Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Joel 2:18–27

¹⁸Then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people.

¹⁹The LORD will reply to them: "I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.

²⁰"I will drive the northern army far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land, with its front columns going into the eastern sea and those in the rear into the western sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise."

Surely he has done great things. ²¹Be not afraid, O land; be glad and rejoice. Surely the LORD has done great things. ²²Be not afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. ²³Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. ²⁴The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten-- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm-- my great army that I sent among you. ²⁶You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. ²⁷Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.

 

 

Psalm 83

¹A song. A psalm of Asaph. O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still. ²See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads. ³With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. ⁴"Come," they say, "let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more." ⁵With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you-- ⁶the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, ⁷Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. ⁸Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot. [Selah] ⁹Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, ¹⁰who perished at Endor and became like refuse on the ground. ¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, ¹²who said, "Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God." ¹³Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind. ¹⁴As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze, ¹⁵so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm. ¹⁶Cover their faces with shame so that men will seek your name, O LORD. ¹⁷May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace. ¹⁸Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD-- that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

 

 

Romans 13

¹Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ²Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. ⁴For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

⁶This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. ⁷Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

⁸Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁰Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

¹¹And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.