ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

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ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible episodes

  • December 7: Psalm 127; Job 13; Isaiah 35; 1 John 5
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 127
    Psalm 127 (Listen)
    Unless the Lord Builds the House
    A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

    127   Unless the LORD builds the house,
        those who build it labor in vain.
      Unless the LORD watches over the city,
        the watchman stays awake in vain.
    2   It is in vain that you rise up early
        and go late to rest,
      eating the bread of anxious toil;
        for he gives to his beloved sleep.
    3   Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
        the fruit of the womb a reward.
    4   Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
        are the childrenOr sons">1 of one's youth.
    5   Blessed is the man
        who fills his quiver with them!
      He shall not be put to shame
        when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.Or They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate">2

    Footnotes

    [1] 127:4 Or sons


    [2] 127:5 Or They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 13
    Job 13 (Listen)
    Job Continues: Still I Will Hope in God

    13   “Behold, my eye has seen all this,
        my ear has heard and understood it.
    2   What you know, I also know;
        I am not inferior to you.
    3   But I would speak to the Almighty,
        and I desire to argue my case with God.
    4   As for you, you whitewash with lies;
        worthless physicians are you all.
    5   Oh that you would keep silent,
        and it would be your wisdom!
    6   Hear now my argument
        and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
    7   Will you speak falsely for God
        and speak deceitfully for him?
    8   Will you show partiality toward him?
        Will you plead the case for God?
    9   Will it be well with you when he searches you out?
        Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?
    10   He will surely rebuke you
        if in secret you show partiality.
    11   Will not his majesty terrify you,
        and the dread of him fall upon you?
    12   Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
        your defenses are defenses of clay.
    13   “Let me have silence, and I will speak,
        and let come on me what may.
    14   Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
        and put my life in my hand?
    15   Though he slay me, I will hope in him;Or Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope">1
        yet I will argue my ways to his face.
    16   This will be my salvation,
        that the godless shall not come before him.
    17   Keep listening to my words,
        and let my declaration be in your ears.
    18   Behold, I have prepared my case;
        I know that I shall be in the right.
    19   Who is there who will contend with me?
        For then I would be silent and die.
    20   Only grant me two things,
        then I will not hide myself from your face:
    21   withdraw your hand far from me,
        and let not dread of you terrify me.
    22   Then call, and I will answer;
        or let me speak, and you reply to me.
    23   How many are my iniquities and my sins?
        Make me know my transgression and my sin.
    24   Why do you hide your face
        and count me as your enemy?
    25   Will you frighten a driven leaf
        and pursue dry chaff?
    26   For you write bitter things against me
        and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
    27   You put my feet in the stocks
        and watch all my paths;
        you set a limit forOr you marked">2 the soles of my feet.
    28   ManHebrew He">3 wastes away like a rotten thing,
        like a garment that is moth-eaten.

    Footnotes

    [1] 13:15 Or Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope


    [2] 13:27 Or you marked

    [3] 13:28 Hebrew He

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 35
    Isaiah 35 (Listen)
    The Ransomed Shall Return

    35   The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
        the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
    2   it shall blossom abundantly
        and rejoice with joy and singing.
      The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
        the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
      They shall see the glory of the LORD,
        the majesty of our God.
    3   Strengthen the weak hands,
        and make firm the feeble knees.
    4   Say to those who have an anxious heart,
        “Be strong; fear not!
      Behold, your God
        will come with vengeance,
      with the recompense of God.
        He will come and save you.”
    5   Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
        and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
    6   then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
        and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
      For waters break forth in the wilderness,
        and streams in the desert;
    7   the burning sand shall become a pool,
        and the thirsty ground springs of water;
      in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
        the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
    8   And a highway shall be there,
        and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
      the unclean shall not pass over it.
        It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
        even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.Or if they are fools, they shall not wander in it">1
    9   No lion shall be there,
        nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
      they shall not be found there,
        but the redeemed shall walk there.
    10   And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
        and come to Zion with singing;
      everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
        they shall obtain gladness and joy,
        and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

    Footnotes

    [1] 35:8 Or if they are fools, they shall not wander in it

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    1 John 5
    1 John 5 (Listen)
    Overcoming the World

    5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

    Testimony Concerning the Son of God

    6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

    That You May Know

    13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

    16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and GodGreek he">1 will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

    18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

    19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

    20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

    Footnotes

    [1] 5:16 Greek he

    (ESV)

    8 min
  • December 6: Psalm 126; Job 12; Isaiah 33–34; 1 John 4
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 126
    Psalm 126 (Listen)
    Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord
    A Song of Ascents.

    126   When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
        we were like those who dream.
    2   Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
        and our tongue with shouts of joy;
      then they said among the nations,
        “The LORD has done great things for them.”
    3   The LORD has done great things for us;
        we are glad.
    4   Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
        like streams in the Negeb!
    5   Those who sow in tears
        shall reap with shouts of joy!
    6   He who goes out weeping,
        bearing the seed for sowing,
      shall come home with shouts of joy,
        bringing his sheaves with him.

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 12
    Job 12 (Listen)
    Job Replies: The Lord Has Done This

    12 Then Job answered and said:

    2   “No doubt you are the people,
        and wisdom will die with you.
    3   But I have understanding as well as you;
        I am not inferior to you.
        Who does not know such things as these?
    4   I am a laughingstock to my friends;
        I, who called to God and he answered me,
        a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
    5   In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
        it is ready for those whose feet slip.
    6   The tents of robbers are at peace,
        and those who provoke God are secure,
        who bring their god in their hand.The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain">1
    7   “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
        the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
    8   or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;Or or speak to the earth, and it will teach you">2
        and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
    9   Who among all these does not know
        that the hand of the LORD has done this?
    10   In his hand is the life of every living thing
        and the breath of all mankind.
    11   Does not the ear test words
        as the palate tastes food?
    12   Wisdom is with the aged,
        and understanding in length of days.
    13   “With GodHebrew him">3 are wisdom and might;
        he has counsel and understanding.
    14   If he tears down, none can rebuild;
        if he shuts a man in, none can open.
    15   If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
        if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
    16   With him are strength and sound wisdom;
        the deceived and the deceiver are his.
    17   He leads counselors away stripped,
        and judges he makes fools.
    18   He looses the bonds of kings
        and binds a waistcloth on their hips.
    19   He leads priests away stripped
        and overthrows the mighty.
    20   He deprives of speech those who are trusted
        and takes away the discernment of the elders.
    21   He pours contempt on princes
        and loosens the belt of the strong.
    22   He uncovers the deeps out of darkness
        and brings deep darkness to light.
    23   He makes nations great, and he destroys them;
        he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
    24   He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth
        and makes them wander in a trackless waste.
    25   They grope in the dark without light,
        and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.

    Footnotes

    [1] 12:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain


    [2] 12:8 Or or speak to the earth, and it will teach you

    [3] 12:13 Hebrew him

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 33–34
    Isaiah 33–34 (Listen)
    O Lord, Be Gracious to Us

    33   Ah, you destroyer,
        who yourself have not been destroyed,
      you traitor,
        whom none has betrayed!
      When you have ceased to destroy,
        you will be destroyed;
      and when you have finished betraying,
        they will betray you.
    2   O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you.
        Be our arm every morning,
        our salvation in the time of trouble.
    3   At the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
        when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
    4   and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
        as locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
    5   The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
        he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
    6   and he will be the stability of your times,
        abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
        the fear of the LORD is Zion'sHebrew his">1 treasure.
    7   Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
        the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
    8   The highways lie waste;
        the traveler ceases.
      Covenants are broken;
        citiesMasoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll witnesses">2 are despised;
        there is no regard for man.
    9   The land mourns and languishes;
        Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
      Sharon is like a desert,
        and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
    10   “Now I will arise,” says the LORD,
        “now I will lift myself up;
        now I will be exalted.
    11   You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
        your breath is a fire that will consume you.
    12   And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
        like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”
    13   Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
        and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
    14   The sinners in Zion are afraid;
        trembling has seized the godless:
      “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire?
        Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
    15   He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
        who despises the gain of oppressions,
      who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
        who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
        and shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
    16   he will dwell on the heights;
        his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
        his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
    17   Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
        they will see a land that stretches afar.
    18   Your heart will muse on the terror:
        “Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute?
        Where is he who counted the towers?”
    19   You will see no more the insolent people,
        the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
        stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
    20   Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
        Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
        an untroubled habitation, an immovable tent,
      whose stakes will never be plucked up,
        nor will any of its cords be broken.
    21   But there the LORD in majesty will be for us
        a place of broad rivers and streams,
      where no galley with oars can go,
        nor majestic ship can pass.
    22   For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver;
        the LORD is our king; he will save us.
    23   Your cords hang loose;
        they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
        or keep the sail spread out.
      Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
        even the lame will take the prey.
    24   And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;
        the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

    Judgment on the Nations

    34   Draw near, O nations, to hear,
        and give attention, O peoples!
      Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;
        the world, and all that comes from it.
    2   For the LORD is enraged against all the nations,
        and furious against all their host;
        he has devoted them to destruction,That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 5">3 has given them over for slaughter.
    3   Their slain shall be cast out,
        and the stench of their corpses shall rise;
        the mountains shall flow with their blood.
    4   All the host of heaven shall rot away,
        and the skies roll up like a scroll.
      All their host shall fall,
        as leaves fall from the vine,
        like leaves falling from the fig tree.
    5   For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens;
        behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom,
        upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
    6   The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood;
        it is gorged with fat,
        with the blood of lambs and goats,
        with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
      For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
        a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
    7   Wild oxen shall fall with them,
        and young steers with the mighty bulls.
      Their land shall drink its fill of blood,
        and their soil shall be gorged with fat.
    8   For the LORD has a day of vengeance,
        a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
    9   And the streams of EdomHebrew her streams">4 shall be turned into pitch,
        and her soil into sulfur;
        her land shall become burning pitch.
    10   Night and day it shall not be quenched;
        its smoke shall go up forever.
      From generation to generation it shall lie waste;
        none shall pass through it forever and ever.
    11   But the hawk and the porcupineThe identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain">5 shall possess it,
        the owl and the raven shall dwell in it.
      He shall stretch the line of confusionHebrew formlessness">6 over it,
        and the plumb line of emptiness.
    12   Its nobles—there is no one there to call it a kingdom,
        and all its princes shall be nothing.
    13   Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,
        nettles and thistles in its fortresses.
      It shall be the haunt of jackals,
        an abode for ostriches.Or owls">7
    14   And wild animals shall meet with hyenas;
        the wild goat shall cry to his fellow;
      indeed, there the night birdIdentity uncertain">8 settles
        and finds for herself a resting place.
    15   There the owl nests and lays
        and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow;
      indeed, there the hawks are gathered,
        each one with her mate.
    16   Seek and read from the book of the LORD:
        Not one of these shall be missing;
        none shall be without her mate.
      For the mouth of the LORD has commanded,
        and his Spirit has gathered them.
    17   He has cast the lot for them;
        his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;
      they shall possess it forever;
        from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.

    Footnotes

    [1] 33:6 Hebrew his


    [2] 33:8 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll witnesses

    [3] 34:2 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verse 5

    [4] 34:9 Hebrew her streams

    [5] 34:11 The identity of the animals rendered hawk and porcupine is uncertain

    [6] 34:11 Hebrew formlessness

    [7] 34:13 Or owls

    [8] 34:14 Identity uncertain

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    1 John 4
    1 John 4 (Listen)
    Test the Spirits

    4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

    God Is Love

    7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

    13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannotSome manuscripts how can he">1 love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

    Footnotes

    [1] 4:20 Some manuscripts how can he

    (ESV)

    13 min
  • December 5: Psalm 125; Job 11; Isaiah 30:18–32:20; 1 John 3:4–24
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 125
    Psalm 125 (Listen)
    The Lord Surrounds His People
    A Song of Ascents.

    125   Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
        which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
    2   As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
        so the LORD surrounds his people,
        from this time forth and forevermore.
    3   For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
        on the land allotted to the righteous,
      lest the righteous stretch out
        their hands to do wrong.
    4   Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
        and to those who are upright in their hearts!
    5   But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
        the LORD will lead away with evildoers!
        Peace be upon Israel!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 11
    Job 11 (Listen)
    Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse

    11 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

    2   “Should a multitude of words go unanswered,
        and a man full of talk be judged right?
    3   Should your babble silence men,
        and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
    4   For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure,
        and I am clean in God'sHebrew your">1 eyes.’
    5   But oh, that God would speak
        and open his lips to you,
    6   and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
        For he is manifold in understanding.The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain">2
      Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.
    7   “Can you find out the deep things of God?
        Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
    8   It is higher than heavenHebrew The heights of heaven">3—what can you do?
        Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
    9   Its measure is longer than the earth
        and broader than the sea.
    10   If he passes through and imprisons
        and summons the court, who can turn him back?
    11   For he knows worthless men;
        when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
    12   But a stupid man will get understanding
        when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!
    13   “If you prepare your heart,
        you will stretch out your hands toward him.
    14   If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
        and let not injustice dwell in your tents.
    15   Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;
        you will be secure and will not fear.
    16   You will forget your misery;
        you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
    17   And your life will be brighter than the noonday;
        its darkness will be like the morning.
    18   And you will feel secure, because there is hope;
        you will look around and take your rest in security.
    19   You will lie down, and none will make you afraid;
        many will court your favor.
    20   But the eyes of the wicked will fail;
        all way of escape will be lost to them,
        and their hope is to breathe their last.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 11:4 Hebrew your


    [2] 11:6 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

    [3] 11:8 Hebrew The heights of heaven

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 30:18–32:20
    Isaiah 30:18–32:20 (Listen)
    The Lord Will Be Gracious

    18   Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,
        and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
      For the LORD is a God of justice;
        blessed are all those who wait for him.

    19 For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. 20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”

    23 And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, 24 and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

    27   Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar,
        burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds">1
      his lips are full of fury,
        and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
    28   his breath is like an overflowing stream
        that reaches up to the neck;
      to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
        and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.

    29 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel. 30 And the LORD will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. 31 The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when he strikes with his rod. 32 And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. 33 For a burning placeOr For Topheth">2 has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.

    Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt

    31   WoeOr Ah,">3 to those who go down to Egypt for help
        and rely on horses,
      who trust in chariots because they are many
        and in horsemen because they are very strong,
      but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
        or consult the LORD!
    2   And yet he is wise and brings disaster;
        he does not call back his words,
      but will arise against the house of the evildoers
        and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.
    3   The Egyptians are man, and not God,
        and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
      When the LORD stretches out his hand,
        the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
        and they will all perish together.
    4   For thus the LORD said to me,
      “As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
        and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
      he is not terrified by their shouting
        or daunted at their noise,
      so the LORD of hosts will come down
        to fightThe Hebrew words for hosts and to fight sound alike">4 on Mount Zion and on its hill.
    5   Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts
        will protect Jerusalem;
      he will protect and deliver it;
        he will spare and rescue it.”

    6 Turn to him from whom peopleHebrew they">5 have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.

    8   “And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
        and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;
      and he shall flee from the sword,
        and his young men shall be put to forced labor.
    9   His rock shall pass away in terror,
        and his officers desert the standard in panic,”
      declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion,
        and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

    A King Will Reign in Righteousness

    32   Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,
        and princes will rule in justice.
    2   Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
        a shelter from the storm,
      like streams of water in a dry place,
        like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
    3   Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
        and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
    4   The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
        and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
    5   The fool will no more be called noble,
        nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.
    6   For the fool speaks folly,
        and his heart is busy with iniquity,
      to practice ungodliness,
        to utter error concerning the LORD,
      to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
        and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
    7   As for the scoundrel—his devices are evil;
        he plans wicked schemes
      to ruin the poor with lying words,
        even when the plea of the needy is right.
    8   But he who is noble plans noble things,
        and on noble things he stands.

    Complacent Women Warned of Disaster

    9   Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;
        you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
    10   In little more than a year
        you will shudder, you complacent women;
      for the grape harvest fails,
        the fruit harvest will not come.
    11   Tremble, you women who are at ease,
        shudder, you complacent ones;
      strip, and make yourselves bare,
        and tie sackcloth around your waist.
    12   Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
        for the fruitful vine,
    13   for the soil of my people
        growing up in thorns and briers,
      yes, for all the joyous houses
        in the exultant city.
    14   For the palace is forsaken,
        the populous city deserted;
      the hill and the watchtower
        will become dens forever,
      a joy of wild donkeys,
        a pasture of flocks;
    15   until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
        and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
        and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
    16   Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
        and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
    17   And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
        and the result of righteousness, quietness and trustOr security">6 forever.
    18   My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
        in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
    19   And it will hail when the forest falls down,
        and the city will be utterly laid low.
    20   Happy are you who sow beside all waters,
        who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.

    Footnotes

    [1] 30:27 Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds


    [2] 30:33 Or For Topheth

    [3] 31:1 Or Ah,

    [4] 31:4 The Hebrew words for hosts and to fight sound alike

    [5] 31:6 Hebrew they

    [6] 32:17 Or security

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    1 John 3:4–24
    1 John 3:4–24 (Listen)

    4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God'sGreek his">1 seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

    Love One Another

    11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 14, 16">2 that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

    16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

    19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,Greek him">3 and GodGreek he">4 in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

    Footnotes

    [1] 3:9 Greek his


    [2] 3:13 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 14, 16

    [3] 3:24 Greek him

    [4] 3:24 Greek he

    (ESV)

    14 min
  • December 4: Psalm 124; Job 9–10; Isaiah 29–30:17; 1 John 2:18–3:3
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 124
    Psalm 124 (Listen)
    Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord
    A Song of Ascents. Of David.

    124   If it had not been the LORD who was on our side—
        let Israel now say—
    2   if it had not been the LORD who was on our side
        when people rose up against us,
    3   then they would have swallowed us up alive,
        when their anger was kindled against us;
    4   then the flood would have swept us away,
        the torrent would have gone over us;
    5   then over us would have gone
        the raging waters.
    6   Blessed be the LORD,
        who has not given us
        as prey to their teeth!
    7   We have escaped like a bird
        from the snare of the fowlers;
      the snare is broken,
        and we have escaped!
    8   Our help is in the name of the LORD,
        who made heaven and earth.

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 9–10
    Job 9–10 (Listen)
    Job Replies: There Is No Arbiter

    9 Then Job answered and said:

    2   “Truly I know that it is so:
        But how can a man be in the right before God?
    3   If one wished to contend with him,
        one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
    4   He is wise in heart and mighty in strength
        —who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
    5   he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
        when he overturns them in his anger,
    6   who shakes the earth out of its place,
        and its pillars tremble;
    7   who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
        who seals up the stars;
    8   who alone stretched out the heavens
        and trampled the waves of the sea;
    9   who made the Bear and Orion,
        the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;
    10   who does great things beyond searching out,
        and marvelous things beyond number.
    11   Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
        he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
    12   Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back?
        Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
    13   “God will not turn back his anger;
        beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.
    14   How then can I answer him,
        choosing my words with him?
    15   Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
        I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.Or to my judge">1
    16   If I summoned him and he answered me,
        I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
    17   For he crushes me with a tempest
        and multiplies my wounds without cause;
    18   he will not let me get my breath,
        but fills me with bitterness.
    19   If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!
        If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?Or who can grant me a hearing?">2
    20   Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
        though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
    21   I am blameless; I regard not myself;
        I loathe my life.
    22   It is all one; therefore I say,
        ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
    23   When disaster brings sudden death,
        he mocks at the calamityThe meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">3 of the innocent.
    24   The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
        he covers the faces of its judges—
        if it is not he, who then is it?
    25   “My days are swifter than a runner;
        they flee away; they see no good.
    26   They go by like skiffs of reed,
        like an eagle swooping on the prey.
    27   If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
        I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,’
    28   I become afraid of all my suffering,
        for I know you will not hold me innocent.
    29   I shall be condemned;
        why then do I labor in vain?
    30   If I wash myself with snow
        and cleanse my hands with lye,
    31   yet you will plunge me into a pit,
        and my own clothes will abhor me.
    32   For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
        that we should come to trial together.
    33   There is noOr Would that there were an">4 arbiter between us,
        who might lay his hand on us both.
    34   Let him take his rod away from me,
        and let not dread of him terrify me.
    35   Then I would speak without fear of him,
        for I am not so in myself.

    Job Continues: A Plea to God

    10   “I loathe my life;
      I will give free utterance to my complaint;
        I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
    2   I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
        let me know why you contend against me.
    3   Does it seem good to you to oppress,
        to despise the work of your hands
        and favor the designs of the wicked?
    4   Have you eyes of flesh?
        Do you see as man sees?
    5   Are your days as the days of man,
        or your years as a man's years,
    6   that you seek out my iniquity
        and search for my sin,
    7   although you know that I am not guilty,
        and there is none to deliver out of your hand?
    8   Your hands fashioned and made me,
        and now you have destroyed me altogether.
    9   Remember that you have made me like clay;
        and will you return me to the dust?
    10   Did you not pour me out like milk
        and curdle me like cheese?
    11   You clothed me with skin and flesh,
        and knit me together with bones and sinews.
    12   You have granted me life and steadfast love,
        and your care has preserved my spirit.
    13   Yet these things you hid in your heart;
        I know that this was your purpose.
    14   If I sin, you watch me
        and do not acquit me of my iniquity.
    15   If I am guilty, woe to me!
        If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head,
      for I am filled with disgrace
        and look on my affliction.
    16   And were my head lifted up,Hebrew lacks my head">5 you would hunt me like a lion
        and again work wonders against me.
    17   You renew your witnesses against me
        and increase your vexation toward me;
        you bring fresh troops against me.
    18   “Why did you bring me out from the womb?
        Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
    19   and were as though I had not been,
        carried from the womb to the grave.
    20   Are not my days few?
        Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer
    21   before I go—and I shall not return—
        to the land of darkness and deep shadow,
    22   the land of gloom like thick darkness,
        like deep shadow without any order,
        where light is as thick darkness.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 9:15 Or to my judge


    [2] 9:19 Or who can grant me a hearing?

    [3] 9:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    [4] 9:33 Or Would that there were an

    [5] 10:16 Hebrew lacks my head

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 29–30:17
    Isaiah 29–30:17 (Listen)
    The Siege of Jerusalem

    29   Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
        the city where David encamped!
      Add year to year;
        let the feasts run their round.
    2   Yet I will distress Ariel,
        and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
        and she shall be to me like an Ariel.Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)">1
    3   And I will encamp against you all around,
        and will besiege you with towers
        and I will raise siegeworks against you.
    4   And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
        and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
      your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
        and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
    5   But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust,
        and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
      And in an instant, suddenly,
    6     you will be visited by the LORD of hosts
      with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
        with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
    7   And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
        all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
        shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
    8   As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
        and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
      or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
        and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
      so shall the multitude of all the nations be
        that fight against Mount Zion.
    9   Astonish yourselvesOr Linger awhile">2 and be astonished;
        blind yourselves and be blind!
      Be drunk,Or They are drunk">3 but not with wine;
        stagger,Or they stagger">4 but not with strong drink!
    10   For the LORD has poured out upon you
        a spirit of deep sleep,
      and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
        and covered your heads (the seers).

    11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”

    13   And the Lord said:
      “Because this people draw near with their mouth
        and honor me with their lips,
        while their hearts are far from me,
      and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
    14   therefore, behold, I will again
        do wonderful things with this people,
        with wonder upon wonder;
      and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
        and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”
    15   Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel,
        whose deeds are in the dark,
        and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”
    16   You turn things upside down!
      Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
      that the thing made should say of its maker,
        “He did not make me”;
      or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
        “He has no understanding”?
    17   Is it not yet a very little while
        until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
        and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
    18   In that day the deaf shall hear
        the words of a book,
      and out of their gloom and darkness
        the eyes of the blind shall see.
    19   The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD,
        and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
    20   For the ruthless shall come to nothing
        and the scoffer cease,
        and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
    21   who by a word make a man out to be an offender,
        and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
        and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.

    22 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

      “Jacob shall no more be ashamed,
        no more shall his face grow pale.
    23   For when he sees his children,
        the work of my hands, in his midst,
        they will sanctify my name;
      they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
        and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
    24   And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
        and those who murmur will accept instruction.”

    Do Not Go Down to Egypt

    30   “Ah, stubborn children,” declares the LORD,
      “who carry out a plan, but not mine,
      and who make an alliance,Hebrew who weave a web">5 but not of my Spirit,
        that they may add sin to sin;
    2   who set out to go down to Egypt,
        without asking for my direction,
      to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
        and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
    3   Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
        and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.
    4   For though his officials are at Zoan
        and his envoys reach Hanes,
    5   everyone comes to shame
        through a people that cannot profit them,
      that brings neither help nor profit,
        but shame and disgrace.”

    6 An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb.

      Through a land of trouble and anguish,
        from where come the lioness and the lion,
        the adder and the flying fiery serpent,
      they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys,
        and their treasures on the humps of camels,
        to a people that cannot profit them.
    7   Egypt's help is worthless and empty;
        therefore I have called her
        “Rahab who sits still.”

    A Rebellious People

    8   And now, go, write it before them on a tablet
        and inscribe it in a book,
      that it may be for the time to come
        as a witness forever.Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate, and Greek versions; Masoretic Text forever and ever">6
    9   For they are a rebellious people,
        lying children,
      children unwilling to hear
        the instruction of the LORD;
    10   who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
        and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
      speak to us smooth things,
        prophesy illusions,
    11   leave the way, turn aside from the path,
        let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
    12   Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
      “Because you despise this word
        and trust in oppression and perverseness
        and rely on them,
    13   therefore this iniquity shall be to you
        like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
        whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
    14   and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel
        that is smashed so ruthlessly
      that among its fragments not a shard is found
        with which to take fire from the hearth,
        or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
    15   For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,
      “In returningOr repentance">7 and rest you shall be saved;
        in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
      But you were unwilling, 16 and you said,
      “No! We will flee upon horses”;
        therefore you shall flee away;
      and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
        therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
    17   A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
        at the threat of five you shall flee,
      till you are left
        like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
        like a signal on a hill.

    Footnotes

    [1] 29:2 Ariel could mean lion of God, or hero (2 Samuel 23:20), or altar hearth (Ezekiel 43:15–16)


    [2] 29:9 Or Linger awhile

    [3] 29:9 Or They are drunk

    [4] 29:9 Or they stagger

    [5] 30:1 Hebrew who weave a web

    [6] 30:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate, and Greek versions; Masoretic Text forever and ever

    [7] 30:15 Or repentance

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    1 John 2:18–3:3
    1 John 2:18–3:3 (Listen)
    Warning Concerning Antichrists

    18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.Some manuscripts you know everything">1 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to usSome manuscripts you">2—eternal life.

    26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

    Children of God

    28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

    3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appearsOr when it appears">3 we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

    Footnotes

    [1] 2:20 Some manuscripts you know everything


    [2] 2:25 Some manuscripts you

    [3] 3:2 Or when it appears

    (ESV)

    16 min
  • December 3: Psalm 123; Job 8; Isaiah 28; 1 John 2:7–17
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 123
    Psalm 123 (Listen)
    Our Eyes Look to the Lord Our God
    A Song of Ascents.

    123   To you I lift up my eyes,
        O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
    2   Behold, as the eyes of servants
        look to the hand of their master,
      as the eyes of a maidservant
        to the hand of her mistress,
      so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
        till he has mercy upon us.
    3   Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,
        for we have had more than enough of contempt.
    4   Our soul has had more than enough
        of the scorn of those who are at ease,
        of the contempt of the proud.

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 8
    Job 8 (Listen)
    Bildad Speaks: Job Should Repent

    8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

    2   “How long will you say these things,
        and the words of your mouth be a great wind?
    3   Does God pervert justice?
        Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
    4   If your children have sinned against him,
        he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
    5   If you will seek God
        and plead with the Almighty for mercy,
    6   if you are pure and upright,
        surely then he will rouse himself for you
        and restore your rightful habitation.
    7   And though your beginning was small,
        your latter days will be very great.
    8   “For inquire, please, of bygone ages,
        and consider what the fathers have searched out.
    9   For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
        for our days on earth are a shadow.
    10   Will they not teach you and tell you
        and utter words out of their understanding?
    11   “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
        Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
    12   While yet in flower and not cut down,
        they wither before any other plant.
    13   Such are the paths of all who forget God;
        the hope of the godless shall perish.
    14   His confidence is severed,
        and his trust is a spider's web.Hebrew house">1
    15   He leans against his house, but it does not stand;
        he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
    16   He is a lush plant before the sun,
        and his shoots spread over his garden.
    17   His roots entwine the stone heap;
        he looks upon a house of stones.
    18   If he is destroyed from his place,
        then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
    19   Behold, this is the joy of his way,
        and out of the soil others will spring.
    20   “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,
        nor take the hand of evildoers.
    21   He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
        and your lips with shouting.
    22   Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
        and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 8:14 Hebrew house

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 28
    Isaiah 28 (Listen)
    Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem

    28   Ah, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
        and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
        which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine!
    2   Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong;
        like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest,
      like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters,
        he casts down to the earth with his hand.
    3   The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim
        will be trodden underfoot;
    4   and the fading flower of its glorious beauty,
        which is on the head of the rich valley,
      will be like a first-ripe figOr fruit">1 before the summer:
        when someone sees it, he swallows it
        as soon as it is in his hand.
    5   In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory,The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike">2
        and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,
    6   and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
        and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
    7   These also reel with wine
        and stagger with strong drink;
      the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink,
        they are swallowed byOr confused by">3 wine,
        they stagger with strong drink,
      they reel in vision,
        they stumble in giving judgment.
    8   For all tables are full of filthy vomit,
        with no space left.
    9   “To whom will he teach knowledge,
        and to whom will he explain the message?
      Those who are weaned from the milk,
        those taken from the breast?
    10   For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
        line upon line, line upon line,
        here a little, there a little.”
    11   For by people of strange lips
        and with a foreign tongue
      the LORD will speak to this people,
    12     to whom he has said,
      “This is rest;
        give rest to the weary;
      and this is repose”;
        yet they would not hear.
    13   And the word of the LORD will be to them
      precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
        line upon line, line upon line,
        here a little, there a little,
      that they may go, and fall backward,
        and be broken, and snared, and taken.

    A Cornerstone in Zion

    14   Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers,
        who rule this people in Jerusalem!
    15   Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
        and with Sheol we have an agreement,
      when the overwhelming whip passes through
        it will not come to us,
      for we have made lies our refuge,
        and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
    16   therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
      “Behold, I am the one who has laidDead Sea Scroll I am laying">4 as a foundation in Zion,
        a stone, a tested stone,
      a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
        ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
    17   And I will make justice the line,
        and righteousness the plumb line;
      and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
        and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
    18   Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
        and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
      when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
        you will be beaten down by it.
    19   As often as it passes through it will take you;
        for morning by morning it will pass through,
        by day and by night;
      and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
    20   For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
        and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
    21   For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim;
        as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused;
      to do his deed—strange is his deed!
        and to work his work—alien is his work!
    22   Now therefore do not scoff,
        lest your bonds be made strong;
      for I have heard a decree of destruction
        from the Lord GOD of hosts against the whole land.
    23   Give ear, and hear my voice;
        give attention, and hear my speech.
    24   Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
        Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
    25   When he has leveled its surface,
        does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
      and put in wheat in rows
        and barley in its proper place,
        and emmerA type of wheat">5 as the border?
    26   For he is rightly instructed;
        his God teaches him.
    27   Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
        nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
      but dill is beaten out with a stick,
        and cumin with a rod.
    28   Does one crush grain for bread?
        No, he does not thresh it forever;Or Grain is crushed for bread; he will surely thresh it, but not forever">6
      when he drives his cart wheel over it
        with his horses, he does not crush it.
    29   This also comes from the LORD of hosts;
        he is wonderful in counsel
        and excellent in wisdom.

    Footnotes

    [1] 28:4 Or fruit


    [2] 28:5 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike

    [3] 28:7 Or confused by

    [4] 28:16 Dead Sea Scroll I am laying

    [5] 28:25 A type of wheat

    [6] 28:28 Or Grain is crushed for bread; he will surely thresh it, but not forever

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    1 John 2:7–17
    1 John 2:7–17 (Listen)
    The New Commandment

    7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, becauseOr that">1 the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in himOr it">2 there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

    12   I am writing to you, little children,
        because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.
    13   I am writing to you, fathers,
        because you know him who is from the beginning.
      I am writing to you, young men,
        because you have overcome the evil one.
      I write to you, children,
        because you know the Father.
    14   I write to you, fathers,
        because you know him who is from the beginning.
      I write to you, young men,
        because you are strong,
        and the word of God abides in you,
        and you have overcome the evil one.

    Do Not Love the World

    15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of lifeOr pride in possessions">3—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

    Footnotes

    [1] 2:8 Or that


    [2] 2:10 Or it

    [3] 2:16 Or pride in possessions

    (ESV)

    10 min
  • December 2: Psalm 122; Job 6–7; Isaiah 26–27; 1 John 1–2:6
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 122
    Psalm 122 (Listen)
    Let Us Go to the House of the Lord
    A Song of Ascents. Of David.

    122   I was glad when they said to me,
        “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
    2   Our feet have been standing
        within your gates, O Jerusalem!
    3   Jerusalem—built as a city
        that is bound firmly together,
    4   to which the tribes go up,
        the tribes of the LORD,
      as was decreed forOr as a testimony for">1 Israel,
        to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
    5   There thrones for judgment were set,
        the thrones of the house of David.
    6   Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
        “May they be secure who love you!
    7   Peace be within your walls
        and security within your towers!”
    8   For my brothers and companions' sake
        I will say, “Peace be within you!”
    9   For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
        I will seek your good.

    Footnotes

    [1] 122:4 Or as a testimony for

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 6–7
    Job 6–7 (Listen)
    Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

    6 Then Job answered and said:

    2   “Oh that my vexation were weighed,
        and all my calamity laid in the balances!
    3   For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
        therefore my words have been rash.
    4   For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
        my spirit drinks their poison;
        the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
    5   Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
        or the ox low over his fodder?
    6   Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
        or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">1
    7   My appetite refuses to touch them;
        they are as food that is loathsome to me.The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain">2
    8   “Oh that I might have my request,
        and that God would fulfill my hope,
    9   that it would please God to crush me,
        that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
    10   This would be my comfort;
        I would even exultThe meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">3 in pain unsparing,
        for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
    11   What is my strength, that I should wait?
        And what is my end, that I should be patient?
    12   Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
    13   Have I any help in me,
        when resource is driven from me?
    14   “He who withholdsSyriac, Vulgate (compare Targum); the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">4 kindness from a friend
        forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
    15   My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed,
        as torrential streams that pass away,
    16   which are dark with ice,
        and where the snow hides itself.
    17   When they melt, they disappear;
        when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
    18   The caravans turn aside from their course;
        they go up into the waste and perish.
    19   The caravans of Tema look,
        the travelers of Sheba hope.
    20   They are ashamed because they were confident;
        they come there and are disappointed.
    21   For you have now become nothing;
        you see my calamity and are afraid.
    22   Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
        Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
    23   Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary's hand’?
        Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’?
    24   “Teach me, and I will be silent;
        make me understand how I have gone astray.
    25   How forceful are upright words!
        But what does reproof from you reprove?
    26   Do you think that you can reprove words,
        when the speech of a despairing man is wind?
    27   You would even cast lots over the fatherless,
        and bargain over your friend.
    28   “But now, be pleased to look at me,
        for I will not lie to your face.
    29   Please turn; let no injustice be done.
        Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
    30   Is there any injustice on my tongue?
        Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

    Job Continues: My Life Has No Hope

    7   “Has not man a hard service on earth,
        and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?
    2   Like a slave who longs for the shadow,
        and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,
    3   so I am allotted months of emptiness,
        and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
    4   When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’
        But the night is long,
        and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
    5   My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
        my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.
    6   My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle
        and come to their end without hope.
    7   “Remember that my life is a breath;
        my eye will never again see good.
    8   The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;
        while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.
    9   As the cloud fades and vanishes,
        so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;
    10   he returns no more to his house,
        nor does his place know him anymore.
    11   “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
        I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
        I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
    12   Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
        that you set a guard over me?
    13   When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
        my couch will ease my complaint,’
    14   then you scare me with dreams
        and terrify me with visions,
    15   so that I would choose strangling
        and death rather than my bones.
    16   I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
        Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.
    17   What is man, that you make so much of him,
        and that you set your heart on him,
    18   visit him every morning
        and test him every moment?
    19   How long will you not look away from me,
        nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
    20   If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?
        Why have you made me your mark?
        Why have I become a burden to you?
    21   Why do you not pardon my transgression
        and take away my iniquity?
      For now I shall lie in the earth;
        you will seek me, but I shall not be.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 6:6 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain


    [2] 6:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

    [3] 6:10 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    [4] 6:14 Syriac, Vulgate (compare Targum); the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 26–27
    Isaiah 26–27 (Listen)
    You Keep Him in Perfect Peace

    26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

      “We have a strong city;
        he sets up salvation
        as walls and bulwarks.
    2   Open the gates,
        that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
    3   You keep him in perfect peace
        whose mind is stayed on you,
        because he trusts in you.
    4   Trust in the LORD forever,
        for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.
    5   For he has humbled
        the inhabitants of the height,
        the lofty city.
      He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
        casts it to the dust.
    6   The foot tramples it,
        the feet of the poor,
        the steps of the needy.”
    7   The path of the righteous is level;
        you make level the way of the righteous.
    8   In the path of your judgments,
        O LORD, we wait for you;
      your name and remembrance
        are the desire of our soul.
    9   My soul yearns for you in the night;
        my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
      For when your judgments are in the earth,
        the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
    10   If favor is shown to the wicked,
        he does not learn righteousness;
      in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
        and does not see the majesty of the LORD.
    11   O LORD, your hand is lifted up,
        but they do not see it.
      Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
        Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.
    12   O LORD, you will ordain peace for us,
        for you have indeed done for us all our works.
    13   O LORD our God,
        other lords besides you have ruled over us,
        but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
    14   They are dead, they will not live;
        they are shades, they will not arise;
      to that end you have visited them with destruction
        and wiped out all remembrance of them.
    15   But you have increased the nation, O LORD,
        you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
        you have enlarged all the borders of the land.
    16   O LORD, in distress they sought you;
        they poured out a whispered prayer
        when your discipline was upon them.
    17   Like a pregnant woman
        who writhes and cries out in her pangs
        when she is near to giving birth,
      so were we because of you, O LORD;
    18     we were pregnant, we writhed,
        but we have given birth to wind.
      We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
        and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
    19   Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
        You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
      For your dew is a dew of light,
        and the earth will give birth to the dead.
    20   Come, my people, enter your chambers,
        and shut your doors behind you;
      hide yourselves for a little while
        until the fury has passed by.
    21   For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place
        to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,
      and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
        and will no more cover its slain.

    The Redemption of Israel

    27 In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

    2   In that day,
      “A pleasant vineyard,Many Hebrew manuscripts A vineyard of wine">1 sing of it!
    3     I, the LORD, am its keeper;
        every moment I water it.
        Lest anyone punish it,
      I keep it night and day;
    4     I have no wrath.
      Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!
        I would march against them,
        I would burn them up together.
    5   Or let them lay hold of my protection,
        let them make peace with me,
        let them make peace with me.”
    6   In days to comeHebrew In those to come">2 Jacob shall take root,
        Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots
        and fill the whole world with fruit.
    7   Has he struck them as he struck those who struck them?
        Or have they been slain as their slayers were slain?
    8   Measure by measure,Or By driving her away; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">3 by exile you contended with them;
        he removed them with his fierce breathOr wind">4 in the day of the east wind.
    9   Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
        and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:Septuagint and this is the blessing when I take away his sin">5
      when he makes all the stones of the altars
        like chalkstones crushed to pieces,
        no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing.
    10   For the fortified city is solitary,
        a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness;
      there the calf grazes;
        there it lies down and strips its branches.
    11   When its boughs are dry, they are broken;
        women come and make a fire of them.
      For this is a people without discernment;
        therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them;
        he who formed them will show them no favor.

    12 In that day from the river EuphratesHebrew from the River">6 to the Brook of Egypt the LORD will thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by one, O people of Israel. 13 And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

    Footnotes

    [1] 27:2 Many Hebrew manuscripts A vineyard of wine


    [2] 27:6 Hebrew In those to come

    [3] 27:8 Or By driving her away; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    [4] 27:8 Or wind

    [5] 27:9 Septuagint and this is the blessing when I take away his sin

    [6] 27:12 Hebrew from the River

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    1 John 1–2:6
    1 John 1–2:6 (Listen)
    The Word of Life

    1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that ourSome manuscripts your">1 joy may be complete.

    Walking in the Light

    5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

    Christ Our Advocate

    2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

    Footnotes

    [1] 1:4 Some manuscripts your

    (ESV)

    14 min
  • December 1: Psalm 121; Job 4–5; Isaiah 25; John 21
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 121
    Psalm 121 (Listen)
    My Help Comes from the Lord
    A Song of Ascents.

    121   I lift up my eyes to the hills.
        From where does my help come?
    2   My help comes from the LORD,
        who made heaven and earth.
    3   He will not let your foot be moved;
        he who keeps you will not slumber.
    4   Behold, he who keeps Israel
        will neither slumber nor sleep.
    5   The LORD is your keeper;
        the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
    6   The sun shall not strike you by day,
        nor the moon by night.
    7   The LORD will keep you from all evil;
        he will keep your life.
    8   The LORD will keep
        your going out and your coming in
        from this time forth and forevermore.

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 4–5
    Job 4–5 (Listen)
    Eliphaz Speaks: The Innocent Prosper

    4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

    2   “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?
        Yet who can keep from speaking?
    3   Behold, you have instructed many,
        and you have strengthened the weak hands.
    4   Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
        and you have made firm the feeble knees.
    5   But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
        it touches you, and you are dismayed.
    6   Is not your fear of GodHebrew lacks of God">1 your confidence,
        and the integrity of your ways your hope?
    7   “Remember: who that was innocent ever perished?
        Or where were the upright cut off?
    8   As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
        and sow trouble reap the same.
    9   By the breath of God they perish,
        and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
    10   The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
        the teeth of the young lions are broken.
    11   The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
        and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
    12   “Now a word was brought to me stealthily;
        my ear received the whisper of it.
    13   Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
        when deep sleep falls on men,
    14   dread came upon me, and trembling,
        which made all my bones shake.
    15   A spirit glided past my face;
        the hair of my flesh stood up.
    16   It stood still,
        but I could not discern its appearance.
      A form was before my eyes;
        there was silence, then I heard a voice:
    17   ‘Can mortal man be in the right beforeOr more than; twice in this verse">2 God?
        Can a man be pure before his Maker?
    18   Even in his servants he puts no trust,
        and his angels he charges with error;
    19   how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
        whose foundation is in the dust,
        who are crushed likeOr before">3 the moth.
    20   Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;
        they perish forever without anyone regarding it.
    21   Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them,
        do they not die, and that without wisdom?’
    5   “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
        To which of the holy ones will you turn?
    2   Surely vexation kills the fool,
        and jealousy slays the simple.
    3   I have seen the fool taking root,
        but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
    4   His children are far from safety;
        they are crushed in the gate,
        and there is no one to deliver them.
    5   The hungry eat his harvest,
        and he takes it even out of thorns,The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain">4
        and the thirsty pantAquila, Symmachus, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew could be read as and the snare pants">5 after hisHebrew their">6 wealth.
    6   For affliction does not come from the dust,
        nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
    7   but man is born to trouble
        as the sparks fly upward.
    8   “As for me, I would seek God,
        and to God would I commit my cause,
    9   who does great things and unsearchable,
        marvelous things without number:
    10   he gives rain on the earth
        and sends waters on the fields;
    11   he sets on high those who are lowly,
        and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
    12   He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
        so that their hands achieve no success.
    13   He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
        and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
    14   They meet with darkness in the daytime
        and grope at noonday as in the night.
    15   But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
        and from the hand of the mighty.
    16   So the poor have hope,
        and injustice shuts her mouth.
    17   “Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves;
        therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
    18   For he wounds, but he binds up;
        he shatters, but his hands heal.
    19   He will deliver you from six troubles;
        in seven no evilOr disaster">7 shall touch you.
    20   In famine he will redeem you from death,
        and in war from the power of the sword.
    21   You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue,
        and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
    22   At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
        and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.
    23   For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
        and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
    24   You shall know that your tent is at peace,
        and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
    25   You shall know also that your offspring shall be many,
        and your descendants as the grass of the earth.
    26   You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
        like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
    27   Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.
        Hear, and know it for your good.”Hebrew for yourself">8

    Footnotes

    [1] 4:6 Hebrew lacks of God


    [2] 4:17 Or more than; twice in this verse

    [3] 4:19 Or before

    [4] 5:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

    [5] 5:5 Aquila, Symmachus, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew could be read as and the snare pants

    [6] 5:5 Hebrew their

    [7] 5:19 Or disaster

    [8] 5:27 Hebrew for yourself

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 25
    Isaiah 25 (Listen)
    God Will Swallow Up Death Forever

    25   O LORD, you are my God;
        I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
      for you have done wonderful things,
        plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
    2   For you have made the city a heap,
        the fortified city a ruin;
      the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
        it will never be rebuilt.
    3   Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
        cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
    4   For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
        a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
        a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
      for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
    5     like heat in a dry place.
      You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
        as heat by the shade of a cloud,
        so the song of the ruthless is put down.
    6   On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
        a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
        of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
    7   And he will swallow up on this mountain
        the covering that is cast over all peoples,
        the veil that is spread over all nations.
    8     He will swallow up death forever;
      and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
        and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
        for the LORD has spoken.
    9   It will be said on that day,
        “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
        This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
        let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
    10   For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain,
        and Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
        as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.The Hebrew words for dunghill and for the Moabite town Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2) sound alike">1
    11   And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
        as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
        but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skillOr in spite of the skill">2 of his hands.
    12   And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
        lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

    Footnotes

    [1] 25:10 The Hebrew words for dunghill and for the Moabite town Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2) sound alike


    [2] 25:11 Or in spite of the skill

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 21
    John 21 (Listen)
    Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

    21 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

    4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yardsGreek two hundred cubits; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters">1 off.

    9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

    Jesus and Peter

    15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

    Jesus and the Beloved Apostle

    20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothersOr brothers and sisters">2 that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

    24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

    25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

    Footnotes

    [1] 21:8 Greek two hundred cubits; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters


    [2] 21:23 Or brothers and sisters

    (ESV)

    12 min
  • November 30: Psalm 120; Job 3; Isaiah 24; John 20
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 120
    Psalm 120 (Listen)
    Deliver Me, O Lord
    A Song of Ascents.

    120   In my distress I called to the LORD,
        and he answered me.
    2   Deliver me, O LORD,
        from lying lips,
        from a deceitful tongue.
    3   What shall be given to you,
        and what more shall be done to you,
        you deceitful tongue?
    4   A warrior's sharp arrows,
        with glowing coals of the broom tree!
    5   Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
        that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
    6   Too long have I had my dwelling
        among those who hate peace.
    7   I am for peace,
        but when I speak, they are for war!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 3
    Job 3 (Listen)
    Job Laments His Birth

    3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job said:

    3   “Let the day perish on which I was born,
        and the night that said,
        ‘A man is conceived.’
    4   Let that day be darkness!
        May God above not seek it,
        nor light shine upon it.
    5   Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.
        Let clouds dwell upon it;
        let the blackness of the day terrify it.
    6   That night—let thick darkness seize it!
        Let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
        let it not come into the number of the months.
    7   Behold, let that night be barren;
        let no joyful cry enter it.
    8   Let those curse it who curse the day,
        who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.
    9   Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
        let it hope for light, but have none,
        nor see the eyelids of the morning,
    10   because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb,
        nor hide trouble from my eyes.
    11   “Why did I not die at birth,
        come out from the womb and expire?
    12   Why did the knees receive me?
        Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
    13   For then I would have lain down and been quiet;
        I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,
    14   with kings and counselors of the earth
        who rebuilt ruins for themselves,
    15   or with princes who had gold,
        who filled their houses with silver.
    16   Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child,
        as infants who never see the light?
    17   There the wicked cease from troubling,
        and there the weary are at rest.
    18   There the prisoners are at ease together;
        they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
    19   The small and the great are there,
        and the slave is free from his master.
    20   “Why is light given to him who is in misery,
        and life to the bitter in soul,
    21   who long for death, but it comes not,
        and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
    22   who rejoice exceedingly
        and are glad when they find the grave?
    23   Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
        whom God has hedged in?
    24   For my sighing comes instead ofOr like; Hebrew before">1 my bread,
        and my groanings are poured out like water.
    25   For the thing that I fear comes upon me,
        and what I dread befalls me.
    26   I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
        I have no rest, but trouble comes.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 3:24 Or like; Hebrew before

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 24
    Isaiah 24 (Listen)
    Judgment on the Whole Earth

    24   Behold, the LORD will empty the earthOr land; also throughout this chapter">1 and make it desolate,
        and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
    2   And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
        as with the slave, so with his master;
        as with the maid, so with her mistress;
      as with the buyer, so with the seller;
        as with the lender, so with the borrower;
        as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
    3   The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
        for the LORD has spoken this word.
    4   The earth mourns and withers;
        the world languishes and withers;
        the highest people of the earth languish.
    5   The earth lies defiled
        under its inhabitants;
      for they have transgressed the laws,
        violated the statutes,
        broken the everlasting covenant.
    6   Therefore a curse devours the earth,
        and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
      therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
        and few men are left.
    7   The wine mourns,
        the vine languishes,
        all the merry-hearted sigh.
    8   The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
        the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
        the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
    9   No more do they drink wine with singing;
        strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
    10   The wasted city is broken down;
        every house is shut up so that none can enter.
    11   There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
        all joy has grown dark;
        the gladness of the earth is banished.
    12   Desolation is left in the city;
        the gates are battered into ruins.
    13   For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
        among the nations,
      as when an olive tree is beaten,
        as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.
    14   They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
        over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west.Hebrew from the sea">2
    15   Therefore in the eastHebrew in the realm of light, or with the fires">3 give glory to the LORD;
        in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
    16   From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
        of glory to the Righteous One.
      But I say, “I waste away,
        I waste away. Woe is me!
      For the traitors have betrayed,
        with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”
    17   Terror and the pit and the snareThe Hebrew words for terror, pit, and snare sound alike">4
        are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!
    18   He who flees at the sound of the terror
        shall fall into the pit,
      and he who climbs out of the pit
        shall be caught in the snare.
      For the windows of heaven are opened,
        and the foundations of the earth tremble.
    19   The earth is utterly broken,
        the earth is split apart,
        the earth is violently shaken.
    20   The earth staggers like a drunken man;
        it sways like a hut;
      its transgression lies heavy upon it,
        and it falls, and will not rise again.
    21   On that day the LORD will punish
        the host of heaven, in heaven,
        and the kings of the earth, on the earth.
    22   They will be gathered together
        as prisoners in a pit;
      they will be shut up in a prison,
        and after many days they will be punished.
    23   Then the moon will be confounded
        and the sun ashamed,
      for the LORD of hosts reigns
        on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
      and his glory will be before his elders.

    Footnotes

    [1] 24:1 Or land; also throughout this chapter


    [2] 24:14 Hebrew from the sea

    [3] 24:15 Hebrew in the realm of light, or with the fires

    [4] 24:17 The Hebrew words for terror, pit, and snare sound alike

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 20
    John 20 (Listen)
    The Resurrection

    20 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus'Greek his">1 head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.

    Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

    11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,Or Hebrew">2 “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

    Jesus Appears to the Disciples

    19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time">3 Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

    Jesus and Thomas

    24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,Greek Didymus">4 was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

    26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

    The Purpose of This Book

    30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

    Footnotes

    [1] 20:7 Greek his


    [2] 20:16 Or Hebrew

    [3] 20:19 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time

    [4] 20:24 Greek Didymus

    (ESV)

    11 min
  • November 29: Psalm 119:89–176; Job 2; Isaiah 23; John 19:17–42
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 119:89–176
    Psalm 119:89–176 (Listen)
    Lamedh

    89   Forever, O LORD, your word
        is firmly fixed in the heavens.
    90   Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
        you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
    91   By your appointment they stand this day,
        for all things are your servants.
    92   If your law had not been my delight,
        I would have perished in my affliction.
    93   I will never forget your precepts,
        for by them you have given me life.
    94   I am yours; save me,
        for I have sought your precepts.
    95   The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
        but I consider your testimonies.
    96   I have seen a limit to all perfection,
        but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

    Mem

    97   Oh how I love your law!
        It is my meditation all the day.
    98   Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
        for it is ever with me.
    99   I have more understanding than all my teachers,
        for your testimonies are my meditation.
    100   I understand more than the aged,Or the elders">1
        for I keep your precepts.
    101   I hold back my feet from every evil way,
        in order to keep your word.
    102   I do not turn aside from your rules,
        for you have taught me.
    103   How sweet are your words to my taste,
        sweeter than honey to my mouth!
    104   Through your precepts I get understanding;
        therefore I hate every false way.

    Nun

    105   Your word is a lamp to my feet
        and a light to my path.
    106   I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
        to keep your righteous rules.
    107   I am severely afflicted;
        give me life, O LORD, according to your word!
    108   Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O LORD,
        and teach me your rules.
    109   I hold my life in my hand continually,
        but I do not forget your law.
    110   The wicked have laid a snare for me,
        but I do not stray from your precepts.
    111   Your testimonies are my heritage forever,
        for they are the joy of my heart.
    112   I incline my heart to perform your statutes
        forever, to the end.Or statutes; the reward is eternal">2

    Samekh

    113   I hate the double-minded,
        but I love your law.
    114   You are my hiding place and my shield;
        I hope in your word.
    115   Depart from me, you evildoers,
        that I may keep the commandments of my God.
    116   Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live,
        and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
    117   Hold me up, that I may be safe
        and have regard for your statutes continually!
    118   You spurn all who go astray from your statutes,
        for their cunning is in vain.
    119   All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross,
        therefore I love your testimonies.
    120   My flesh trembles for fear of you,
        and I am afraid of your judgments.

    Ayin

    121   I have done what is just and right;
        do not leave me to my oppressors.
    122   Give your servant a pledge of good;
        let not the insolent oppress me.
    123   My eyes long for your salvation
        and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.
    124   Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love,
        and teach me your statutes.
    125   I am your servant; give me understanding,
        that I may know your testimonies!
    126   It is time for the LORD to act,
        for your law has been broken.
    127   Therefore I love your commandments
        above gold, above fine gold.
    128   Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right;
        I hate every false way.

    Pe

    129   Your testimonies are wonderful;
        therefore my soul keeps them.
    130   The unfolding of your words gives light;
        it imparts understanding to the simple.
    131   I open my mouth and pant,
        because I long for your commandments.
    132   Turn to me and be gracious to me,
        as is your way with those who love your name.
    133   Keep steady my steps according to your promise,
        and let no iniquity get dominion over me.
    134   Redeem me from man's oppression,
        that I may keep your precepts.
    135   Make your face shine upon your servant,
        and teach me your statutes.
    136   My eyes shed streams of tears,
        because people do not keep your law.

    Tsadhe

    137   Righteous are you, O LORD,
        and right are your rules.
    138   You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness
        and in all faithfulness.
    139   My zeal consumes me,
        because my foes forget your words.
    140   Your promise is well tried,
        and your servant loves it.
    141   I am small and despised,
        yet I do not forget your precepts.
    142   Your righteousness is righteous forever,
        and your law is true.
    143   Trouble and anguish have found me out,
        but your commandments are my delight.
    144   Your testimonies are righteous forever;
        give me understanding that I may live.

    Qoph

    145   With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD!
        I will keep your statutes.
    146   I call to you; save me,
        that I may observe your testimonies.
    147   I rise before dawn and cry for help;
        I hope in your words.
    148   My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
        that I may meditate on your promise.
    149   Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;
        O LORD, according to your justice give me life.
    150   They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;
        they are far from your law.
    151   But you are near, O LORD,
        and all your commandments are true.
    152   Long have I known from your testimonies
        that you have founded them forever.

    Resh

    153   Look on my affliction and deliver me,
        for I do not forget your law.
    154   Plead my cause and redeem me;
        give me life according to your promise!
    155   Salvation is far from the wicked,
        for they do not seek your statutes.
    156   Great is your mercy, O LORD;
        give me life according to your rules.
    157   Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
        but I do not swerve from your testimonies.
    158   I look at the faithless with disgust,
        because they do not keep your commands.
    159   Consider how I love your precepts!
        Give me life according to your steadfast love.
    160   The sum of your word is truth,
        and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

    Sin and Shin

    161   Princes persecute me without cause,
        but my heart stands in awe of your words.
    162   I rejoice at your word
        like one who finds great spoil.
    163   I hate and abhor falsehood,
        but I love your law.
    164   Seven times a day I praise you
        for your righteous rules.
    165   Great peace have those who love your law;
        nothing can make them stumble.
    166   I hope for your salvation, O LORD,
        and I do your commandments.
    167   My soul keeps your testimonies;
        I love them exceedingly.
    168   I keep your precepts and testimonies,
        for all my ways are before you.

    Taw

    169   Let my cry come before you, O LORD;
        give me understanding according to your word!
    170   Let my plea come before you;
        deliver me according to your word.
    171   My lips will pour forth praise,
        for you teach me your statutes.
    172   My tongue will sing of your word,
        for all your commandments are right.
    173   Let your hand be ready to help me,
        for I have chosen your precepts.
    174   I long for your salvation, O LORD,
        and your law is my delight.
    175   Let my soul live and praise you,
        and let your rules help me.
    176   I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
        for I do not forget your commandments.

    Footnotes

    [1] 119:100 Or the elders


    [2] 119:112 Or statutes; the reward is eternal

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 2
    Job 2 (Listen)
    Satan Attacks Job's Health

    2 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” 4 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”

    7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.

    9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”Or disaster; also verse 11">1 In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

    Job's Three Friends

    11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

    Footnotes

    [1] 2:10 Or disaster; also verse 11

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 23
    Isaiah 23 (Listen)
    An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

    23 The oracle concerning Tyre.

      Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
        for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor!
      From the land of CyprusHebrew Kittim; also verse 12">1
        it is revealed to them.
    2   Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
        the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
    3   And on many waters
      your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
        the harvest of the Nile;
        you were the merchant of the nations.
    4   Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken,
        the stronghold of the sea, saying:
      “I have neither labored nor given birth,
        I have neither reared young men
        nor brought up young women.”
    5   When the report comes to Egypt,
        they will be in anguishHebrew they will have labor pains">2 over the report about Tyre.
    6   Cross over to Tarshish;
        wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
    7   Is this your exultant city
        whose origin is from days of old,
      whose feet carried her
        to settle far away?
    8   Who has purposed this
        against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
      whose merchants were princes,
        whose traders were the honored of the earth?
    9   The LORD of hosts has purposed it,
        to defile the pompous pride of all glory,The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike">3
        to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
    10   Cross over your land like the Nile,
        O daughter of Tarshish;
        there is no restraint anymore.
    11   He has stretched out his hand over the sea;
        he has shaken the kingdoms;
      the LORD has given command concerning Canaan
        to destroy its strongholds.
    12   And he said:
      “You will no more exult,
        O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon;
      arise, cross over to Cyprus,
        even there you will have no rest.”

    13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;Or that has become nothing">4 Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

    14   Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
        for your stronghold is laid waste.

    15 In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the daysOr lifetime">5 of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

    16   “Take a harp;
        go about the city,
        O forgotten prostitute!
      Make sweet melody;
        sing many songs,
        that you may be remembered.”

    17 At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18 Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD.

    Footnotes

    [1] 23:1 Hebrew Kittim; also verse 12


    [2] 23:5 Hebrew they will have labor pains

    [3] 23:9 The Hebrew words for glory and hosts sound alike

    [4] 23:13 Or that has become nothing

    [5] 23:15 Or lifetime

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 19:17–42
    John 19:17–42 (Listen)

    17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

    23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic.Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin">1 But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

      “They divided my garments among them,
        and for my clothing they cast lots.”

    So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

    The Death of Jesus

    28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

    Jesus' Side Is Pierced

    31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

    Jesus Is Buried

    38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to JesusGreek him">2 by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five poundsGreek one hundred litras; a litra (or Roman pound) was equal to about 11 1/2 ounces or 327 grams">3 in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

    Footnotes

    [1] 19:23 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin


    [2] 19:39 Greek him

    [3] 19:39 Greek one hundred litras; a litra (or Roman pound) was equal to about 11 1/2 ounces or 327 grams

    (ESV)

    18 min
  • November 28: Psalm 119:1–88; Job 1; Isaiah 22; John 18:28–19:16
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 119:1–88
    Psalm 119:1–88 (Listen)
    Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet
    Aleph

    119   This psalm is an acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; within a stanza, each verse begins with the same Hebrew letter">1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
        who walk in the law of the LORD!
    2   Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
        who seek him with their whole heart,
    3   who also do no wrong,
        but walk in his ways!
    4   You have commanded your precepts
        to be kept diligently.
    5   Oh that my ways may be steadfast
        in keeping your statutes!
    6   Then I shall not be put to shame,
        having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
    7   I will praise you with an upright heart,
        when I learn your righteous rules.Or your just and righteous decrees; also verses 62, 106, 160, 164">2
    8   I will keep your statutes;
        do not utterly forsake me!

    Beth

    9   How can a young man keep his way pure?
        By guarding it according to your word.
    10   With my whole heart I seek you;
        let me not wander from your commandments!
    11   I have stored up your word in my heart,
        that I might not sin against you.
    12   Blessed are you, O LORD;
        teach me your statutes!
    13   With my lips I declare
        all the rulesOr all the just decrees">3 of your mouth.
    14   In the way of your testimonies I delight
        as much as in all riches.
    15   I will meditate on your precepts
        and fix my eyes on your ways.
    16   I will delight in your statutes;
        I will not forget your word.

    Gimel

    17   Deal bountifully with your servant,
        that I may live and keep your word.
    18   Open my eyes, that I may behold
        wondrous things out of your law.
    19   I am a sojourner on the earth;
        hide not your commandments from me!
    20   My soul is consumed with longing
        for your rulesOr your just decrees; also verses 30, 39, 43, 52, 75, 102, 108, 137, 156, 175">4 at all times.
    21   You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
        who wander from your commandments.
    22   Take away from me scorn and contempt,
        for I have kept your testimonies.
    23   Even though princes sit plotting against me,
        your servant will meditate on your statutes.
    24   Your testimonies are my delight;
        they are my counselors.

    Daleth

    25   My soul clings to the dust;
        give me life according to your word!
    26   When I told of my ways, you answered me;
        teach me your statutes!
    27   Make me understand the way of your precepts,
        and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
    28   My soul melts away for sorrow;
        strengthen me according to your word!
    29   Put false ways far from me
        and graciously teach me your law!
    30   I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
        I set your rules before me.
    31   I cling to your testimonies, O LORD;
        let me not be put to shame!
    32   I will run in the way of your commandments
        when you enlarge my heart!Or for you set my heart free">5

    He

    33   Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;
        and I will keep it to the end.Or keep it as my reward">6
    34   Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
        and observe it with my whole heart.
    35   Lead me in the path of your commandments,
        for I delight in it.
    36   Incline my heart to your testimonies,
        and not to selfish gain!
    37   Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
        and give me life in your ways.
    38   Confirm to your servant your promise,
        that you may be feared.
    39   Turn away the reproach that I dread,
        for your rules are good.
    40   Behold, I long for your precepts;
        in your righteousness give me life!

    Waw

    41   Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD,
        your salvation according to your promise;
    42   then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me,
        for I trust in your word.
    43   And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
        for my hope is in your rules.
    44   I will keep your law continually,
        forever and ever,
    45   and I shall walk in a wide place,
        for I have sought your precepts.
    46   I will also speak of your testimonies before kings
        and shall not be put to shame,
    47   for I find my delight in your commandments,
        which I love.
    48   I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
        and I will meditate on your statutes.

    Zayin

    49   Remember your word to your servant,
        in which you have made me hope.
    50   This is my comfort in my affliction,
        that your promise gives me life.
    51   The insolent utterly deride me,
        but I do not turn away from your law.
    52   When I think of your rules from of old,
        I take comfort, O LORD.
    53   Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
        who forsake your law.
    54   Your statutes have been my songs
        in the house of my sojourning.
    55   I remember your name in the night, O LORD,
        and keep your law.
    56   This blessing has fallen to me,
        that I have kept your precepts.

    Heth

    57   The LORD is my portion;
        I promise to keep your words.
    58   I entreat your favor with all my heart;
        be gracious to me according to your promise.
    59   When I think on my ways,
        I turn my feet to your testimonies;
    60   I hasten and do not delay
        to keep your commandments.
    61   Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
        I do not forget your law.
    62   At midnight I rise to praise you,
        because of your righteous rules.
    63   I am a companion of all who fear you,
        of those who keep your precepts.
    64   The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love;
        teach me your statutes!

    Teth

    65   You have dealt well with your servant,
        O LORD, according to your word.
    66   Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
        for I believe in your commandments.
    67   Before I was afflicted I went astray,
        but now I keep your word.
    68   You are good and do good;
        teach me your statutes.
    69   The insolent smear me with lies,
        but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;
    70   their heart is unfeeling like fat,
        but I delight in your law.
    71   It is good for me that I was afflicted,
        that I might learn your statutes.
    72   The law of your mouth is better to me
        than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

    Yodh

    73   Your hands have made and fashioned me;
        give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.
    74   Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,
        because I have hoped in your word.
    75   I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous,
        and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
    76   Let your steadfast love comfort me
        according to your promise to your servant.
    77   Let your mercy come to me, that I may live;
        for your law is my delight.
    78   Let the insolent be put to shame,
        because they have wronged me with falsehood;
        as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
    79   Let those who fear you turn to me,
        that they may know your testimonies.
    80   May my heart be blameless in your statutes,
        that I may not be put to shame!

    Kaph

    81   My soul longs for your salvation;
        I hope in your word.
    82   My eyes long for your promise;
        I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
    83   For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
        yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
    84   How long must your servant endure?Hebrew How many are the days of your servant?">7
        When will you judge those who persecute me?
    85   The insolent have dug pitfalls for me;
        they do not live according to your law.
    86   All your commandments are sure;
        they persecute me with falsehood; help me!
    87   They have almost made an end of me on earth,
        but I have not forsaken your precepts.
    88   In your steadfast love give me life,
        that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth.

    Footnotes

    [1] 119:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas, following the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; within a stanza, each verse begins with the same Hebrew letter


    [2] 119:7 Or your just and righteous decrees; also verses 62, 106, 160, 164

    [3] 119:13 Or all the just decrees

    [4] 119:20 Or your just decrees; also verses 30, 39, 43, 52, 75, 102, 108, 137, 156, 175

    [5] 119:32 Or for you set my heart free

    [6] 119:33 Or keep it as my reward

    [7] 119:84 Hebrew How many are the days of your servant?

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    Job 1
    Job 1 (Listen)
    Job's Character and Wealth

    1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursedThe Hebrew word bless is used euphemistically for curse in 1:5, 11; 2:5, 9">1 God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

    Satan Allowed to Test Job

    6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and SatanHebrew the Accuser or the Adversary; so throughout chapters 1–2">2 also came among them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

    Satan Takes Job's Property and Children

    13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servantsHebrew the young men; also verses 16, 17">3 with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

    20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

    22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

    Footnotes

    [1] 1:5 The Hebrew word bless is used euphemistically for curse in 1:5, 11; 2:5, 9


    [2] 1:6 Hebrew the Accuser or the Adversary; so throughout chapters 1–2

    [3] 1:15 Hebrew the young men; also verses 16, 17

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 22
    Isaiah 22 (Listen)
    An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem

    22 The oracle concerning the valley of vision.

      What do you mean that you have gone up,
        all of you, to the housetops,
    2   you who are full of shoutings,
        tumultuous city, exultant town?
      Your slain are not slain with the sword
        or dead in battle.
    3   All your leaders have fled together;
        without the bow they were captured.
      All of you who were found were captured,
        though they had fled far away.
    4   Therefore I said:
      “Look away from me;
        let me weep bitter tears;
      do not labor to comfort me
        concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
    5   For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day
        of tumult and trampling and confusion
        in the valley of vision,
      a battering down of walls
        and a shouting to the mountains.
    6   And Elam bore the quiver
        with chariots and horsemen,
        and Kir uncovered the shield.
    7   Your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
        and the horsemen took their stand at the gates.
    8   He has taken away the covering of Judah.

    In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, 9 and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, 10 and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. 11 You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.

    12   In that day the Lord GOD of hosts
        called for weeping and mourning,
        for baldness and wearing sackcloth;
    13   and behold, joy and gladness,
        killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
        eating flesh and drinking wine.
      “Let us eat and drink,
        for tomorrow we die.”
    14   The LORD of hosts has revealed himself in my ears:
      “Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,”
        says the Lord GOD of hosts.

    15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? 17 Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master's house. 19 I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station. 20 In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. 24 And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.”

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 18:28–19:16
    John 18:28–19:16 (Listen)
    Jesus Before Pilate

    28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters.Greek the praetorium">1 It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” 30 They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” 32 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

    My Kingdom Is Not of This World

    33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

    After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. 39 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 40 They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.Or an insurrectionist">2

    Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

    19 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The JewsGreek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verses 12, 14, 31, 38">3 answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

    12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in AramaicOr Hebrew; also verses 17, 20">4 Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.That is, about noon">5 He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

    The Crucifixion

    So they took Jesus,

    Footnotes

    [1] 18:28 Greek the praetorium


    [2] 18:40 Or an insurrectionist

    [3] 19:7 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verses 12, 14, 31, 38

    [4] 19:13 Or Hebrew; also verses 17, 20

    [5] 19:14 That is, about noon

    (ESV)

    20 min

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