Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.
2 Kings 20
In those days Hezekiah became deathly ill, and Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet came to him and said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, ‘Command your house, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’" Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying, "O Yahweh, please remember how I went about before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and remember the good that I have done in your eyes." Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. Isaiah had not gone out from the middle of the city when the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "Return; you must say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘Thus says Yahweh the God of David your ancestor, "I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Look, I am about to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the temple of Yahweh. I will add to your days fifteen years, and from the hand of the king of Assyria I will deliver you and this city. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of David my servant."’" Then Isaiah said, "Bring a lump of figs," so they took and put it on the skin sores, and he lived.
Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What is the sign that Yahweh will heal me that I shall go up on the third day to the temple of Yahweh?" Isaiah said, "This is the sign for you from Yahweh that Yahweh will do the thing that he has promised: Shall the shadow advance ten steps or shall it return ten steps?" Hezekiah answered, "It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backwards ten steps." Isaiah the prophet called to Yahweh, and he brought back the shadow on the steps where it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz, backwards ten steps.
At that time, Berodak-Baladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill. Hezekiah heard about them and showed them all of the house of his treasure, both the silver and the gold, the spices, the good olive oil, the room of his weapons, and all that could be found in his treasuries. There was nothing that he did not show them in his palace and in all of his kingdom. Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?" Hezekiah said, "From a far land; they have come from Babylon." Then he asked, "What did they see in your palace?" And Hezekiah said, "All that is in my palace they have seen; there is nothing that I did not show them in my treasuries."
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of Yahweh! ‘Look, days are coming when all that is in your palace will be carried off; even all that your ancestors have stored up until this day, to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says Yahweh. ‘Your sons who went out from you, whom you brought forth, will be taken, and they shall be eunuchs in the temple of the king of Babylon.’" Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of Yahweh which you have spoken is good," and he thought, "Is it not that peace and security shall be in my days?" Now the remainder of the acts of Hezekiah, all of his powerful deeds, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought the water into the city, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? Then Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.
Isaiah 38
In those days, Hezekiah became sick to death, and Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, came to him and said to him, "Thus says Yahweh: ‘Order your house, for you are about to die, and you shall not recover.’" Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, and he said, "O Yahweh, please remember how I have walked before your presence in faithfulness with a whole heart, and I have done the good in your eyes!" And Hezekiah wept with great weeping.
Then the word of Yahweh came to Isaiah, saying, "Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your ancestor: "I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add fifteen years to your days. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city."’
And this is the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken: Look! I will cause the shadow of the steps, which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz with the sun, to turn backwards ten steps." And the sun turned back ten steps on the steps which it had gone down.
A writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he was sick and had recovered from his sickness:
I was the one who said, "I must go in the quiet of my days;
I am summoned through the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years."
I said, "I shall not see Yah! Yah in the land of the living!
I shall no more look at humankind among the inhabitants of the world.
My dwelling place is pulled up and removed from me like the tent of my shepherd;
I have rolled up my life like a weaver.
He cuts me off from the thrum;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
I lie down until morning;
like a lion, so he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
Like a horse or a crane, so I chirp;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weak toward the height.
Lord, I have oppression; lend me support!
What can I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
I will walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
Lord, they live by them, and the life of my spirit belongs to all among them.
And restore me to health and keep me alive!
Look! Bitterness was bitter to me for peace.
And you were the one who loved my life from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
For Sheol cannot praise you; death cannot praise you.
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.
The living, the living one praises you like me today;
a father will make your faithfulness known to children.
Yahweh, save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives at the temple of Yahweh."
And Isaiah said, "Let them take a lump of figs, and let them rub it on the boil so that he may recover." And Hezekiah said, "What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple of Yahweh?"
Isaiah 39
At that time, Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and recovered. And Hezekiah rejoiced over them and showed them his house of aromatic gum, the silver, gold, spices, good oil, all the house of his weapons, and all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing that Hezekiah had not shown them in his house or in all his dominion. And Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?" And Hezekiah answered, "They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon." And he said, "What have they seen in your house?" And Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing that I have not shown them in my storehouses."
And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of Yahweh of hosts: ‘Look! days are coming, and all that is in your house and that which your ancestors have stored up to this day shall be carried off to Babylon. Nothing shall be left,’ says Yahweh. ‘And some of your sons who go out from you, whom you fathered, shall be taken, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’" And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of Yahweh that you have spoken is good," for he thought, "Surely there will be peace and security in my days."
Isaiah 40
"Comfort; comfort my people," says your God.
"Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her,
that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for,
that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins."
A voice is calling in the wilderness, "Clear the way of Yahweh!
Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God!
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill shall become low,
And the rough ground shall be like a plain,
and the rugged ground like a valley-plain.
And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed,
and all humankind together shall see it,
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."
A voice is saying, "Call!"
And he said, "What shall I call?"
All humankind are grass,
and all his loyalty is like the flowers of the field.
Grass withers; the flower withers
when the breath of Yahweh blows on it.
Surely the people are grass.
Grass withers; the flower withers,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Get yourself up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news!
Lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, bringer of good news!
Lift it up; you must not fear!
Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!"
Look! The Lord Yahweh comes with strength,
and his arm rules for him.
Look! His reward is with him,
and his recompense in his presence.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arm,
and he will carry them in his bosom;
he will lead those who nurse.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
comprehended the dust of the earth in a third of a measure
and weighed out the mountains in the scales, and the hills in a balance?
Who has measured up the spirit of Yahweh
or informed him as his counselor?
With whom has he consulted, that he enlightened him
and taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and made the way of understanding known to him?
Look! The nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and they are counted like dust of the balances!
Look! He weighs the islands like a thin covering.
And Lebanon is not enough to light a fire,
and its animals not enough for a burnt offering.
All the nations are like nothing before him;
they are counted by him as nothing and emptiness.
And to whom will you liken God?
And to what likeness will you compare him?
A craftsman pours out the idol,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold,
and he smelts chains of silver.
The one who is too impoverished for a gift chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks a skillful artisan for himself to set up an image that will not be knocked over.
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundation of the earth?
He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
the one who stretches out the heavens like a veil
and spreads them out like a tent to live in,
the one who brings princes to nothing;
he makes rulers of the earth like nothing.
Indeed, hardly are they planted; indeed, hardly are they sown;
indeed, hardly has their shoot taken root in the earth
when he blows on them and they wither,
and the tempest carries them like stubble.
"And to whom you will compare me, and am I equal?" says the holy one.
Lift your eyes up on high, and see! Who created these?
The one who brings out their host by number.
He calls all them by name.
Because he is great of power
and mighty of power, no man is missing.
Why do you say, Jacob,
and you speak, Israel,
"My way is hidden from Yahweh,
and my judgment is passed over by my God?"
Have you not known,
or have you not heard?
Yahweh is the God of eternity,
the creator of the ends of the earth!
He is not faint, and he does not grow weary!
There is no searching his understanding.
He gives power to the weary,
and he increases power for the powerless.
Even young people will be faint and grow weary,
and the young will stumble, exhausted.
But those who wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength.
They shall go up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not grow weary;
they shall walk and not be faint.
Psalm 68
For the music director. Of David. A psalm. A song.
God will arise; his enemies will be scattered,
and those who hate him will flee from before him.
As smoke is driven off, you will drive them off.
As wax melts before fire,
the wicked will perish before God.
But the righteous will be glad; they will exalt before God,
and will rejoice with joy.
Sing to God, sing praises to his name.
Lift up a song to the rider on the clouds—his name is Yah—
and rejoice before him.
A father to orphans and a judge for widows
is God in his holy habitation.
God settles the lonely in a home;
he brings prisoners out into prosperity.
But the rebellious abide in a barren land.
O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the desert, Selah
the earth shook; the heavens also dripped rain
at the presence of God who was at Sinai,
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
You caused abundant rain to fall, O God.
When your inheritance was weary you revived it.
Your community dwelled in it.
You provided in your goodness for the poor, O God.
The Lord gives the word.
Great is the company of women who announce:
"The kings of armies flee, they flee,
and she who remains at home divides the spoil.
Though you men lie down between the sheepfolds,
you will be like the wings of a dove covered in silver
and its pinions in yellow gold."
When Shaddai scattered kings on it,
on Zalmon it snowed.
A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;
a mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
Why do you look with hostility, O many-peaked mountains?
This mountain God desires for his dwelling.
Yes, Yahweh will abide in it forever.
The chariots of God
are twice ten thousand, with thousands doubled.
The Lord is among them at Sinai, distinctive in victory.
You have ascended on high; you have led away captives.
You have received gifts from among humankind,
and even from the rebellious, so that Yah God may dwell there.
Blessed be the Lord. Daily he loads us with benefits,
the God of our salvation. Selah
Our God is a God of deliverances,
and to the Yahweh the Lord belong escapes from death.
But God will shatter the head of his enemies,
the hairy scalp of the one who continues on in his guilt.
The Lord said, "I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
so that your foot may shatter them bloody
for the tongues of your dogs to have their share from the enemies."
They have seen your processions, O God,
the processions of my God, my king, distinctive in victory.
Singers went up front, those playing stringed instruments last,
between them young women playing tambourines.
Bless God in the assemblies,
Yahweh from the fountain of Israel.
There is little Benjamin ruling them,
with the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
Your God has commanded your strength.
Show yourself strong, O God, by what you perform for us.
Because your temple is above Jerusalem,
kings will bring tribute to you.
Rebuke the beasts in the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,
trampling the pieces of silver.
Scatter the nations who delight in battles.
Ambassadors will come from Egypt;
Cush will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praise to the Lord, Selah
to the one who rides in the highest heavens of old.
See, he gives forth his voice, a mighty voice.
Ascribe strength to God.
His majesty is over Israel,
and his strength is in the clouds.
Awesome are you, O God, from your sanctuary.
The God of Israel, it is he who gives strength and might to the people.
Blessed be God.
1 Corinthians 11
Become imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
Now I praise you that you remember me in all things, and just as I handed over to you the traditions, you hold fast to them. But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies while having something on his head dishonors his head, but every woman who prays or prophesies with uncovered head dishonors her head, for she is one and the same with the one whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover herself, let her hair be shorn off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her head shorn or shaved, let her cover her head. For indeed a man ought not to cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. For indeed man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man. Because of this, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, on account of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is woman anything apart from man, nor is man anything apart from woman in the Lord. For just as the woman is from the man, thus also the man is through the woman. But all things are from God. You judge for yourselves: is it fitting for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? And does not nature itself teach you that a man, if he wears long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But a woman, if she wears long hair, it is her glory, because her hair is given for a covering. But if anyone is disposed to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
But in giving this instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For indeed it is necessary that there be factions among you, in order that those who are approved may become evident among you. Therefore, when you come together in the same place, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For when you eat it, each one of you goes ahead to take his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunk. For do you not have houses for eating and drinking? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who do not have anything? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you!
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and after he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Likewise also the cup, after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a person examine himself, and in this way let him eat from the bread and let him drink from the cup. For the one who eats and drinks, if he does not recognize the body, eats and drinks judgment against himself. Because of this, many are weak and sick among you, and quite a few have died. But if we were evaluating ourselves, we would not be judged. But if we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined, in order that we will not be condemned with the world.
So then, my brothers, when you come together in order to eat the Lord’s supper, wait for one another. If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And I will give directions about the remaining matters whenever I come.