Sunday, September 24, 2023

 Joel 2:1–11

¹Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand-- ²a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.

³Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste-- nothing escapes them. ⁴They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. ⁵With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle.

⁶At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. ⁷They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. ⁸They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks. ⁹They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows.

¹⁰Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine. ¹¹The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?

 

 

Psalm 81

¹For the director of music. According to [gittith.] Of Asaph. Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! ²Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre. ³Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast; ⁴this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. ⁵He established it as a statute for Joseph when he went out against Egypt, where we heard a language we did not understand. ⁶He says, "I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. ⁷In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. [Selah] ⁸"Hear, O my people, and I will warn you-- if you would but listen to me, O Israel! ⁹You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. ¹⁰I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. ¹¹"But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. ¹²So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. ¹³"If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, ¹⁴how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! ¹⁵Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. ¹⁶But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

 

 

Romans 11:25–36

²⁵I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

"The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. ²⁷And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."

²⁸As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, ²⁹for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. ³⁰Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, ³¹so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. ³²For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

³³Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ³⁴"Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" ³⁵"Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" ³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.