September 8

Luke 22:24-30

[24] A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. [25] And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. [26] But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. [27] For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

[28] “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, [29] and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, [30] that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Hebrews 5

[1] For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. [2] He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. [3] Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. [4] And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

[5] So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, 

    “You are my Son,

        today I have begotten you”;

    [6] as he says also in another place, 

    “You are a priest forever,

        after the order of Melchizedek.”

    [7] In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. [8] Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. [9] And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, [10] being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

[11] About this 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 need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, [13] for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. [14] But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Proverbs 22:1-16

    [1] A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

        and favor is better than silver or gold. 

    [2] 

    The rich and the poor meet together;

        the LORD is the Maker of them all. 

    [3] 

    The prudent sees danger and hides himself,

        but the simple go on and suffer for it. 

    [4] 

    The reward for humility and fear of the LORD

        is riches and honor and life. 

    [5] 

    Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;

        whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. 

    [6] 

    Train up a child in the way he should go;

        even when he is old he will not depart from it. 

    [7] 

    The rich rules over the poor,

        and the borrower is the slave of the lender. 

    [8] 

    Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,

        and the rod of his fury will fail. 

    [9] 

    Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,

        for he shares his bread with the poor. 

    [10] 

    Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,

        and quarreling and abuse will cease. 

    [11] 

    He who loves purity of heart,

        and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. 

    [12] 

    The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge,

        but he overthrows the words of the traitor. 

    [13] 

    The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!

        I shall be killed in the streets!” 

    [14] 

    The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit;

        he with whom the LORD is angry will fall into it. 

    [15] 

    Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,

        but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. 

    [16] 

    Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,

        or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

Isaiah 21

[1] The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. 

    As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,

        it comes from the wilderness,

        from a terrible land. 

    [2] A stern vision is told to me;

        the traitor betrays,

        and the destroyer destroys.

    Go up, O Elam;

        lay siege, O Media;

    all the sighing she has caused

        I bring to an end. 

    [3] Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;

        pangs have seized me,

        like the pangs of a woman in labor;

    I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;

        I am dismayed so that I cannot see. 

    [4] My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;

        the twilight I longed for

        has been turned for me into trembling. 

    [5] They prepare the table,

        they spread the rugs,

        they eat, they drink.

    Arise, O princes;

        oil the shield! 

    [6] For thus the Lord said to me:

    “Go, set a watchman;

        let him announce what he sees. 

    [7] When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,

        riders on donkeys, riders on camels,

    let him listen diligently,

        very diligently.” 

    [8] Then he who saw cried out:

    “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,

        continually by day,

    and at my post I am stationed

        whole nights. 

    [9] And behold, here come riders,

        horsemen in pairs!”

    And he answered,

        “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;

    and all the carved images of her gods

        he has shattered to the ground.” 

    [10] O my threshed and winnowed one,

        what I have heard from the LORD of hosts,

        the God of Israel, I announce to you.

    [11] The oracle concerning Dumah. 

    One is calling to me from Seir,

        “Watchman, what time of the night?

        Watchman, what time of the night?” 

    [12] The watchman says:

    “Morning comes, and also the night.

        If you will inquire, inquire;

        come back again.”

    [13] The oracle concerning Arabia. 

    In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,

        O caravans of Dedanites. 

    [14] To the thirsty bring water;

        meet the fugitive with bread,

        O inhabitants of the land of Tema. 

    [15] For they have fled from the swords,

        from the drawn sword,

    from the bent bow,

        and from the press of battle.

    [16] For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. [17] And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

Isaiah 22

[1] The oracle concerning the valley of vision. 

    What do you mean that you have gone up,

        all of you, to the housetops, 

    [2] you who are full of shoutings,

        tumultuous city, exultant town?

    Your slain are not slain with the sword

        or dead in battle. 

    [3] All your leaders have fled together;

        without the bow they were captured.

    All of you who were found were captured,

        though they had fled far away. 

    [4] Therefore I said:

    “Look away from me;

        let me weep bitter tears;

    do not labor to comfort me

        concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

    [5] For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day

        of tumult and trampling and confusion

        in the valley of vision,

    a battering down of walls

        and a shouting to the mountains. 

    [6] And Elam bore the quiver

        with chariots and horsemen,

        and Kir uncovered the shield. 

    [7] Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,

        and the horsemen took their stand at the gates. 

    [8] He has taken away the covering of Judah.

    In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest,  [9] and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, [10] and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. [11] You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.

    [12] In that day the Lord GOD of hosts

        called for weeping and mourning,

        for baldness and wearing sackcloth; 

    [13] and behold, joy and gladness,

        killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,

        eating flesh and drinking wine.

    “Let us eat and drink,

        for tomorrow we die.” 

    [14] The LORD of hosts has revealed himself in my ears:

    “Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,”

        says the Lord GOD of hosts.

    [15] Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: [16] What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? [17] Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you [18] and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house. [19] I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. [20] In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, [21] and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. [22] And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. [23] And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house. [24] And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. [25] In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah 23

[1] The oracle concerning Tyre. 

    Wail, O ships of Tarshish,

        for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor!

    From the land of Cyprus

        it is revealed to them. 

    [2] Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;

        the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you. 

    [3] And on many waters

    your revenue was the grain of Shihor,

        the harvest of the Nile;

        you were the merchant of the nations. 

    [4] Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken,

        the stronghold of the sea, saying:

    “I have neither labored nor given birth,

        I have neither reared young men

        nor brought up young women.” 

    [5] When the report comes to Egypt,

        they will be in anguish over the report about Tyre. 

    [6] Cross over to Tarshish;

        wail, O inhabitants of the coast! 

    [7] Is this your exultant city

        whose origin is from days of old,

    whose feet carried her

        to settle far away? 

    [8] Who has purposed this

        against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,

    whose merchants were princes,

        whose traders were the honored of the earth? 

    [9] The LORD of hosts has purposed it,

        to defile the pompous pride of all glory,

        to dishonor all the honored of the earth. 

    [10] Cross over your land like the Nile,

        O daughter of Tarshish;

        there is no restraint anymore. 

    [11] He has stretched out his hand over the sea;

        he has shaken the kingdoms;

    the LORD has given command concerning Canaan

        to destroy its strongholds. 

    [12] And he said:

    “You will no more exult,

        O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon;

    arise, cross over to Cyprus,

        even there you will have no rest.”

    [13] Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not; Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

    [14] Wail, O ships of Tarshish,

        for your stronghold is laid waste.

    [15] In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

    [16] “Take a harp;

        go about the city,

        O forgotten prostitute!

    Make sweet melody;

        sing many songs,

        that you may be remembered.”

    [17] At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. [18] Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD.

September 7

Luke 22:14-23

[14] And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. [15] And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. [16] For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” [17] And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. [18] For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” [19] And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” [20] And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. [21] But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. [22] For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” [23] And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

Hebrews 4:12-16

[12] For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. [13] And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

[14] Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Proverbs 21:17-31

    [17] 

    Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;

        he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. 

    [18] 

    The wicked is a ransom for the righteous,

        and the traitor for the upright. 

    [19] 

    It is better to live in a desert land

        than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. 

    [20] 

    Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling,

        but a foolish man devours it. 

    [21] 

    Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness

        will find life, righteousness, and honor. 

    [22] 

    A wise man scales the city of the mighty

        and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. 

    [23] 

    Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue

        keeps himself out of trouble. 

    [24] 

    “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man

        who acts with arrogant pride. 

    [25] 

    The desire of the sluggard kills him,

        for his hands refuse to labor. 

    [26] 

    All day long he craves and craves,

        but the righteous gives and does not hold back. 

    [27] 

    The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;

        how much more when he brings it with evil intent. 

    [28] 

    A false witness will perish,

        but the word of a man who hears will endure. 

    [29] 

    A wicked man puts on a bold face,

        but the upright gives thought to his ways. 

    [30] 

    No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel

        can avail against the LORD. 

    [31] 

    The horse is made ready for the day of battle,

        but the victory belongs to the LORD.

Isaiah 17

[1] An oracle concerning Damascus. 

    Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city

        and will become a heap of ruins. 

    [2] The cities of Aroer are deserted;

        they will be for flocks,

        which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. 

    [3] The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,

        and the kingdom from Damascus;

    and the remnant of Syria will be

        like the glory of the children of Israel,

    declares the LORD of hosts.

    [4] And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low,

        and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. 

    [5] And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain

        and his arm harvests the ears,

    and as when one gleans the ears of grain

        in the Valley of Rephaim. 

    [6] Gleanings will be left in it,

        as when an olive tree is beaten—

    two or three berries

        in the top of the highest bough,

    four or five

        on the branches of a fruit tree,

    declares the LORD God of Israel.

    [7] In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. [8] He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.

[9] In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.

    [10] For you have forgotten the God of your salvation

        and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;

    therefore, though you plant pleasant plants

        and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, 

    [11] though you make them grow on the day that you plant them,

        and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,

    yet the harvest will flee away

        in a day of grief and incurable pain.

    [12] Ah, the thunder of many peoples;

        they thunder like the thundering of the sea!

    Ah, the roar of nations;

        they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! 

    [13] The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,

        but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,

    chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind

        and whirling dust before the storm. 

    [14] At evening time, behold, terror!

        Before morning, they are no more!

    This is the portion of those who loot us,

        and the lot of those who plunder us.

Isaiah 18

    [1] Ah, land of whirring wings

        that is beyond the rivers of Cush, 

    [2] which sends ambassadors by the sea,

        in vessels of papyrus on the waters!

    Go, you swift messengers,

        to a nation tall and smooth,

    to a people feared near and far,

        a nation mighty and conquering,

        whose land the rivers divide.

    [3] All you inhabitants of the world,

        you who dwell on the earth,

    when a signal is raised on the mountains, look!

        When a trumpet is blown, hear! 

    [4] For thus the LORD said to me:

    “I will quietly look from my dwelling

        like clear heat in sunshine,

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

    [5] For before the harvest, when the blossom is over,

        and the flower becomes a ripening grape,

    he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks,

        and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away. 

    [6] They shall all of them be left

        to the birds of prey of the mountains

        and to the beasts of the earth.

    And the birds of prey will summer on them,

        and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.

    [7] At that time tribute will be brought to the LORD of hosts 

    from a people tall and smooth,

        from a people feared near and far,

    a nation mighty and conquering,

        whose land the rivers divide,

    to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the LORD of hosts. 

Isaiah 19

[1] An oracle concerning Egypt. 

    Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud

        and comes to Egypt;

    and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,

        and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. 

    [2] And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,

        and they will fight, each against another

        and each against his neighbor,

        city against city, kingdom against kingdom; 

    [3] and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,

        and I will confound their counsel;

    and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,

        and the mediums and the necromancers; 

    [4] and I will give over the Egyptians

        into the hand of a hard master,

    and a fierce king will rule over them,

        declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

    [5] And the waters of the sea will be dried up,

        and the river will be dry and parched, 

    [6] and its canals will become foul,

        and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up,

        reeds and rushes will rot away. 

    [7] There will be bare places by the Nile,

        on the brink of the Nile,

    and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,

        will be driven away, and will be no more. 

    [8] The fishermen will mourn and lament,

        all who cast a hook in the Nile;

    and they will languish

        who spread nets on the water. 

    [9] The workers in combed flax will be in despair,

        and the weavers of white cotton. 

    [10] Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed,

        and all who work for pay will be grieved.

    [11] The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish;

        the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.

    How can you say to Pharaoh,

        “I am a son of the wise,

        a son of ancient kings”? 

    [12] Where then are your wise men?

        Let them tell you

        that they might know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt. 

    [13] The princes of Zoan have become fools,

        and the princes of Memphis are deluded;

    those who are the cornerstones of her tribes

        have made Egypt stagger. 

    [14] The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion,

    and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,

        as a drunken man staggers in his vomit. 

    [15] And there will be nothing for Egypt

        that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.

    [16] In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts shakes over them. [17] And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the LORD of hosts has purposed against them.

[18] In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these 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 at its border. [20] It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. [21] And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. [22] And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

[23] In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

[24] In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, [25] whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

Isaiah 20

[1] In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it—[2] at that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

[3] Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, [4] so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. [5] Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. [6] And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”

September 6

Luke 22:1-13

[1] Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. [2] And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

[3] Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. [4] He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. [5] And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. [6] So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

[7] Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. [8] So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” [9] They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” [10] He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters [11] and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ [12] And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” [13] And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Hebrews 4:1-11

[1] Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. [2] For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. [3] For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, 

    “As I swore in my wrath,

    ‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

    although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.  [4] For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” [5] And again in this passage he said, 

    “They shall not enter my rest.”

    [6] Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, [7] again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, 

    “Today, if you hear his voice,

    do not harden your hearts.”

    [8] For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. [9] So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, [10] for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

[11] Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

Proverbs 21:1-16

    [1] The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD;

        he turns it wherever he will. 

    [2] 

    Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,

        but the LORD weighs the heart. 

    [3] 

    To do righteousness and justice

        is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. 

    [4] 

    Haughty eyes and a proud heart,

        the lamp of the wicked, are sin. 

    [5] 

    The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,

        but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. 

    [6] 

    The getting of treasures by a lying tongue

        is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death. 

    [7] 

    The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,

        because they refuse to do what is just. 

    [8] 

    The way of the guilty is crooked,

        but the conduct of the pure is upright. 

    [9] 

    It is better to live in a corner of the housetop

        than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. 

    [10] 

    The soul of the wicked desires evil;

        his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes. 

    [11] 

    When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise;

        when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge. 

    [12] 

    The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked;

        he throws the wicked down to ruin. 

    [13] 

    Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor

        will himself call out and not be answered. 

    [14] 

    A gift in secret averts anger,

        and a concealed bribe, strong wrath. 

    [15] 

    When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous

        but terror to evildoers. 

    [16] 

    One who wanders from the way of good sense

        will rest in the assembly of the dead.

Isaiah 14

[1] For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. [2] And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the LORD’s land as male and female slaves. They will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them.

[3] When the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, [4] you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: 

    “How the oppressor has ceased,

        the insolent fury ceased! 

    [5] The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,

        the scepter of rulers, 

    [6] that struck the peoples in wrath

        with unceasing blows,

    that ruled the nations in anger

        with unrelenting persecution. 

    [7] The whole earth is at rest and quiet;

        they break forth into singing. 

    [8] The cypresses rejoice at you,

        the cedars of Lebanon, saying,

    ‘Since you were laid low,

        no woodcutter comes up against us.’ 

    [9] Sheol beneath is stirred up

        to meet you when you come;

    it rouses the shades to greet you,

        all who were leaders of the earth;

    it raises from their thrones

        all who were kings of the nations. 

    [10] All of them will answer

        and say to you:

    ‘You too have become as weak as we!

        You have become like us!’ 

    [11] Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,

        the sound of your harps;

    maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,

        and worms are your covers.

    [12] “How you are fallen from heaven,

        O Day Star, son of Dawn!

    How you are cut down to the ground,

        you who laid the nations low! 

    [13] You said in your heart,

        ‘I will ascend to heaven;

    above the stars of God

        I will set my throne on high;

    I will sit on the mount of assembly

        in the far reaches of the north; 

    [14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

        I will make myself like the Most High.’ 

    [15] But you are brought down to Sheol,

        to the far reaches of the pit. 

    [16] Those who see you will stare at you

        and ponder over you:

    ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

        who shook kingdoms, 

    [17] who made the world like a desert

        and overthrew its cities,

        who did not let his prisoners go home?’ 

    [18] All the kings of the nations lie in glory,

        each in his own tomb; 

    [19] but you are cast out, away from your grave,

        like a loathed branch,

    clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,

        who go down to the stones of the pit,

        like a dead body trampled underfoot. 

    [20] You will not be joined with them in burial,

        because you have destroyed your land,

        you have slain your people.

    “May the offspring of evildoers

        nevermore be named! 

    [21] Prepare slaughter for his sons

        because of the guilt of their fathers,

    lest they rise and possess 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 remnant, descendants and posterity,” declares the LORD. [23] “And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.

    [24] The LORD of hosts has sworn:

    “As I have planned,

        so shall it be,

    and as I have purposed,

        so shall it stand, 

    [25] that I will break the Assyrian in my land,

        and on my mountains trample him underfoot;

    and his yoke shall depart from them,

        and his burden from their shoulder.”

    [26] This is the purpose that is purposed

        concerning the whole earth,

    and this is the hand that is stretched out

        over all the nations. 

    [27] For the LORD of hosts has purposed,

        and who will annul it?

    His hand is stretched out,

        and who will turn it back?

    [28] In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle:

    [29] Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you,

        that the rod that struck you is broken,

    for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder,

        and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent. 

    [30] And the firstborn of the poor will graze,

        and the needy lie down in safety;

    but I will kill your root with famine,

        and your remnant it will slay. 

    [31] Wail, O gate; cry out, O city;

        melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you!

    For smoke comes out of the north,

        and there is no straggler in his ranks.

    [32] What will one answer the messengers of the nation?

    “The LORD has founded Zion,

        and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

Isaiah 15

[1] An oracle concerning Moab. 

    Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,

        Moab is undone;

    because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,

        Moab is undone. 

    [2] He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon,

        to the high places to weep;

    over Nebo and over Medeba

        Moab wails.

    On every head is baldness;

        every beard is shorn; 

    [3] in the streets they wear sackcloth;

        on the housetops and in the squares

        everyone wails and melts in tears. 

    [4] Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;

        their voice is heard as far as Jahaz;

    therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;

        his soul trembles. 

    [5] My heart cries out for Moab;

        her fugitives flee to Zoar,

        to Eglath-shelishiyah.

    For at the ascent of Luhith

        they go up weeping;

    on the road to Horonaim

        they raise a cry of destruction; 

    [6] the waters of Nimrim

        are a desolation;

    the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,

        the greenery is no more. 

    [7] Therefore the abundance they have gained

        and what they have laid up

    they carry away

        over the Brook of the Willows. 

    [8] For a cry has gone

        around the land of Moab;

    her wailing reaches to Eglaim;

        her wailing reaches to Beer-elim. 

    [9] For the waters of Dibon are full of blood;

        for I will bring upon Dibon even more,

    a lion for those of Moab who escape,

        for the remnant of the land.

Isaiah 16

    [1] Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,

    from Sela, by way of the desert,

        to the mount of the daughter of Zion. 

    [2] 

    Like fleeing birds,

        like a scattered nest,

    so are the daughters of Moab

        at the fords of the Arnon.

    [3] 

    “Give counsel;

        grant justice;

    make your shade like night

        at the height of noon;

    shelter the outcasts;

        do not reveal the fugitive; 

    [4] 

    let the outcasts of Moab

        sojourn among you;

    be a shelter to them

        from the destroyer.

    When the oppressor is no more,

        and destruction has ceased,

    and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, 

    [5] 

    then a throne will be established in steadfast love,

        and on it will sit in faithfulness

        in the tent of David

    one who judges and seeks justice

        and is swift to do righteousness.”

    [6] 

    We have heard of the pride of Moab—

        how proud he is!—

    of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;

        in his idle boasting he is not right. 

    [7] 

    Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,

        let everyone wail.

    Mourn, utterly stricken,

        for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.

    [8] 

    For the fields of Heshbon languish,

        and the vine of Sibmah;

    the lords of the nations

        have struck down its branches,

    which reached to Jazer

        and strayed to the desert;

    its shoots spread abroad

        and passed over the sea. 

    [9] 

    Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer

        for the vine of Sibmah;

    I drench you with my tears,

        O Heshbon and Elealeh;

    for over your summer fruit and your harvest

        the shout has ceased. 

    [10] 

    And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field,

    and in the vineyards no songs are sung,

        no cheers are raised;

    no treader treads out wine in the presses;

        I have put an end to the shouting. 

    [11] 

    Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,

        and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

[12] And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.

[13] This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in the past. [14] But now the LORD has spoken, saying, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble.”