ISAIAH 29

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Jerusalem Is Warned29:1 Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped!

Add year to year, observe your feasts on schedule.

2 I will bring distress to Ariel,

And she will be a city of lamenting and mourning;

And she will be like an Ariel to me.

3 I will camp against you encircling you,

And I will set siegeworks against you,

And I will raise up battle towers against you.

4 Then you will be brought low;

From the earth you will speak,

And from the dust where you are prostrate

Your words will come.

Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground,

And your speech will whisper from the dust.

5 But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust,

And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away;

And it will happen instantly, suddenly.

6 From the LORD of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise,

With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

7 And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel,

Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,

Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

8 It will be as when a hungry man dreams--

And behold, he is eating;

But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied,

Or as when a thirsty man dreams--

And behold, he is drinking,

But when he awakens, behold, he is faint

And his thirst is not quenched.

Thus the multitude of all the nations will be

Who wage war against Mount Zion.

9 Be delayed and wait,

Blind yourselves and be blind;

They become drunk, but not with wine,

They stagger, but not with strong drink.

10 For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep,

He has shut your eyes, the prophets;

And He has covered your heads, the seers.

11 The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”
    13 Then the Lord said,

“Because this people draw near with their words

And honor Me with their lip service,

But they remove their hearts far from Me,

And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,

14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;

And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,

And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”

15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD,

And whose deeds are done in a dark place,

And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

16 You turn things around!

Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,

That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;

Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Blessing after Discipline17 Is it not yet just a little while

Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,

And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?

18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a book,

And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

19 The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the LORD,

And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,

Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off;

21 Who cause a person to be indicted by a word,

And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate,

And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

    22 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now turn pale;

23 But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,

They will sanctify My name;

Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob

And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

24 “Those who err in mind will know the truth,

And those who criticize will accept instruction.

ISAIAH 30

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Judah Warned against Egyptian Alliance30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD,

“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,

And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,

In order to add sin to sin;

2 Who proceed down to Egypt

Without consulting Me,

To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh

And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

3 “Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame

And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.

4 “For their princes are at Zoan

And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.

5 “Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them,

Who are not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”

    6 The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev.

Through a land of distress and anguish,

From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent,

They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys

And their treasures on camels’ humps,

To a people who cannot profit them;

7 Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty.

Therefore, I have called her

“Rahab who has been exterminated.”

8 Now go, write it on a tablet before them

And inscribe it on a scroll,

That it may serve in the time to come

As a witness forever.

9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons,

Sons who refuse to listen

To the instruction of the LORD;

10 Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”;

And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right,

Speak to us pleasant words,

Prophesy illusions.

11 “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path,

Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,

“Since you have rejected this word

And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,

13 Therefore this iniquity will be to you

Like a breach about to fall,

A bulge in a high wall,

Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,

14 Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar,

So ruthlessly shattered

That a sherd will not be found among its pieces

To take fire from a hearth

Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

15 For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said,

“In repentance and rest you will be saved,

In quietness and trust is your strength.”

But you were not willing,

16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,”

Therefore you shall flee!

“And we will ride on swift horses,”

Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.

17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one man;

You will flee at the threat of five,

Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top

And as a signal on a hill.

God Is Gracious and Just18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,

And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.

For the LORD is a God of justice;

How blessed are all those who long for Him.

    19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. 20 Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. 21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. 22 And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!”
    23 Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture. 24 Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place;

Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke;

His lips are filled with indignation

And His tongue is like a consuming fire;

28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent,

Which reaches to the neck,

To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve,

And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.

29 You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival,

And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,

To go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.

30 And the LORD will cause His voice of authority to be heard,

And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger,

And in the flame of a consuming fire

In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.

31 For at the voice of the LORD Assyria will be terrified,

When He strikes with the rod.

32 And every blow of the rod of punishment,

Which the LORD will lay on him,

Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres;

And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.

33 For Topheth has long been ready,

Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.

He has made it deep and large,

A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;

The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.

PROVERBS 15

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,

But a harsh word stirs up anger.

2 The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable,

But the mouth of fools spouts folly.

3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place,

Watching the evil and the good.

4 A soothing tongue is a tree of life,

But perversion in it crushes the spirit.

5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline,

But he who regards reproof is sensible.

6 Great wealth is in the house of the righteous,

But trouble is in the income of the wicked.

7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge,

But the hearts of fools are not so.

8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,

But the prayer of the upright is His delight.

9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,

But He loves one who pursues righteousness.

10 Grievous punishment is for him who forsakes the way;

He who hates reproof will die.

11 Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD,

How much more the hearts of men!

12 A scoffer does not love one who reproves him,

He will not go to the wise.

13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,

But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

14 The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge,

But the mouth of fools feeds on folly.

15 All the days of the afflicted are bad,

But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

16 Better is a little with the fear of the LORD

Than great treasure and turmoil with it.

17 Better is a dish of vegetables where love is

Than a fattened ox served with hatred.

18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,

But the slow to anger calms a dispute.

19 The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns,

But the path of the upright is a highway.

20 A wise son makes a father glad,

But a foolish man despises his mother.

21 Folly is joy to him who lacks sense,

But a man of understanding walks straight.

22 Without consultation, plans are frustrated,

But with many counselors they succeed.

23 A man has joy in an apt answer,

And how delightful is a timely word!

24 The path of life leads upward for the wise

That he may keep away from Sheol below.

25 The LORD will tear down the house of the proud,

But He will establish the boundary of the widow.

26 Evil plans are an abomination to the LORD,

But pleasant words are pure.

27 He who profits illicitly troubles his own house,

But he who hates bribes will live.

28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,

But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

29 The LORD is far from the wicked,

But He hears the prayer of the righteous.

30 Bright eyes gladden the heart;

Good news puts fat on the bones.

31 He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof

Will dwell among the wise.

32 He who neglects discipline despises himself,

But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.

33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom,

And before honor comes humility.

HEBREWS 5

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The Perfect High Priest  5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.
    5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him,

“YOU ARE MY SON,

TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”;

6 just as He says also in another passage,

“YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER

ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.”

7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10 being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
    11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.