Life Hangs on the Word of God

He said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” (Deuteronomy 32:46–47)

The word of God is not a trifle; it is a matter of life and death. If you treat the Scriptures as a trifle or as empty words, you forfeit life.

Even our physical life depends on God’s word, because by his word we were created (Psalm 33:6; Hebrews 11:3), and “he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3).

And our spiritual life begins by the word of God: “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). “You have been born again . . . through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).

Not only do we begin to live by God’s word, but we also go on living by God’s word: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3).

So our physical life is created and upheld by the word of God, and our spiritual life is quickened and sustained by the word of God. How many stories could be gathered to bear witness to the life-giving power of the word of God!

Indeed, the Bible is “no empty word for you” — it is your life! The foundation of all joy is life. Nothing is more fundamental than sheer existence — our creation and our preservation.

All this is owing to the word of God’s power. By that same power, he has spoken in Scripture for the creation and sustenance of our spiritual life. Therefore, the Bible is no empty word, but is your very life — the foundation and kindling of your joy!

John Piper 

Read it Through. Think it Out. Pray it In. Live it Out.

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 TIMOTHY 2:15

 

PONDER THIS

You must prepare yourself to seek the Lord. When you have quiet time with God, do you prepare your heart, get away, close the door, grab a Bible and a notebook, seeking to put all other distractions away? Do you say, “God, I have but one business right now, and that is to prepare my heart to seek You”? It is not a casual, haphazard thing to seek the conscious presence of God.

Be ready in the morning. Open your Bible and read the passage through, then talk to God about it. When God shows you something in the Bible, talk to Him about it. Ask Him about it. Thank Him for it.

Read it through. Think it out. Pray it in. Then live it out. This is the way it really becomes real to you. This is how you can prepare each day. When you find something in the Word of God, the promises and truths are not museum pieces to hang on the wall; they’re checks to carry to the bank.

Do you prioritize spiritual preparation each day? Why or why not?

What does it look like to be prepared to listen to God and see Him move?

PRACTICE THIS

Take steps to prepare yourself spiritually each day with prayer, time in the Word, and an intentional step toward applying what you’ve learned.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

September 24

Luke 24:36-44

[36] As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” [37] But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. [38] And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? [39] See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” [40] And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. [41] And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” [42] They gave him a piece of broiled fish, [43] and he took it and ate before them.

[44] Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Hebrews 13:1-8

[1] Let brotherly love continue. [2] Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. [3] Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. [4] Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. [5] Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” [6] So we can confidently say, 

    “The Lord is my helper;

        I will not fear;

    what can man do to me?”

    [7] Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. [8] Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Proverbs 30

[1] The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle. 

    The man declares, I am weary, O God;

        I am weary, O God, and worn out. 

    [2] Surely I am too stupid to be a man.

        I have not the understanding of a man. 

    [3] I have not learned wisdom,

        nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. 

    [4] Who has ascended to heaven and come down?

        Who has gathered the wind in his fists?

    Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?

        Who has established all the ends of the earth?

    What is his name, and what is his son’s name?

        Surely you know!

    [5] Every word of God proves true;

        he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 

    [6] Do not add to his words,

        lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

    [7] Two things I ask of you;

        deny them not to me before I die: 

    [8] Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

        give me neither poverty nor riches;

        feed me with the food that is needful for me, 

    [9] lest I be full and deny you

        and say, “Who is the LORD?”

    or lest I be poor and steal

        and profane the name of my God.

    [10] Do not slander a servant to his master,

        lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

    [11] There are those who curse their fathers

        and do not bless their mothers. 

    [12] There are those who are clean in their own eyes

        but are not washed of their filth. 

    [13] There are those—how lofty are their eyes,

        how high their eyelids lift! 

    [14] There are those whose teeth are swords,

        whose fangs are knives,

    to devour the poor from off the earth,

        the needy from among mankind.

    [15] The leech has two daughters:

        Give and Give.

    Three things are never satisfied;

        four never say, “Enough”: 

    [16] Sheol, the barren womb,

        the land never satisfied with water,

        and the fire that never says, “Enough.”

    [17] The eye that mocks a father

        and scorns to obey a mother

    will be picked out by the ravens of the valley

        and eaten by the vultures.

    [18] Three things are too wonderful for me;

        four I do not understand: 

    [19] the way of an eagle in the sky,

        the way of a serpent on a rock,

    the way of a ship on the high seas,

        and the way of a man with a virgin.

    [20] This is the way of an adulteress:

        she eats and wipes her mouth

        and says, “I have done no wrong.”

    [21] Under three things the earth trembles;

        under four it cannot bear up: 

    [22] a slave when he becomes king,

        and a fool when he is filled with food; 

    [23] an unloved woman when she gets a husband,

        and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

    [24] Four things on earth are small,

        but they are exceedingly wise: 

    [25] the ants are a people not strong,

        yet they provide their food in the summer; 

    [26] the rock badgers are a people not mighty,

        yet they make their homes in the cliffs; 

    [27] the locusts have no king,

        yet all of them march in rank; 

    [28] the lizard you can take in your hands,

        yet it is in kings’ palaces.

    [29] Three things are stately in their tread;

        four are stately in their stride: 

    [30] the lion, which is mightiest among beasts

        and does not turn back before any; 

    [31] the strutting rooster, the he-goat,

        and a king whose army is with him.

    [32] If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,

        or if you have been devising evil,

        put your hand on your mouth. 

    [33] For pressing milk produces curds,

        pressing the nose produces blood,

        and pressing anger produces strife.

Isaiah 62

    [1] For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

        and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,

    until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,

        and her salvation as a burning torch. 

    [2] The nations shall see your righteousness,

        and all the kings your glory,

    and you shall be called by a new name

        that the mouth of the LORD will give. 

    [3] You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,

        and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 

    [4] You shall no more be termed Forsaken,

        and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,

    but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,

        and your land Married;

    for the LORD delights in you,

        and your land shall be married. 

    [5] For as a young man marries a young woman,

        so shall your sons marry you,

    and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

        so shall your God rejoice over you.

    [6] On your walls, O Jerusalem,

        I have set watchmen;

    all the day and all the night

        they shall never be silent.

    You who put the LORD in remembrance,

        take no rest, 

    [7] and give him no rest

        until he establishes Jerusalem

        and makes it a praise in the earth. 

    [8] The LORD has sworn by his right hand

        and by his mighty arm:

    “I will not again give your grain

        to be food for your enemies,

    and foreigners shall not drink your wine

        for which you have labored; 

    [9] but those who garner it shall eat it

        and praise the LORD,

    and those who gather it shall drink it

        in the courts of my sanctuary.”

    [10] Go through, go through the gates;

        prepare the way for the people;

    build up, build up the highway;

        clear it of stones;

        lift up a signal over the peoples. 

    [11] Behold, the LORD has proclaimed

        to the end of the earth:

    Say to the daughter of Zion,

        “Behold, your salvation comes;

    behold, his reward is with him,

        and his recompense before him.” 

    [12] And they shall be called The Holy People,

        The Redeemed of the LORD;

    and you shall be called Sought Out,

        A City Not Forsaken.

Isaiah 63

    [1] Who is this who comes from Edom,

        in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,

    he who is splendid in his apparel,

        marching in the greatness of his strength?

    “It is I, speaking in righteousness,

        mighty to save.”

    [2] Why is your apparel red,

        and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

    [3] “I have trodden the winepress alone,

        and from the peoples no one was with me;

    I trod them in my anger

        and trampled them in my wrath;

    their lifeblood spattered on my garments,

        and stained all my apparel. 

    [4] For the day of vengeance was in my heart,

        and my year of redemption had come. 

    [5] I looked, but there was no one to help;

        I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;

    so my own arm brought me salvation,

        and my wrath upheld me. 

    [6] I trampled down the peoples in my anger;

        I made them drunk in my wrath,

        and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

    [7] I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD,

        the praises of the LORD,

    according to all that the LORD has granted us,

        and the great goodness to the house of Israel

    that he has granted them according to his compassion,

        according to the abundance of his steadfast love. 

    [8] For he said, “Surely they are my people,

        children who will not deal falsely.”

        And he became their Savior. 

    [9] In all their affliction he was afflicted,

        and the angel of his presence saved them;

    in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

        he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

    [10] But they rebelled

        and grieved his Holy Spirit;

    therefore he turned to be their enemy,

        and himself fought against them. 

    [11] Then he remembered the days of old,

        of Moses and his people.

    Where is he who brought them up out of the sea

        with the shepherds of his flock?

    Where is he who put in the midst of them

        his Holy Spirit, 

    [12] who caused his glorious arm

        to go at the right hand of Moses,

    who divided the waters before them

        to make for himself an everlasting name, 

    [13]     who led them through the depths?

    Like a horse in the desert,

        they did not stumble. 

    [14] Like livestock that go down into the valley,

        the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.

    So you led your people,

        to make for yourself a glorious name.

    [15] Look down from heaven and see,

        from your holy and beautiful habitation.

    Where are your zeal and your might?

        The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion

        are held back from me. 

    [16] For you are our Father,

        though Abraham does not know us,

        and Israel does not acknowledge us;

    you, O LORD, are our Father,

        our Redeemer from of old is your name. 

    [17] O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways

        and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?

    Return for the sake of your servants,

        the tribes of your heritage. 

    [18] Your holy people held possession for a little while;

        our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary. 

    [19] We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,

        like those who are not called by your name.

Isaiah 64

    [1] Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,

        that the mountains might quake at your presence—

    [2] 

     as when fire kindles brushwood

        and the fire causes water to boil—

    to make your name known to your adversaries,

        and that the nations might tremble at your presence! 

    [3] 

    When you did awesome things that we did not look for,

        you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. 

    [4] 

    From of old no one has heard

        or perceived by the ear,

    no eye has seen a God besides you,

        who acts for those who wait for him. 

    [5] 

    You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,

        those who remember you in your ways.

    Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;

        in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? 

    [6] 

    We have all become like one who is unclean,

        and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

    We all fade like a leaf,

        and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 

    [7] 

    There is no one who calls upon your name,

        who rouses himself to take hold of you;

    for you have hidden your face from us,

        and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

    [8] 

    But now, O LORD, you are our Father;

        we are the clay, and you are our potter;

        we are all the work of your hand. 

    [9] 

    Be not so terribly angry, O LORD,

        and remember not iniquity forever.

        Behold, please look, we are all your people. 

    [10] 

    Your holy cities have become a wilderness;

        Zion has become a wilderness,

        Jerusalem a desolation. 

    [11] 

    Our holy and beautiful house,

        where our fathers praised you,

    has been burned by fire,

        and all our pleasant places have become ruins. 

Jesus’s Pursuit of Joy

[Look] to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Does the example of Jesus contradict the principle of Christian Hedonism? Namely, that love is the way of joy and that one should choose it for that very reason, lest one be found begrudging obedience to the Almighty or chafing under the privilege of being a channel of grace or belittling the promised reward.

Hebrews 12:2 seems to say fairly clearly that Jesus did not contradict this principle.

The greatest labor of love that ever happened was possible because Jesus pursued the greatest imaginable joy, namely, the joy of being exalted to God’s right hand in the assembly of a redeemed people: “For the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross!”

In saying this, the writer means to give Jesus as another example, along with the saints of Hebrews 11, of those who are so eager for and confident in the joy God offers that they reject the “fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25) and choose ill-treatment in order to be aligned with God’s will.

It is not unbiblical, therefore, to say that at least part of what sustained Christ in the dark hours of Gethsemane was the hope of joy beyond the cross. This does not diminish the reality and greatness of his love for us, because the joy in which he hoped was the joy of leading many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10).

His joy is in our redemption, which redounds to God’s glory. We share the joy with Jesus and God gets the glory.

John Piper 

The Conscious Presence of God

 

“Then he said to Him, ‘If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.’” EXODUS 33:15

 

PONDER THIS

Moses was speaking to the Lord and said, “Lord, I’m not going without You. If You don’t go, I’m not going.” I think many of us would have settled for what God said to Moses initially. Many of us would say, “I’ve got eternal life. You promised me Heaven. I’ve got Heaven. You promised You would see me through. You’re going to see me through. Thank You for eternal security, Lord.” And that’s what you settle for. You would forgo the presence of God. I want to beg you not to do it. You know what that’s like? That’s like a husband and wife who remain married but separate, and one provides for the other. They say, “All right. I’ll pay your rent, I’ll buy your groceries, I’ll cut the grass, but we’re not going to live together.” Do you want that kind of a relationship with God? Do you want what God gives without having God Himself?

I want to be a growing Christian. I don’t think I have arrived. I’m not there yet. I want us to determine to be a people who say, “We want the conscious presence of God in our lives and in our church.”

What are some ways you have settled in your faith? What are some ways you are craving more?

How can you seek to know God more intimately? Who is someone you know who is always seeking to know God more intimately?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk with someone you know who is striving to know God more intimately and ask that person for prayer and support as you seek the same.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

September 23

Luke 24:28-35

[28] So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, [29] but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. [30] When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. [31] And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. [32] They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” [33] And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, [34] saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” [35] Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Hebrews 12:14-29

[14] Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. [15] See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; [16] that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. [17] For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

[18] For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest [19] and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. [20] For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” [21] Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” [22] But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, [23] and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, [24] and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

[25] See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. [26] At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” [27] This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. [28] Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, [29] for our God is a consuming fire.

Proverbs 29:15-27

    [15] 

    The rod and reproof give wisdom,

        but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. 

    [16] 

    When the wicked increase, transgression increases,

        but the righteous will look upon their downfall. 

    [17] 

    Discipline your son, and he will give you rest;

        he will give delight to your heart. 

    [18] 

    Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,

        but blessed is he who keeps the law. 

    [19] 

    By mere words a servant is not disciplined,

        for though he understands, he will not respond. 

    [20] 

    Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?

        There is more hope for a fool than for him. 

    [21] 

    Whoever pampers his servant from childhood

        will in the end find him his heir. 

    [22] 

    A man of wrath stirs up strife,

        and one given to anger causes much transgression. 

    [23] 

    One’s pride will bring him low,

        but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. 

    [24] 

    The partner of a thief hates his own life;

        he hears the curse, but discloses nothing. 

    [25] 

    The fear of man lays a snare,

        but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe. 

    [26] 

    Many seek the face of a ruler,

        but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice. 

    [27] 

    An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous,

        but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked.

Isaiah 59

    [1] Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,

        or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 

    [2] but your iniquities have made a separation

        between you and your God,

    and your sins have hidden his face from you

        so that he does not hear. 

    [3] For your hands are defiled with blood

        and your fingers with iniquity;

    your lips have spoken lies;

        your tongue mutters wickedness. 

    [4] No one enters suit justly;

        no one goes to law honestly;

    they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,

        they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. 

    [5] They hatch adders’ eggs;

        they weave the spider’s web;

    he who eats their eggs dies,

        and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched. 

    [6] Their webs will not serve as clothing;

        men will not cover themselves with what they make.

    Their works are works of iniquity,

        and deeds of violence are in their hands. 

    [7] Their feet run to evil,

        and they are swift to shed innocent blood;

    their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;

        desolation and destruction are in their highways. 

    [8] The way of peace they do not know,

        and there is no justice in their paths;

    they have made their roads crooked;

        no one who treads on them knows peace.

    [9] Therefore justice is far from us,

        and righteousness does not overtake us;

    we hope for light, and behold, darkness,

        and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. 

    [10] We grope for the wall like the blind;

        we grope like those who have no eyes;

    we stumble at noon as in the twilight,

        among those in full vigor we are like dead men. 

    [11] We all growl like bears;

        we moan and moan like doves;

    we hope for justice, but there is none;

        for salvation, but it is far from us. 

    [12] For our transgressions are multiplied before you,

        and our sins testify against us;

    for our transgressions are with us,

        and we know our iniquities: 

    [13] transgressing, and denying the LORD,

        and turning back from following our God,

    speaking oppression and revolt,

        conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

    [14] Justice is turned back,

        and righteousness stands far away;

    for truth has stumbled in the public squares,

        and uprightness cannot enter. 

    [15] Truth is lacking,

        and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

    The LORD saw it, and it displeased him

        that there was no justice. 

    [16] He saw that there was no man,

        and wondered that there was no one to intercede;

    then his own arm brought him salvation,

        and his righteousness upheld him. 

    [17] He put on righteousness as a breastplate,

        and a helmet of salvation on his head;

    he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,

        and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. 

    [18] According to their deeds, so will he repay,

        wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;

        to the coastlands he will render repayment. 

    [19] So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west,

        and his glory from the rising of the sun;

    for he will come like a rushing stream,

        which the wind of the LORD drives.

    [20] “And a Redeemer will come to Zion,

        to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD.

    [21] “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

Isaiah 60

    [1] Arise, shine, for your light has come,

        and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 

    [2] For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,

        and thick darkness the peoples;

    but the LORD will arise upon you,

        and his glory will be seen upon you. 

    [3] And nations shall come to your light,

        and kings to the brightness of your rising.

    [4] Lift up your eyes all around, and see;

        they all gather together, they come to you;

    your sons shall come from afar,

        and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. 

    [5] Then you shall see and be radiant;

        your heart shall thrill and exult,

    because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,

        the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 

    [6] A multitude of camels shall cover you,

        the young camels of Midian and Ephah;

        all those from Sheba shall come.

    They shall bring gold and frankincense,

        and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD. 

    [7] All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;

        the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;

    they shall come up with acceptance on my altar,

        and I will beautify my beautiful house.

    [8] Who are these that fly like a cloud,

        and like doves to their windows? 

    [9] For the coastlands shall hope for me,

        the ships of Tarshish first,

    to bring your children from afar,

        their silver and gold with them,

    for the name of the LORD your God,

        and for the Holy One of Israel,

        because he has made you beautiful.

    [10] Foreigners shall build up your walls,

        and their kings shall minister to you;

    for in my wrath I struck you,

        but in my favor I have had mercy on you. 

    [11] Your gates shall be open continually;

        day and night they shall not be shut,

    that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,

        with their kings led in procession. 

    [12] For the nation and kingdom

        that will not serve you shall perish;

        those nations shall be utterly laid waste. 

    [13] The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,

        the cypress, the plane, and the pine,

    to beautify the place of my sanctuary,

        and I will make the place of my feet glorious. 

    [14] The sons of those who afflicted you

        shall come bending low to you,

    and all who despised you

        shall bow down at your feet;

    they shall call you the City of the LORD,

        the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

    [15] Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,

        with no one passing through,

    I will make you majestic forever,

        a joy from age to age. 

    [16] You shall suck the milk of nations;

        you shall nurse at the breast of kings;

    and you shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior

        and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

    [17] Instead of bronze I will bring gold,

        and instead of iron I will bring silver;

    instead of wood, bronze,

        instead of stones, iron.

    I will make your overseers peace

        and your taskmasters righteousness. 

    [18] Violence shall no more be heard in your land,

        devastation or destruction within your borders;

    you shall call your walls Salvation,

        and your gates Praise.

    [19] The sun shall be no more

        your light by day,

    nor for brightness shall the moon

        give you light;

    but the LORD will be your everlasting light,

        and your God will be your glory. 

    [20] Your sun shall no more go down,

        nor your moon withdraw itself;

    for the LORD will be your everlasting light,

        and your days of mourning shall be ended. 

    [21] Your people shall all be righteous;

        they shall possess the land forever,

    the branch of my planting, the work of my hands,

        that I might be glorified. 

    [22] The least one shall become a clan,

        and the smallest one a mighty nation;

    I am the LORD;

        in its time I will hasten it.

Isaiah 61

    [1] The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

        because the LORD has anointed me

    to bring good news to the poor;

        he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim liberty to the captives,

        and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 

    [2] to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,

        and the day of vengeance of our God;

        to comfort all who mourn; 

    [3] to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

        to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

    the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

        the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

    that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

        the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. 

    [4] They shall build up the ancient ruins;

        they shall raise up the former devastations;

    they shall repair the ruined cities,

        the devastations of many generations.

    [5] Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

        foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; 

    [6] but you shall be called the priests of the LORD;

        they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;

    you shall eat the wealth of the nations,

        and in their glory you shall boast. 

    [7] Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;

        instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;

    therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;

        they shall have everlasting joy.

    [8] For I the LORD love justice;

        I hate robbery and wrong;

    I will faithfully give them their recompense,

        and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 

    [9] Their offspring shall be known among the nations,

        and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;

    all who see them shall acknowledge them,

        that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.

    [10] I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;

        my soul shall exult in my God,

    for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

        he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

    as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

        and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 

    [11] For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

        and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

    so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

        to sprout up before all the nations.