Luke 22:39-46
Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
[39] And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. [40] And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” [41] And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, [42] saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” [43] And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. [44] And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. [45] And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, [46] and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
Hebrews 6:13-20
The Certainty of God’s Promise
[13] For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, [14] saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” [15] And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. [16] For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. [17] So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, [18] so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. [19] We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, [20] where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Proverbs 23:1-18
[1] When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
[2]
and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
[3]
Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
[4]
Do not toil to acquire wealth;
be discerning enough to desist.
[5]
When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
[6]
Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;
do not desire his delicacies,
[7]
for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
[8]
You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
and waste your pleasant words.
[9]
Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.
[10]
Do not move an ancient landmark
or enter the fields of the fatherless,
[11]
for their Redeemer is strong;
he will plead their cause against you.
[12]
Apply your heart to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
[13]
Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
[14]
If you strike him with the rod,
you will save his soul from Sheol.
[15]
My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
[16]
My inmost being will exult
when your lips speak what is right.
[17]
Let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.
[18]
Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
Isaiah 27
The Redemption of Israel
[1] In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.
[2] In that day,
“A pleasant vineyard, sing of it!
[3] I, the LORD, am its keeper;
every moment I water it.
Lest anyone punish it,
I keep it night and day;
[4] I have no wrath.
Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
I would march against them,
I would burn them up together.
[5] Or let them lay hold of my protection,
let them make peace with me,
let them make peace with me.”
[6] In days to come Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
and fill the whole world with fruit.
[7] Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them?
Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain?
[8] Measure by measure, by exile you contended with them;
he removed them with his fierce breath in the day of the east wind.
[9] Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:
when he makes all the stones of the altars
like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.
[10] For the fortified city is solitary,
a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
there the calf grazes;
there it lies down and strips its branches.
[11] When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
women come and make a fire of them.
For this is a people without discernment;
therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
he who formed them will show them no favor.
[12] In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the LORD will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. [13] And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Isaiah 28
Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem
[1] Ah, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
[2] Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong;
like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
he casts down to the earth with his hand.
[3] The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim
will be trodden underfoot;
[4] and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
which is on the head of the rich valley,
will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer:
when someone sees it, he swallows it
as soon as it is in his hand.
[5] In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory,
and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
[6] and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
[7] These also reel with wine
and stagger with strong drink;
the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,
they are swallowed by wine,
they stagger with strong drink,
they reel in vision,
they stumble in giving judgment.
[8] For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
with no space left.
[9] “To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
those taken from the breast?
[10] For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”
[11] For by people of strange lips
and with a foreign tongue
the LORD will speak to this people,
[12] to whom he has said,
“This is rest;
give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
yet they would not hear.
[13] And the word of the LORD will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little,
that they may go, and fall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken.
A Cornerstone in Zion
[14] Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
[15] Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
[16] therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
[17] And I will make justice the line,
and righteousness the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
[18] Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
[19] As often as it passes through it will take you;
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
[20] For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
[21] For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim;
as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
[22] Now therefore do not scoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord GOD of hosts against the whole land.
[23] Give ear, and hear my voice;
give attention, and hear my speech.
[24] Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
[25] When he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place,
and emmer as the border?
[26] For he is rightly instructed;
his God teaches him.
[27] Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
[28] Does one crush grain for bread?
No, he does not thresh it forever;
when he drives his cart wheel over it
with his horses, he does not crush it.
[29] This also comes from the LORD of hosts;
he is wonderful in counsel
and excellent in wisdom.
