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 16

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man,

But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight,

But the LORD weighs the motives.

3 Commit your works to the LORD

And your plans will be established.

4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose,

Even the wicked for the day of evil.

5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD;

Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.

6 By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for,

And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.

7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD,

He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

8 Better is a little with righteousness

Than great income with injustice.

9 The mind of man plans his way,

But the LORD directs his steps.

10 A divine decision is in the lips of the king;

His mouth should not err in judgment.

11 A just balance and scales belong to the LORD;

All the weights of the bag are His concern.

12 It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts,

For a throne is established on righteousness.

13 Righteous lips are the delight of kings,

And he who speaks right is loved.

14 The fury of a king is like messengers of death,

But a wise man will appease it.

15 In the light of a king’s face is life,

And his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain.

16 How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!

And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;

He who watches his way preserves his life.

18 Pride goes before destruction,

And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

19 It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly

Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

20 He who gives attention to the word will find good,

And blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

21 The wise in heart will be called understanding,

And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

22 Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it,

But the discipline of fools is folly.

23 The heart of the wise instructs his mouth

And adds persuasiveness to his lips.

24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb,

Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

25 There is a way which seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death.

26 A worker’s appetite works for him,

For his hunger urges him on.

27 A worthless man digs up evil,

While his words are like scorching fire.

28 A perverse man spreads strife,

And a slanderer separates intimate friends.

29 A man of violence entices his neighbor

And leads him in a way that is not good.

30 He who winks his eyes does so to devise perverse things;

He who compresses his lips brings evil to pass.

31 A gray head is a crown of glory;

It is found in the way of righteousness.

32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

33 The lot is cast into the lap,

But its every decision is from the LORD.

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.