearted.

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

And he who is wise wins souls.

31 If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth,

How much more the wicked and the sinner!

PHILEMON 1

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Salutation  1:1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
    To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, 2 and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon’s Love and Faith    4 I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints; 6 and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake. 7 For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.
    8 Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper, 9 yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you--since I am such a person as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus--
Plea for Onesimus, a Free Man10 I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, 11 who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, 13 whom I wished to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel; 14 but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will. 15 For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
    17 If then you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me. 18 But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). 20 Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.
    21 Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.
    22 At the same time also prepare me a lodging, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you.
    23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.
    25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.