The Berean Pursuit
This is what the LORD says:
"Maintain justice and do what is right,
for My salvation is coming soon,
and My righteousness will be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this,
and the son of man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it
and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,
"The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people."
And let the eunuch not say,
"I am but a dry tree."
For this is what the LORD says:
"To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases Me
and hold fast to My covenant-
I will give them, in My house and within My walls,
a memorial and a name
better than that of sons and daughters.
I will give them an everlasting name
that will not be cut off.
And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD
to minister to Him,
to love the name of the LORD,
and to be His servants-
all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it
and who hold fast to My covenant-
I will bring them to My holy mountain
and make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on My altar,
for My house will be called a house of prayer
for all the nations."
Thus declares the Lord GOD,
who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
"I will gather to them still others
besides those already gathered."
Come, all you beasts of the field;
eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.
Israel's watchmen are blind,
they are all oblivious;
they are all mute dogs,
they cannot bark;
they are dreamers lying around,
loving to slumber.
Like ravenous dogs,
they are never satisfied.
They are shepherds with no discernment;
they all turn to their own way,
each one seeking his own gain:
"Come, let me get the wine,
let us imbibe the strong drink,
and tomorrow will be like today,
only far better!"
The righteous perish,
and no one takes it to heart;
devout men are swept away,
while no one considers
that the righteous are guided
from the presence of evil.
Those who walk uprightly enter into peace;
they find rest, lying down in death.
"But come here, you sons of a sorceress,
you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
Whom are you mocking?
At whom do you snarl and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of transgression,
offspring of deceit,
who burn with lust among the oaks,
under every luxuriant tree,
who slaughter your children in the valleys,
under the clefts of the rocks?
Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley;
indeed, they are your lot.
Even to them you have poured out a drink offering
and offered a grain offering.
Should I relent because of these?
On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed,
and there you went up to offer sacrifices.
Behind the door and doorpost
you have set up your memorial.
Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed;
you climbed up and opened it wide.
And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved;
you have gazed upon their nakedness.
You went to Molech with oil
and multiplied your perfumes.
You have sent your envoys a great distance;
you have descended even to Sheol itself.
You are wearied by your many journeys,
but you did not say, "There is no hope!"
You found renewal of your strength;
therefore you did not grow weak.
Whom have you dreaded and feared,
so that you lied and failed
to remember Me or take this to heart?
Is it not because I have long been silent
that you do not fear Me?
I will expose your righteousness and your works,
and they will not profit you.
When you cry out,
let your companies of idols deliver you!
Yet the wind will carry off all of them,
a breath will take them away.
But he who seeks refuge in Me will inherit the land
and possess My holy mountain."
And it will be said,
"Build it up, build it up, prepare the way,
take every obstacle out of the way of My people."
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
"I dwell in a high and holy place,
and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,
to restore the spirit of the lowly
and revive the heart of the contrite.
For I will not accuse you forever,
nor will I always be angry;
for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me,
with the breath of those I have made.
I was enraged by his sinful greed,
so I struck him and hid My face in anger;
yet he kept turning back
to the desires of his heart.
I have seen his ways,
but I will heal him;
I will guide him and restore comfort
to him and his mourners,
bringing praise to their lips.
Peace, peace to those far and near," says the LORD,
"and I will heal them."
But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea,
for it cannot be still,
and its waves churn up mire and muck.
"There is no peace," says my God,
"for the wicked."
"Cry aloud, do not hold back!
Raise your voice like a ram's horn.
Declare to My people their transgression
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
For day after day they seek Me
and delight to know My ways,
like a nation that does what is right
and does not forsake the justice of their God.
They ask Me for righteous judgments;
they delight in the nearness of God."
"Why have we fasted,
and You have not seen?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and You have not noticed?"
"Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please,
and you oppress all your workers.
You fast with contention and strife
to strike viciously with your fist.
You cannot fast as you do today
and have your voice be heard on high.
Is this the fast I have chosen:
a day for a man to deny himself,
to bow his head like a reed,
and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast
and a day acceptable to the LORD?
Isn't this the fast that I have chosen:
to break the chains of wickedness,
to untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and tear off every yoke?
Isn't it to share your bread with the hungry,
to bring the poor and homeless into your home,
to clothe the naked when you see him,
and not to turn away
from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will come quickly.
Your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry out, and He will say, 'Here I am.'
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,
and if you give yourself to the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted soul,
then your light will go forth in the darkness,
and your night will be like noonday.
The LORD will always guide you;
He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land
and strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;
you will restore the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of the Breach,
Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.
If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath,
from doing as you please on My holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight,
and the LORD's holy day honorable,
if you honor it by not going your own way
or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,
then you will delight yourself in the LORD,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the land
and feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob."
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor His ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have built barriers
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden His face from you,
so that He does not hear.
For your hands are stained with blood,
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters injustice.
No one calls for justice;
no one pleads his case honestly.
They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies;
they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
They hatch the eggs of vipers
and weave a spider's web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing,
and they cannot cover themselves with their works.
Their deeds are sinful deeds,
and acts of violence are in their hands.
Their feet run to evil;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;
ruin and destruction lie in their wake.
The way of peace they have not known,
and there is no justice in their tracks.
They have turned them into crooked paths;
no one who treads on them will know peace.
Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall,
groping like those without eyes.
We stumble at midday as in the twilight;
among the vigorous we are like the dead.
We all growl like bears
and moan like doves.
We hope for justice, but find none,
for salvation, but it is far from us.
For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
and our sins testify against us.
Our transgressions are indeed with us,
and we know our iniquities:
rebelling and denying the LORD,
turning away from our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.
So justice is turned away,
and righteousness stands at a distance.
For truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil becomes prey.
The LORD looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no man;
He was amazed that there was no one to intercede.
So His own arm brought salvation,
and His own righteousness sustained Him.
He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on garments of vengeance
and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.
So He will repay according to their deeds:
fury to His enemies,
retribution to His foes,
and recompense to the islands.
So shall they fear the name of the LORD
where the sun sets,
and His glory where it rises.
For He will come like a raging flood,
driven by the breath of the LORD.
"The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,"
declares the LORD.
"As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore," says the LORD.
For the choirmaster. Of David. To bring remembrance.
Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
Hurry, O LORD, to help me!
May those who seek my life
be ashamed and confounded;
may those who wish me harm
be repelled and humiliated.
May those who say, "Aha, aha!"
retreat because of their shame.
May all who seek You
rejoice and be glad in You;
may those who love Your salvation always say,
"Let God be magnified!"
But I am poor and needy;
hurry to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O LORD, do not delay.