Friday, September 29, 2023

Joel 3:17–21

¹⁷"Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.

¹⁸"In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the LORD's house and will water the valley of acacias. ¹⁹But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood. ²⁰Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations. ²¹Their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned, I will pardon."

The LORD dwells in Zion!

 

 

Psalm 86

¹A prayer of David. Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. ²Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. ³Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. ⁴Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. ⁵You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. ⁶Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. ⁷In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. ⁸Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. ⁹All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. ¹⁰For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. ¹¹Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. ¹²I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. ¹³For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. ¹⁴The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life-- men without regard for you. ¹⁵But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. ¹⁶Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant. ¹⁷Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

 

 

Romans 15:8–21

⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs ⁹so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:

"Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name."

¹⁰Again, it says,

"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people."

¹¹And again,

"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and sing praises to him, all you peoples."

¹²And again, Isaiah says,

"The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him."

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. ¹⁵I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me ¹⁶to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. ¹⁸I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done-- ¹⁹by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. ²⁰It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. ²¹Rather, as it is written:

"Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."