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First Reading: Isaiah Chapter 1 and 2
Isaiah 1
1:1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during
the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth!For the LORD has spoken:"I reared children
and brought them up,but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows his master,the
donkey his owner's manger,but Israel does not know,my people do not understand."
4 Ah, sinful nation,a people loaded with guilt,a brood of evildoers,children
given to corruption!They have forsaken the LORD;they have spurned the Holy One
of Israel and turned their backs on him.
5 Why should you be beaten anymore?Why do you persist in rebellion?Your whole
head is injured,your whole heart afflicted. 6 From the sole of your foot to
the top of your head there is no soundness only wounds and welts and
open sores,not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.
7 Your country is desolate,your cities burned with fire;your fields are being
stripped by foreigners right before you,laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
8 The Daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard,like a hut in a
field of melons,like a city under siege. 9 Unless the LORD Almighty had left
us some survivors,we would have become like Sodom,we would have been like Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the LORD,you rulers of Sodom;listen to the law of our God,you
people of Gomorrah! 11 "The multitude of your sacrifices what are
they to me?" says the LORD."I have more than enough of burnt offerings,of
rams and the fat of fattened animals;I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls
and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me,who has asked this
of you,this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!Your
incense is detestable to me.New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations I cannot
bear your evil assemblies. 14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts
my soul hates.They have become a burden to me;I am weary of bearing them. 15
When you spread out your hands in prayer,I will hide my eyes from you;even if
you offer many prayers,I will not listen.Your hands are full of blood; 16 wash
and make yourselves clean.Take your evil deeds out of my sight!Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right!Seek justice,encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause
of the fatherless,plead the case of the widow.
18 "Come now, let us reason together,"says the LORD."Though your
sins are like scarlet,they shall be as white as snow;though they are red as
crimson,they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient,you will
eat the best from the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel,you will be devoured
by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
21 See how the faithful city has become a harlot!She once was full of justice;righteousness
used to dwell in her but now murderers! 22 Your silver has become dross,your
choice wine is diluted with water. 23 Your rulers are rebels,companions of thieves;they
all love bribes and chase after gifts.They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;the
widow's case does not come before them. 24 Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty,the
Mighty One of Israel, declares:"Ah, I will get relief from my foes and
avenge myself on my enemies. 25 I will turn my hand against you;I will thoroughly
purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. 26 I will restore your
judges as in days of old,your counselors as at the beginning.Afterward you will
be called the City of Righteousness,the Faithful City."
27 Zion will be redeemed with justice,her penitent ones with righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken,and those who forsake the LORD
will perish.
29 "You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted;you
will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen. 30 You will be
like an oak with fading leaves,like a garden without water. 31 The mighty man
will become tinder and his work a spark;both will burn together,with no one
to quench the fire."
Isaiah 2
2:1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as
chief among the mountains;it will be raised above the hills,and all nations
will stream to it.
3 Many peoples will come and say,"Come, let us go up to the mountain of
the LORD,to the house of the God of Jacob.He will teach us his ways,so that
we may walk in his paths."The law will go out from Zion,the word of the
LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes
for many peoples.They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears
into pruning hooks.Nation will not take up sword against nation,nor will they
train for war anymore.
5 Come, O house of Jacob,let us walk in the light of the LORD.
6 You have abandoned your people,the house of Jacob.They are full of superstitions
from the East;they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands
with pagans. 7 Their land is full of silver and gold;there is no end to their
treasures.Their land is full of horses;there is no end to their chariots. 8
Their land is full of idols;they bow down to the work of their hands,to what
their fingers have made. 9 So man will be brought low and mankind humbled
do not forgive them.
10 Go into the rocks,hide in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor
of his majesty! 11 The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride
of men brought low;the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
12 The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty,for all
that is exalted (and they will be humbled), 13 for all the cedars of Lebanon,
tall and lofty,and all the oaks of Bashan, 14 for all the towering mountains
and all the high hills, 15 for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, 16
for every trading ship and every stately vessel. 17 The arrogance of man will
be brought low and the pride of men humbled;the LORD alone will be exalted in
that day, 18 and the idols will totally disappear.
19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread
of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty,when he rises to shake the earth.
20 In that day men will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver
and idols of gold,which they made to worship. 21 They will flee to caverns in
the rocks and to the overhanging crags from dread of the LORD and the splendor
of his majesty,when he rises to shake the earth.
22 Stop trusting in man,who has but a breath in his nostrils.Of what account
is he?
Second Reading: Psalms Chapter 75
Psalms 75
75:1 For the director of music. [To the tune of] "Do Not Destroy." A psalm of Asaph. A song.
We give thanks to you, O God,we give thanks, for your Name is near;men tell
of your wonderful deeds.
2 You say, "I choose the appointed time;it is I who judge uprightly. 3
When the earth and all its people quake,it is I who hold its pillars firm.Selah
4 To the arrogant I say, 'Boast no more,'and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up
your horns. 5 Do not lift your horns against heaven;do not speak with outstretched
neck.'"
6 No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. 7 But
it is God who judges:He brings one down, he exalts another. 8 In the hand of
the LORD is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices;he pours it out, and
all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.
9 As for me, I will declare this forever;I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
10 I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,but the horns of the righteous
will be lifted up.
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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