ISAIAH 18

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Message to Ethiopia18:1 Alas, oh land of whirring wings

Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush,

2 Which sends envoys by the sea,

Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.

Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth,

To a people feared far and wide,

A powerful and oppressive nation

Whose land the rivers divide.

3 All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth,

As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it,

And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

4 For thus the LORD has told me,

“I will look from My dwelling place quietly

Like dazzling heat in the sunshine,

Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

5 For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms

And the flower becomes a ripening grape,

Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives

And remove and cut away the spreading branches.

6 They will be left together for mountain birds of prey,

And for the beasts of the earth;

And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them,

And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the LORD of hosts

From a people tall and smooth,

Even from a people feared far and wide,

A powerful and oppressive nation,

Whose land the rivers divide--

To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, even Mount Zion.

ISAIAH 19

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Message to Egypt  19:1 The oracle concerning Egypt.

Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;

The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,

And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

2 “So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians;

And they will each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor,

City against city and kingdom against kingdom.

3 “Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them;

And I will confound their strategy,

So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead

And to mediums and spiritists.

4 “Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master,

And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

5 The waters from the sea will dry up,

And the river will be parched and dry.

6 The canals will emit a stench,

The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up;

The reeds and rushes will rot away.

7 The bulrushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile

And all the sown fields by the Nile

Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.

8 And the fishermen will lament,

And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn,

And those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.

9 Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax

And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected.

10 And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed;

All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

11 The princes of Zoan are mere fools;

The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become stupid.

How can you men say to Pharaoh,

“I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings”?

12 Well then, where are your wise men?

Please let them tell you,

And let them understand what the LORD of hosts

Has purposed against Egypt.

13 The princes of Zoan have acted foolishly,

The princes of Memphis are deluded;

Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes

Have led Egypt astray.

14 The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of distortion;

They have led Egypt astray in all that it does,

As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

15 There will be no work for Egypt

Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.

    16 In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in dread because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. 17 The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the LORD of hosts which He is purposing against them.
    18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.
    19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near its border. 20 It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. 21 Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. 22 The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them.
    23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
    24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

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!

HEBREWS 2

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Give Heed  2:1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
Earth Subject to Man    5 For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. 6 But one has testified somewhere, saying,

“WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM?

OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM?

7 “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS;

YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR,

AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;

8 YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.”

For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.

Jesus Briefly Humbled9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
    10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying,

“I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN,

IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE.”

13 And again,

“I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM.”

And again,

“BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME.”

    14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.