Luke 23:38-43
[38] There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
[39] One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” [40] But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? [41] And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” [42] And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” [43] And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Hebrews 10:19-39
The Full Assurance of Faith
[19] Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, [20] by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, [21] and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. [23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. [24] And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, [25] not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
[26] For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, [27] but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. [28] Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. [29] How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? [30] For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” [31] It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
[32] But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, [33] sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. [34] For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. [35] Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. [36] For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. [37] For,
“Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay;
[38] but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.”
[39] But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Proverbs 27:1-14
[1] Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
[2]
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.
[3]
A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
[4]
Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?
[5]
Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
[6]
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
[7]
One who is full loathes honey,
but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.
[8]
Like a bird that strays from its nest
is a man who strays from his home.
[9]
Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
[10]
Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend,
and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.
[11]
Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
that I may answer him who reproaches me.
[12]
The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
[13]
Take a man’s garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.
[14]
Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.
Isaiah 46
The Idols of Babylon and the One True God
[1] Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
as burdens on weary beasts.
[2] They 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;
[4] even 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?
[6] Those 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!
[7] They 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 answer
or save him from his trouble.
[8] “Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
[9] remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
[10] declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
[11] calling 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:
[13] I 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.”
Isaiah 47
The Humiliation of Babylon
[1] Come 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 called
tender and delicate.
[2] Take the millstones and grind flour,
put off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
pass through the rivers.
[3] Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your disgrace shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one.
[4] Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.
[5] Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called
the mistress of kingdoms.
[6] I 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.
[7] You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.
[8] Now 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 widow
or know the loss of children”:
[9] These two things shall come to you
in a moment, in one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.
[10] You 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.”
[11] But 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.
[12] Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.
[13] You 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 known
what shall come upon you.
[14] Behold, they are like stubble;
the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!
[15] Such 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.
Isaiah 48
Israel Refined for God’s Glory
[1] Hear 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 LORD
and confess the God of Israel,
but not in truth or right.
[2] For 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.
[4] Because I know that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead brass,
[5] I 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.
[7] They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
[8] You 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.
[10] Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
[11] For 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.
The LORD’s Call to Israel
[12] “Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he; I am the first,
and I am the last.
[13] My 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.
[15] I, even I, have spoken and called him;
I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.
[16] Draw 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.
[17] Thus 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.
[18] Oh 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;
[19] your offspring would have been like the sand,
and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off
or destroyed from before me.”
[20] Go 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!”
[21] They 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.”
