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Isaiah 31, 32, 33

Alliance with Egypt Is Futile

31Alas for those who go down to Egypt for help
   and who rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
   and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
   or consult the Lord!
2 Yet he too is wise and brings disaster;
   he does not call back his words,
but will rise against the house of the evildoers,
   and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.
3 The Egyptians are human, and not God;
   their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
   the helper will stumble, and the one helped will fall,
   and they will all perish together.


4 For thus the Lord said to me,
As a lion or a young lion growls over its prey,
   and—when a band of shepherds is called out against it—
is not terrified by their shouting
   or daunted at their noise,
so the Lord of hosts will come down
   to fight upon Mount Zion and upon its hill.
5 Like birds hovering overhead, so the Lord of hosts
   will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it,
   he will spare and rescue it.

Turn back to him whom you* have deeply betrayed, O people of Israel. 7For on that day all of you shall throw away your idols of silver and idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.
8 ‘Then the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of mortals;
   and a sword, not of humans, shall devour him;
he shall flee from the sword,
   and his young men shall be put to forced labour.
9 His rock shall pass away in terror,
   and his officers desert the standard in panic,’
says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,
   and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

Government with Justice Predicted

32See, a king will reign in righteousness,
   and princes will rule with justice.
2 Each will be like a hiding-place from the wind,
   a covert from the tempest,
like streams of water in a dry place,
   like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
3 Then the eyes of those who have sight will not be closed,
   and the ears of those who have hearing will listen.
4 The minds of the rash will have good judgement,
   and the tongues of stammerers will speak readily and distinctly.
5 A fool will no longer be called noble,
   nor a villain be said to be honourable.
6 For fools speak folly,
   and their minds plot iniquity:
to practise ungodliness,
   to utter error concerning the Lord,
to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
   and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
7 The villainies of villains are evil;
   they devise wicked devices
to ruin the poor with lying words,
   even when the plea of the needy is right.
8 But those who are noble plan noble things,
   and by noble things they stand.

Complacent Women Warned of Disaster


9 Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;
   you complacent daughters, listen to my speech.
10 In little more than a year
   you will shudder, you complacent ones;
for the vintage will fail,
   the fruit harvest will not come.
11 Tremble, you women who are at ease,
   shudder, you complacent ones;
strip, and make yourselves bare,
   and put sackcloth on your loins.
12 Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
   for the fruitful vine,
13 for the soil of my people
   growing up in thorns and briers;
yes, for all the joyous houses
   in the jubilant city.
14 For the palace will be forsaken,
   the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watch-tower
   will become dens for ever,
the joy of wild asses,
   a pasture for flocks;
15 until a spirit from on high is poured out on us,
   and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
   and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.

The Peace of God’s Reign


16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
   and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
17 The effect of righteousness will be peace,
   and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever.
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
   in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.
19 The forest will disappear completely,*
   and the city will be utterly laid low.
20 Happy will you be who sow beside every stream,
   who let the ox and the donkey range freely.

A Prophecy of Deliverance from Foes

33Ah, you destroyer,
   who yourself have not been destroyed;
you treacherous one,
   with whom no one has dealt treacherously!
When you have ceased to destroy,
   you will be destroyed;
and when you have stopped dealing treacherously,
   you will be dealt with treacherously.


2Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you.
   Be our arm every morning,
   our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 At the sound of tumult, peoples fled;
   before your majesty, nations scattered.
4 Spoil was gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
   as locusts leap, they leapt* upon it.
5 The Lord is exalted, he dwells on high;
   he filled Zion with justice and righteousness;
6 he will be the stability of your times,
   abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
   the fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.*


7 Listen! the valiant* cry in the streets;
   the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted,
   travellers have left the road.
The treaty is broken,
   its oaths* are despised,
   its obligation* is disregarded.
9 The land mourns and languishes;
   Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert;
   and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.


10 ‘Now I will arise,’ says the Lord,
   ‘now I will lift myself up;
   now I will be exalted.
11 You conceive chaff, you bring forth stubble;
   your breath is a fire that will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
   like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.’


13 Hear, you who are far away, what I have done;
   and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
   trembling has seized the godless:
‘Who among us can live with the devouring fire?
   Who among us can live with everlasting flames?’
15 Those who walk righteously and speak uprightly,
   who despise the gain of oppression,
who wave away a bribe instead of accepting it,
   who stop their ears from hearing of bloodshed
   and shut their eyes from looking on evil,
16 they will live on the heights;
   their refuge will be the fortresses of rocks;
   their food will be supplied, their water assured.

The Land of the Majestic King


17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty;
   they will behold a land that stretches far away.
18 Your mind will muse on the terror:
   ‘Where is the one who counted?
   Where is the one who weighed the tribute?
   Where is the one who counted the towers?’
19 No longer will you see the insolent people,
   the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
   stammering in a language that you cannot understand.
20 Look on Zion, the city of our appointed festivals!
   Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
   a quiet habitation, an immovable tent,
whose stakes will never be pulled up,
   and none of whose ropes will be broken.
21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
   a place of broad rivers and streams,
where no galley with oars can go,
   nor stately ship can pass.
22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler,
   the Lord is our king; he will save us.


23 Your rigging hangs loose;
   it cannot hold the mast firm in its place,
   or keep the sail spread out.


Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
   even the lame will fall to plundering.
24 And no inhabitant will say, ‘I am sick’;
   the people who live there will be forgiven their iniquity.

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Psalm 36

Human Wickedness and Divine Goodness

To the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
1 Transgression speaks to the wicked
   deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
   before their eyes.
2 For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
   that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3 The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
   they have ceased to act wisely and do good.
4 They plot mischief while on their beds;
   they are set on a way that is not good;
   they do not reject evil.


5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
   your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
   your judgements are like the great deep;
   you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.


7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
   All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
   and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
   in your light we see light.


10 O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
   and your salvation to the upright of heart!
11 Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
   or the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers lie prostrate;
   they are thrust down, unable to rise.

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I Timothy 5

Duties towards Believers

5Do not speak harshly to an older man,* but speak to him as to a father, to younger men as brothers, 2to older women as mothers, to younger women as sisters—with absolute purity.

Honour widows who are really widows. 4If a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn their religious duty to their own family and make some repayment to their parents; for this is pleasing in God’s sight. 5The real widow, left alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day; 6but the widow* who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7Give these commands as well, so that they may be above reproach. 8And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Let a widow be put on the list if she is not less than sixty years old and has been married only once;* 10she must be well attested for her good works, as one who has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to doing good in every way. 11But refuse to put younger widows on the list; for when their sensual desires alienate them from Christ, they want to marry, 12and so they incur condemnation for having violated their first pledge. 13Besides that, they learn to be idle, gadding about from house to house; and they are not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say. 14So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, and manage their households, so as to give the adversary no occasion to revile us. 15For some have already turned away to follow Satan. 16If any believing woman* has relatives who are really widows, let her assist them; let the church not be burdened, so that it can assist those who are real widows.

17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honour,* especially those who labour in preaching and teaching; 18for the scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain’, and, ‘The labourer deserves to be paid.’ 19Never accept any accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest also may stand in fear. 21In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I warn you to keep these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality. 22Do not ordain* anyone hastily, and do not participate in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.

23 No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

24 The sins of some people are conspicuous and precede them to judgement, while the sins of others follow them there. 25So also good works are conspicuous; and even when they are not, they cannot remain hidden.

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From the oremus Bible Browser https://bible.oremus.org v2.9.2 30 June 2021.