Friday, August 25, 2023
20Then
Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the
God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of
Assyria. 21This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him:
" 'The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises
you and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. 22Who
is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! 23By
your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord. And you have said,
"With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the
utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of
its pines. I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests. 24I
have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my
feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt." 25" 'Have
you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have
brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. 26Their
people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants
in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched before it grows up.
27"
'But I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against
me. 28Because you rage against me and your insolence has reached my
ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make
you return by the way you came.'
29"This
will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: "This year you will eat what grows
by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year
sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 30Once more a
remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. 31For
out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of
survivors.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish
this.
32"Therefore
this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
"He will not enter this city or shoot an
arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp
against it. 33By the way that he came he will return; he will not
enter this city, declares the LORD. 34I will defend this city and
save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant."
35That night
the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five
thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there
were all the dead bodies! 36So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke
camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
37One day,
while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech
and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of
Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
Psalm
52
1For the
director of music. A [maskil] of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul
and told him: "David has gone to the house of Ahimelech." Why do you
boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a
disgrace in the eyes of God? 2Your tongue plots destruction; it is
like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit. 3You love evil
rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. [Selah] 4You
love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue! 5Surely God will
bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and tear you from
your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. [Selah] 6The
righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him, saying, 7"Here
now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great
wealth and grew strong by destroying others!" 8But I am like an
olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for
ever and ever. 9I will praise you forever for what you have done; in
your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence
of your saints.
Matthew
24:36-51
36"No one knows about that day or hour, not even
the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37As it was
in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For
in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they
knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all
away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two
men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two
women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know
on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner
of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would
have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So
you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do
not expect him.
45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant,
whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them
their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant
whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47I tell you the truth,
he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that
servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,'
49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and
drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a
day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He
will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew
25:1-13
1"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be
like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five
of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took
their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however,
took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long
time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the
bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
7"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their
lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your
oil; our lamps are going out.'
9" 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough
for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for
yourselves.'
10"But while they were on their way to buy the
oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the
wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11"Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they
said. 'Open the door for us!'
12"But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't
know you.'
13"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know
the day or the hour.
Comments
Post a Comment