Isaiah 45–48
45:1Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,whose right hand I have grasped,to subdue nations before himand to loose the belts of kings,to open doors before himthat gates may not be closed:2“I will go before youand level the exalted places,I will break in pieces the doors of bronzeand cut through the bars of iron,3I will give you the treasures of darknessand the hoards in secret places,that you may know that it is I, the LORD,the God of Israel, who call you by your name.4For the sake of my servant Jacob,and Israel my chosen,I call you by your name,I name you, though you do not know me.5I am the LORD, and there is no other,besides me there is no God;I equip you, though you do not know me,6that people may know, from the rising of the sunand from the west, that there is none besides me;I am the LORD, and there is no other.7I form light and create darkness;I make well-being and create calamity;I am the LORD, who does all these things. 8“Shower, O heavens, from above,and let the clouds rain down righteousness;let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;let the earth cause them both to sprout;I the LORD have created it. 9“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,a pot among earthen pots!Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’or ‘Your work has no handles’?10Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’” 11Thus says the LORD,the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:“Ask me of things to come;will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?12I made the earthand created man on it;it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,and I commanded all their host.13I have stirred him up in righteousness,and I will make all his ways level;he shall build my cityand set my exiles free,not for price or reward,”says the LORD of hosts.
14Thus says the LORD:“The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,and the Sabeans, men of stature,shall come over to you and be yours;they shall follow you;they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.They will plead with you, saying:‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,no god besides him.’” 15Truly, you are a God who hides himself,O God of Israel, the Savior.16All of them are put to shame and confounded;the makers of idols go in confusion together.17But Israel is saved by the LORDwith everlasting salvation;you shall not be put to shame or confoundedto all eternity. 18For thus says the LORD,who created the heavens(he is God!),who formed the earth and made it(he established it;he did not create it empty,he formed it to be inhabited!):“I am the LORD, and there is no other.19I did not speak in secret,in a land of darkness;I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,‘Seek me in vain.’I the LORD speak the truth;I declare what is right. 20“Assemble yourselves and come;draw near together,you survivors of the nations!They have no knowledgewho carry about their wooden idols,and keep on praying to a godthat cannot save.21Declare and present your case;let them take counsel together!Who told this long ago?Who declared it of old?Was it not I, the LORD?And there is no other god besides me,a righteous God and a Savior;there is none besides me. 22“Turn to me and be saved,all the ends of the earth!For I am God, and there is no other.23By myself I have sworn;from my mouth has gone out in righteousnessa word that shall not return:‘To me every knee shall bow,every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ 24“Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,are righteousness and strength;to him shall come and be ashamedall who were incensed against him.25In the LORD all the offspring of Israelshall be justified and shall glory.”
46:1Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;their idols are on beasts and livestock;these things you carry are borneas burdens on weary beasts.2They stoop; they bow down together;they cannot save the burden,but themselves go into captivity. 3“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,all the remnant of the house of Israel,who have been borne by me from before your birth,carried from the womb;4even to your old age I am he,and to gray hairs I will carry you.I have made, and I will bear;I will carry and will save. 5“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,and compare me, that we may be alike?6Those who lavish gold from the purse,and weigh out silver in the scales,hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;then they fall down and worship!7They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,they set it in its place, and it stands there;it cannot move from its place.If one cries to it, it does not answeror save him from his trouble. 8“Remember this and stand firm,recall it to mind, you transgressors,9remember the former things of old;for I am God, and there is no other;I am God, and there is none like me,10declaring the end from the beginningand from ancient times things not yet done,saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,and I will accomplish all my purpose,’11calling a bird of prey from the east,the man of my counsel from a far country.I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;I have purposed, and I will do it. 12“Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,you who are far from righteousness:13I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,and my salvation will not delay;I will put salvation in Zion,for Israel my glory.”
47:1Come down and sit in the dust,O virgin daughter of Babylon;sit on the ground without a throne,O daughter of the Chaldeans!For you shall no more be calledtender and delicate.2Take the millstones and grind flour,put off your veil,strip off your robe, uncover your legs,pass through the rivers.3Your nakedness shall be uncovered,and your disgrace shall be seen.I will take vengeance,and I will spare no one.4Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—is the Holy One of Israel. 5Sit in silence, and go into darkness,O daughter of the Chaldeans;for you shall no more be calledthe mistress of kingdoms.6I was angry with my people;I profaned my heritage;I gave them into your hand;you showed them no mercy;on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.7You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”so that you did not lay these things to heartor remember their end. 8Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,who sit securely,who say in your heart,“I am, and there is no one besides me;I shall not sit as a widowor know the loss of children”:9These two things shall come to youin a moment, in one day;the loss of children and widowhoodshall come upon you in full measure,in spite of your many sorceriesand the great power of your enchantments. 10You felt secure in your wickedness;you said, “No one sees me”;your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,and you said in your heart,“I am, and there is no one besides me.”11But evil shall come upon you,which you will not know how to charm away;disaster shall fall upon you,for which you will not be able to atone;and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,of which you know nothing. 12Stand fast in your enchantmentsand your many sorceries,with which you have labored from your youth;perhaps you may be able to succeed;perhaps you may inspire terror.13You are wearied with your many counsels;let them stand forth and save you,those who divide the heavens,who gaze at the stars,who at the new moons make knownwhat shall come upon you. 14Behold, they are like stubble;the fire consumes them;they cannot deliver themselvesfrom the power of the flame.No coal for warming oneself is this,no fire to sit before!15Such to you are those with whom you have labored,who have done business with you from your youth;they wander about, each in his own direction;there is no one to save you.
48:1Hear this, O house of Jacob,who are called by the name of Israel,and who came from the waters of Judah,who swear by the name of the LORDand confess the God of Israel,but not in truth or right.2For they call themselves after the holy city,and stay themselves on the God of Israel;the LORD of hosts is his name. 3“The former things I declared of old;they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.4Because I know that you are obstinate,and your neck is an iron sinewand your forehead brass,5I declared them to you from of old,before they came to pass I announced them to you,lest you should say, ‘My idol did them,my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’ 6“You have heard; now see all this;and will you not declare it?From this time forth I announce to you new things,hidden things that you have not known.7They are created now, not long ago;before today you have never heard of them,lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’8You have never heard, you have never known,from of old your ear has not been opened.For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously,and that from before birth you were called a rebel. 9“For my name’s sake I defer my anger;for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,that I may not cut you off.10Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.11For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,for how should my name be profaned?My glory I will not give to another.
12“Listen to me, O Jacob,and Israel, whom I called!I am he; I am the first,and I am the last.13My hand laid the foundation of the earth,and my right hand spread out the heavens;when I call to them,they stand forth together. 14“Assemble, all of you, and listen!Who among them has declared these things?The LORD loves him;he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.15I, even I, have spoken and called him;I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.16Draw near to me, hear this:from the beginning I have not spoken in secret,from the time it came to be I have been there.”And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit. 17Thus says the LORD,your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:“I am the LORD your God,who teaches you to profit,who leads you in the way you should go.18Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments!Then your peace would have been like a river,and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;19your offspring would have been like the sand,and your descendants like its grains;their name would never be cut offor destroyed from before me.” 20Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea,declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it,send it out to the end of the earth;say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!”21They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts;he made water flow for them from the rock;he split the rock and the water gushed out. 22“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
Luke 3:1–10
3:1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:‘Prepare the way of the Lord,make his paths straight.5Every valley shall be filled,and every mountain and hill shall be made low,and the crooked shall become straight,and the rough places shall become level ways,6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
7He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?”
Psalm 79
A Psalm of Asaph.
79:1O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;they have defiled your holy temple;they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.2They have given the bodies of your servantsto the birds of the heavens for food,the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.3They have poured out their blood like waterall around Jerusalem,and there was no one to bury them.4We have become a taunt to our neighbors,mocked and derided by those around us. 5How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever?Will your jealousy burn like fire?6Pour out your anger on the nationsthat do not know you,and on the kingdomsthat do not call upon your name!7For they have devoured Jacoband laid waste his habitation. 8Do not remember against us our former iniquities;let your compassion come speedily to meet us,for we are brought very low.9Help us, O God of our salvation,for the glory of your name;deliver us, and atone for our sins,for your name’s sake!10Why should the nations say,“Where is their God?”Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servantsbe known among the nations before our eyes! 11Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!12Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighborsthe taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!13But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,will give thanks to you forever;from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
Proverbs 2:9–10
9Then you will understand righteousness and justiceand equity, every good path;10for wisdom will come into your heart,and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
