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First Reading: Isaiah Chapter 1 and 2Isaiah 1
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; `but' Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly! they have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged `and gone' backward.
5 Why will ye be still stricken, that ye revolt more and more? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; `but' wounds, and bruises, and fresh stripes: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil.
7 Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11 What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies,- I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary of bearing them.
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.
21 How is the faithful city become a harlot! she that was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water.
23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
24 Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies;
25 and I will turn my hand upon thee, and thoroughly purge away thy dross, and will take away all thy tin;
26 and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, a faithful town.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness.
28 But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and they that forsake Jehovah shall be consumed.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.
31 And the strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
Isaiah 2
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
4 And he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah.
6 For thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are filled `with customs' from the east, and `are' soothsayers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
7 And their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.
8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.
9 And the mean man is bowed down, and the great man is brought low: therefore forgive them not.
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty.
11 The lofty looks of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For there shall be a day of Jehovah of hosts upon all that is proud and haughty, and upon all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low;
13 and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14 and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15 and upon every lofty tower, and upon every fortified wall,
16 and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant imagery.
17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.
18 And the idols shall utterly pass away.
19 And men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake mightily the earth.
20 In that day men shall cast away their idols of silver, and their idols of gold, which have been made for them to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21 to go into the caverns of the rocks, and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake mightily the earth.
22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?
Second Reading: Psalms Chapter 75
Psalms 75
1 We give thanks unto thee, O God; We give thanks, for thy name is near: Men tell of thy wondrous works.
2 When I shall find the set time, I will judge uprightly.
3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I have set up the pillars of it. Selah
4 I said unto the arrogant, Deal not arrogantly; And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
5 Lift not up your horn on high; Speak not with a stiff neck.
6 For neither from the east, nor from the west, Nor yet from the south, `cometh' lifting up.
7 But God is the judge: He putteth down one, and lifteth up another.
8 For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and the wine foameth; It is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same: Surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall drain them, and drink them.
9 But I will declare for ever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; But the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up. Psalm 76 For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph, a song.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
ISAIAH
Part 1 of 4
Isaiah, the prophet, ministered during the rule of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The approximate time is 740-690 B.C. His primary focus dealt with the coming judgment on the Southern Kingdom of Judah due to its great wickedness. Isaiah identified the root of Judah's trouble in its idolatry and apostasy. Although he spoke of judgments on other nations as well, the prophet Isaiah urged the kings and the people to put their trust in God rather than in alliances with earthly powers. He comforted his people with the realization that God loves those who are faithful to Him and keep His commandments. He spoke of the future Messiah who would come to redeem the nation and restore the Kingdom.
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