Monday, December 28, 2020
Isaiah 23
1An oracle concerning Tyre:
Wail, O ships of
Tarshish! For Tyre is destroyed and left without house or harbor. From the land
of Cyprus word has come to them.
2Be silent, you people of the island and you
merchants of Sidon, whom the seafarers have enriched. 3On the great
waters came the grain of the Shihor; the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of
Tyre, and she became the marketplace of the nations.
4Be ashamed, O Sidon, and you, O fortress of the sea,
for the sea has spoken: "I have neither been in labor nor given birth; I
have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters." 5When word
comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.
6Cross over to Tarshish; wail, you people of the
island. 7Is this your city of revelry, the old, old city, whose feet
have taken her to settle in far-off lands? 8Who planned this against
Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are
renowned in the earth? 9The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring low
the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned on the earth.
10Till your land as along the Nile, O Daughter of
Tarshish, for you no longer have a harbor. 11The LORD has stretched
out his hand over the sea and made its kingdoms tremble. He has given an order
concerning Phoenicia that her fortresses be destroyed. 12He said,
"No more of your reveling, O Virgin Daughter of Sidon, now crushed!
"Up, cross over
to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest." 13Look at the
land of the Babylonians, this people that is now of no account! The Assyrians
have made it a place for desert creatures; they raised up their siege towers,
they stripped its fortresses bare and turned it into a ruin.
14Wail, you ships of Tarshish; your fortress is destroyed!
15At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy
years, the span of a king's life. But at the end of these seventy years, it
will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:
16"Take up a harp, walk through the city, O
prostitute forgotten; play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be
remembered."
17At the end of seventy years, the LORD will deal with
Tyre. She will return to her hire as a prostitute and will ply her trade with
all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18Yet her profit and her
earnings will be set apart for the LORD; they will not be stored up or hoarded.
Her profits will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food and
fine clothes.
Psalm
148
1Praise the
LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. 2Praise
him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. 3Praise
him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. 4Praise him,
you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. 5Let them praise
the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. 6He
set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass
away. 7Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and
all ocean depths, 8lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds
that do his bidding, 9you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and
all cedars, 10wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and
flying birds, 11kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all
rulers on earth, 12young men and maidens, old men and children. 13Let
them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor
is above the earth and the heavens. 14He has raised up for his
people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his
heart. Praise the LORD.
2
Corinthians 12:11–21
11I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to
it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior
to the "super-apostles," even though I am nothing. 12The
things that mark an apostle--signs, wonders and miracles--were done among you
with great perseverance. 13How were you inferior to the other
churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
14Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and
I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but
you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but
parents for their children. 15So I will very gladly spend for you
everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love
me less? 16Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet,
crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! 17Did I exploit
you through any of the men I sent you? 18I urged Titus to go to you
and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not
act in the same spirit and follow the same course?
19Have you been thinking all along that we have been
defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those
in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening. 20For
I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you
may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling,
jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and
disorder. 21I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me
before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have
not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have
indulged.
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