Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.
Isaiah 17
An oracle of Damascus:
"Look! Damascus will cease being a city
and will become a heap of ruins.
The cities of Aroer will be deserted;
they will be for the flocks,
and they will lie down and no one will frighten them.
And the fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
and the kingdom from Damascus;
and the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the children of Israel,"
declares Yahweh of hosts.
"And this shall happen:
On that day, the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
and the fat of his flesh will become lean.
And it shall be as when a reaper gathers standing grain
and he reaps grain with his arm,
and it shall be like one who gathers ears of grain
in the valley of Rephaim.
And gleanings will be left over in it, as when an olive tree is beaten,
two or three ripe olive berries in the top of a branch,
four or five on its fruitful branches,"
declares Yahweh, the God of Israel.
On that day, mankind will look to its maker,
and its eyes will look to the holy one of Israel;
it will not look to the altars,
the work of its hands,
and it will not see what its fingers made
and the poles of Asherah worship and the incense altars.
On that day, its fortified cities will be like the abandonment of the wooded place and the summit, which they deserted because of the children of Israel; and there will be desolation.
For you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
and you have not remembered the rock of your refuge;
therefore you plant plants of pleasantness,
and you plant a vine of a foreigner.
On your planting day you make them grow,
and in the morning of your sowing you bring them into bloom,
yet the harvest will flee in a day of sickness and incurable pain.
Ah! The noise of many peoples, they make a noise like the noise of the seas!
And the roar of nations, they roar like the roar of mighty waters!
The nations roar like the roar of many waters,
but he will rebuke him, and he will flee far away.
And they are chased like chaff of the mountains before the wind
and like tumbleweed before the storm.
At the time of evening, and look, terror!
Before morning he is no more.
This is the fate of those who plunder us
and the lot of those who plunder us.
Isaiah 18
Ah! land of the whirring of wings,
which is beyond the rivers of Cush,
that sends messengers by the sea
and in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters!
Go, swift messengers, to a tall and smooth nation,
to a people feared near and far,
a mighty, mighty and trampling nation,
whose land rivers divide.
All you inhabitants of the world
and dwellers of the earth,
when a signal is raised on the mountains, you must look,
and when a trumpet is blown, you must listen!
For Yahweh said this to me:
"I will be quiet,
and I will look from my dwelling place
like clear heat because of light,
like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."
For before the harvest, when the blossom is complete
and a blossom becomes ripening fruit,
and one cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks,
and one removes, tears away the tendrils.
They shall all be left for birds of prey of the mountains
and for the animals of the earth.
And the birds of prey will pass the summer on it,
and every animal of the earth will winter on it.
At that time, a gift will be brought to Yahweh of hosts
from a tall and smooth people,
and from a people feared near and far,
a mighty, mighty and trampling nation,
whose land the rivers divide,
to the place of the name of Yahweh of hosts,
the mountain of Zion.
Isaiah 19
An oracle of Egypt:
Look! Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud
and is coming to Egypt.
And the idols of Egypt will tremble in front of him,
and the heart of Egypt melts in his inner parts.
"And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
and each one will fight against his brother
and each one against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom.
And the spirit of the Egyptians will be disturbed in his midst,
and I will confuse his plans,
and they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
and the ghosts and the spiritists.
And I will hand over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master,
and a powerful king will rule over them,"
declares the Lord Yahweh of hosts.
And the waters will be dried up from the sea,
and the river will be parched and dry.
And the rivers will become foul-smelling;
the branches of the Nile of Egypt will become little and dry up;
reed and rush will wither.
Bare places by the Nile will be dried up,
by the edge of the Nile and all the sown land of the Nile;
it will be driven about, and it will be no more.
And the fishers will mourn,
and all of those who cast fishhooks in the Nile will lament,
and those who spread out fishing nets on the surface of the water will languish.
And the workers of combed flax will be ashamed,
and those who weave white linen.
And her weavers will be crushed;
all the hired workers will be grieved of heart.
Surely the princes of Zoan are foolish;
the wise of the counselors of Pharaoh give senseless counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
"I myself am a son of sages,
a descendant of ancient kings"?
Where are your sages then?
Now, let them tell you,
and let them know what Yahweh of hosts has planned against Egypt.
The princes of Zoan have become foolish;
the princes of Memphis are deceived;
the leaders of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
Yahweh has mixed a spirit of confusion into her midst,
and they have caused Egypt to stagger in all of its doings,
as when a drunkard staggers in his vomit.
And there will be nothing for Egypt to do,
head or tail, palm branch or reed.
On that day, Egypt will be like women, and will tremble and be afraid before the waving hand of Yahweh of hosts that he is waving against it. And the land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it will be afraid in himself because of the plan of Yahweh of hosts that he is planning against him.
On that day, there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear an oath to Yahweh of hosts. One will be called "City of the Sun."
On that day, there will be an altar for Yahweh in in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a stone pillar for Yahweh at her border. And it will be a sign and a witness to Yahweh of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry out to Yahweh because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and a defender, and he will deliver them. And Yahweh will make himself known to Egypt, and Egypt will know Yahweh on that day, and they will worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to Yahweh, and they will fulfill them. And Yahweh will strike Egypt, striking and healing; and they will return to Yahweh, and he will respond to their prayer, and he will heal them.
On that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt will worship together with Assyria.
On that day, Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom Yahweh of hosts blessed, saying, "May Egypt my people be blessed, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, Israel."
Psalm 62
For the music director, on Jeduthun.
A psalm of David.
Only for God my soul waits in silence.
From him is my salvation.
Only he is my rock and my salvation,
my high stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.
How long will you attack a man?
All of you will be shattered
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence.
They only plan to thrust him down from his high position;
they are pleased with deception.
With their mouths they bless,
but inwardly they curse. Selah
Only for God wait in silence, O my soul,
because my hope is from him.
Only he is my rock and my salvation,
my high stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
God is my strong rock, my refuge.
Trust him at all times, O people;
pour out before him your heart.
God is a refuge for us. Selah
Only a vapor are men of low degree,
a deception are men of high degree.
Weighed in a balance,
together they are lighter than a vapor.
Do not trust in extortion,
and do not put vain confidence in robbery.
If wealth increases,
do not set your heart on it.
Once God has spoken;
twice I have heard this:
that strength belongs to God.
And to you belongs loyal love, O Lord,
because you will render to each according to his work.
1 Corinthians 1
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God sanctified in Christ Jesus that is in Corinth, called to be saints, together with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always concerning you, because of the grace of God which was given to you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were made rich in him, in all speech and all knowledge, just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed in you, so that you do not lack in any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called to fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing and there not be divisions among you, and that you be made complete in the same mind and with the same purpose. For it has been made clear to me concerning you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. But I say this, that each of you is saying, "I am with Paul," and "I am with Apollos," and "I am with Cephas," and "I am with Christ." Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I give thanks that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that you were baptized in my name. (Now I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Beyond that I do not know if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, not with clever speech, lest the cross of Christ be emptied.
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the intelligence of the intelligent I will confound."
Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. For indeed, Jews ask for sign miracles and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a cause for stumbling, but to the Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
For consider your calling, brothers, that not many were wise according to human standards, not many were powerful, not many were well born. But the foolish things of the world God chose in order that he might put to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world God chose in order that he might put to shame the strong, and the insignificant of the world, and the despised, God chose, the things that are not, in order that he might abolish the things that are, so that all flesh may not boast before God. But from him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "The one who boasts, let him boast in the Lord."