ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

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ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible episodes

  • 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)

    13 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)

    17 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
  • November 27: Psalm 118; 2 Kings 25:22–30; Isaiah 21; John 18:1–27
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 118
    Psalm 118 (Listen)
    His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

    118   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
        for his steadfast love endures forever!
    2   Let Israel say,
        “His steadfast love endures forever.”
    3   Let the house of Aaron say,
        “His steadfast love endures forever.”
    4   Let those who fear the LORD say,
        “His steadfast love endures forever.”
    5   Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
        the LORD answered me and set me free.
    6   The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.
        What can man do to me?
    7   The LORD is on my side as my helper;
        I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
    8   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
        than to trust in man.
    9   It is better to take refuge in the LORD
        than to trust in princes.
    10   All nations surrounded me;
        in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
    11   They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
        in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
    12   They surrounded me like bees;
        they went out like a fire among thorns;
        in the name of the LORD I cut them off!
    13   I was pushed hard,Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard">1 so that I was falling,
        but the LORD helped me.
    14   The LORD is my strength and my song;
        he has become my salvation.
    15   Glad songs of salvation
        are in the tents of the righteous:
      “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,
    16     the right hand of the LORD exalts,
        the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”
    17   I shall not die, but I shall live,
        and recount the deeds of the LORD.
    18   The LORD has disciplined me severely,
        but he has not given me over to death.
    19   Open to me the gates of righteousness,
        that I may enter through them
        and give thanks to the LORD.
    20   This is the gate of the LORD;
        the righteous shall enter through it.
    21   I thank you that you have answered me
        and have become my salvation.
    22   The stone that the builders rejected
        has become the cornerstone.Hebrew the head of the corner">2
    23   This is the LORD’s doing;
        it is marvelous in our eyes.
    24   This is the day that the LORD has made;
        let us rejoice and be glad in it.
    25   Save us, we pray, O LORD!
        O LORD, we pray, give us success!
    26   Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
        We bless you from the house of the LORD.
    27   The LORD is God,
        and he has made his light to shine upon us.
      Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
        up to the horns of the altar!
    28   You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
        you are my God; I will extol you.
    29   Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
        for his steadfast love endures forever!

    Footnotes

    [1] 118:13 Hebrew You (that is, the enemy) pushed me hard


    [2] 118:22 Hebrew the head of the corner

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    2 Kings 25:22–30
    2 Kings 25:22–30 (Listen)
    Gedaliah Made Governor of Judah

    22 And over the people who remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, governor. 23 Now when all the captains and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. 24 And Gedaliah swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid because of the Chaldean officials. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.” 25 But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces arose and went to Egypt, for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

    Jehoiachin Released from Prison

    27 And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freedHebrew reign, lifted up the head of">1 Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. 28 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table, 30 and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.

    Footnotes

    [1] 25:27 Hebrew reign, lifted up the head of

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 21
    Isaiah 21 (Listen)
    Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

    21 The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea.

      As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
        it comes from the wilderness,
        from a terrible land.
    2   A stern vision is told to me;
        the traitor betrays,
        and the destroyer destroys.
      Go up, O Elam;
        lay siege, O Media;
      all the sighing she has caused
        I bring to an end.
    3   Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
        pangs have seized me,
        like the pangs of a woman in labor;
      I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
        I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
    4   My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
        the twilight I longed for
        has been turned for me into trembling.
    5   They prepare the table,
        they spread the rugs,Or they set the watchman">1
        they eat, they drink.
      Arise, O princes;
        oil the shield!
    6   For thus the Lord said to me:
      “Go, set a watchman;
        let him announce what he sees.
    7   When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
        riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
      let him listen diligently,
        very diligently.”
    8   Then he who saw cried out:Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion">2
      “Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
        continually by day,
      and at my post I am stationed
        whole nights.
    9   And behold, here come riders,
        horsemen in pairs!”
      And he answered,
        “Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
      and all the carved images of her gods
        he has shattered to the ground.”
    10   O my threshed and winnowed one,
        what I have heard from the LORD of hosts,
        the God of Israel, I announce to you.

    11 The oracle concerning Dumah.

      One is calling to me from Seir,
        “Watchman, what time of the night?
        Watchman, what time of the night?”
    12   The watchman says:
      “Morning comes, and also the night.
        If you will inquire, inquire;
        come back again.”

    13 The oracle concerning Arabia.

      In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge,
        O caravans of Dedanites.
    14   To the thirsty bring water;
        meet the fugitive with bread,
        O inhabitants of the land of Tema.
    15   For they have fled from the swords,
        from the drawn sword,
      from the bent bow,
        and from the press of battle.

    16 For thus the Lord said to me, “Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end. 17 And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 21:5 Or they set the watchman


    [2] 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 18:1–27
    John 18:1–27 (Listen)
    Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

    18 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.”Greek I am; also verses 6, 8">1 Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When JesusGreek he">2 said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” 10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servantOr bondservant; twice in this verse">3 and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

    Jesus Faces Annas and Caiaphas

    12 So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the JewsGreek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verses 14, 31, 36, 38">4 arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.

    Peter Denies Jesus

    15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servantsOr bondservants; also verse 26">5 and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

    The High Priest Questions Jesus

    19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” 22 When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” 24 Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

    Peter Denies Jesus Again

    25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

    Footnotes

    [1] 18:5 Greek I am; also verses 6, 8


    [2] 18:6 Greek he

    [3] 18:10 Or bondservant; twice in this verse

    [4] 18:12 Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verses 14, 31, 36, 38

    [5] 18:18 Or bondservants; also verse 26

    (ESV)

    11 min
  • November 26: Psalm 117; 2 Kings 24:18–25:21; Isaiah 19–20; John 17
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 117
    Psalm 117 (Listen)
    The Lord’s Faithfulness Endures Forever

    117   Praise the LORD, all nations!
        Extol him, all peoples!
    2   For great is his steadfast love toward us,
        and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
      Praise the LORD!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    2 Kings 24:18–25:21
    2 Kings 24:18–25:21 (Listen)
    Zedekiah Reigns in Judah

    18 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.

    And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

    Fall and Captivity of Judah

    25 And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king’s garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

    8 In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 And he burned the house of the LORD and the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 10 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.

    13 And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces and carried the bronze to Babylon. 14 And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service, 15 the fire pans also and the bowls. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver. 16 As for the two pillars, the one sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits,A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters">1 and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of the capital was three cubits. A latticework and pomegranates, all of bronze, were all around the capital. And the second pillar had the same, with the latticework.

    18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the threshold; 19 and from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the men of war, and five men of the king’s council who were found in the city; and the secretary of the commander of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city. 20 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 And the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.

    Footnotes

    [1] 25:17 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 19–20
    Isaiah 19–20 (Listen)
    An Oracle Concerning Egypt

    19 An oracle concerning Egypt.

      Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud
        and comes to Egypt;
      and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
        and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
    2   And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
        and they will fight, each against another
        and each against his neighbor,
        city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
    3   and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
        and I will confoundOr I will swallow up">1 their counsel;
      and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
        and the mediums and the necromancers;
    4   and I will give over the Egyptians
        into the hand of a hard master,
      and a fierce king will rule over them,
        declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
    5   And the waters of the sea will be dried up,
        and the river will be dry and parched,
    6   and its canals will become foul,
        and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up,
        reeds and rushes will rot away.
    7   There will be bare places by the Nile,
        on the brink of the Nile,
      and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,
        will be driven away, and will be no more.
    8   The fishermen will mourn and lament,
        all who cast a hook in the Nile;
      and they will languish
        who spread nets on the water.
    9   The workers in combed flax will be in despair,
        and the weavers of white cotton.
    10   Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed,
        and all who work for pay will be grieved.
    11   The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish;
        the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.
      How can you say to Pharaoh,
        “I am a son of the wise,
        a son of ancient kings”?
    12   Where then are your wise men?
        Let them tell you
        that they might know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
    13   The princes of Zoan have become fools,
        and the princes of Memphis are deluded;
      those who are the cornerstones of her tribes
        have made Egypt stagger.
    14   The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion,
      and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,
        as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
    15   And there will be nothing for Egypt
        that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.

    Egypt, Assyria, Israel Blessed

    16 In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts shakes over them. 17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the LORD of hosts has purposed against them.

    18 In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun">2

    19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. 21 And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. 22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

    23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

    24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

    A Sign Against Egypt and Cush

    20 In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it—2 at that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

    3 Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,Probably Nubia">3 4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. 5 Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. 6 And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”

    Footnotes

    [1] 19:3 Or I will swallow up


    [2] 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun

    [3] 20:3 Probably Nubia

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 17
    John 17 (Listen)
    The High Priestly Prayer

    17 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

    6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.Or from evil">1 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify themGreek Set them apart (for holy service to God)">2 in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself,Or I sanctify myself; or I set myself apart (for holy service to God)">3 that they also may be sanctifiedGreek may be set apart (for holy service to God)">4 in truth.

    20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 17:15 Or from evil


    [2] 17:17 Greek Set them apart (for holy service to God)

    [3] 17:19 Or I sanctify myself; or I set myself apart (for holy service to God)

    [4] 17:19 Greek may be set apart (for holy service to God)

    (ESV)

    13 min
  • November 25: Psalm 116; 2 Kings 23:31–24:17; Isaiah 17–18; John 16:16–33
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 116
    Psalm 116 (Listen)
    I Love the Lord

    116   I love the LORD, because he has heard
        my voice and my pleas for mercy.
    2   Because he inclined his ear to me,
        therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
    3   The snares of death encompassed me;
        the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
        I suffered distress and anguish.
    4   Then I called on the name of the LORD:
        “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”
    5   Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
        our God is merciful.
    6   The LORD preserves the simple;
        when I was brought low, he saved me.
    7   Return, O my soul, to your rest;
        for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
    8   For you have delivered my soul from death,
        my eyes from tears,
        my feet from stumbling;
    9   I will walk before the LORD
        in the land of the living.
    10   I believed, even whenOr believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore">1 I spoke:
        “I am greatly afflicted”;
    11   I said in my alarm,
        “All mankind are liars.”
    12   What shall I render to the LORD
        for all his benefits to me?
    13   I will lift up the cup of salvation
        and call on the name of the LORD,
    14   I will pay my vows to the LORD
        in the presence of all his people.
    15   Precious in the sight of the LORD
        is the death of his saints.
    16   O LORD, I am your servant;
        I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
        You have loosed my bonds.
    17   I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
        and call on the name of the LORD.
    18   I will pay my vows to the LORD
        in the presence of all his people,
    19   in the courts of the house of the LORD,
        in your midst, O Jerusalem.
      Praise the LORD!

    Footnotes

    [1] 116:10 Or believed, indeed; Septuagint believed, therefore

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    2 Kings 23:31–24:17
    2 Kings 23:31–24:17 (Listen)
    Jehoahaz’s Reign and Captivity

    31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talentsA talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms">1 of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.

    Jehoiakim Reigns in Judah

    36 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

    24 In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD would not pardon. 5 Now the rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 7 And the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land, for the king of Babylon had taken all that belonged to the king of Egypt from the Brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

    Jehoiachin Reigns in Judah

    8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done.

    Jerusalem Captured

    10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, 12 and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign 13 and carried off all the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the LORD, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the LORD had foretold. 14 He carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. 15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war. 17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

    Footnotes

    [1] 23:33 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 17–18
    Isaiah 17–18 (Listen)
    An Oracle Concerning Damascus

    17 An oracle concerning Damascus.

      Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city
        and will become a heap of ruins.
    2   The cities of Aroer are deserted;
        they will be for flocks,
        which will lie down, and none will make them afraid.
    3   The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,
        and the kingdom from Damascus;
      and the remnant of Syria will be
        like the glory of the children of Israel,
          declares the LORD of hosts.
    4   And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low,
        and the fat of his flesh will grow lean.
    5   And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain
        and his arm harvests the ears,
      and as when one gleans the ears of grain
        in the Valley of Rephaim.
    6   Gleanings will be left in it,
        as when an olive tree is beaten—
      two or three berries
        in the top of the highest bough,
      four or five
        on the branches of a fruit tree,
          declares the LORD God of Israel.

    7 In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8 He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.

    9 In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation.

    10   For you have forgotten the God of your salvation
        and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge;
      therefore, though you plant pleasant plants
        and sow the vine-branch of a stranger,
    11   though you make them growOr though you carefully fence them">1 on the day that you plant them,
        and make them blossom in the morning that you sow,
      yet the harvest will flee awayOr will be a heap">2
        in a day of grief and incurable pain.
    12   Ah, the thunder of many peoples;
        they thunder like the thundering of the sea!
      Ah, the roar of nations;
        they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
    13   The nations roar like the roaring of many waters,
        but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away,
      chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind
        and whirling dust before the storm.
    14   At evening time, behold, terror!
        Before morning, they are no more!
      This is the portion of those who loot us,
        and the lot of those who plunder us.

    An Oracle Concerning Cush

    18   Ah, land of whirring wings
        that is beyond the rivers of Cush,Probably Nubia">3
    2   which sends ambassadors by the sea,
        in vessels of papyrus on the waters!
      Go, you swift messengers,
        to a nation tall and smooth,
      to a people feared near and far,
        a nation mighty and conquering,
        whose land the rivers divide.
    3   All you inhabitants of the world,
        you who dwell on the earth,
      when a signal is raised on the mountains, look!
        When a trumpet is blown, hear!
    4   For thus the LORD said to me:
      “I will quietly look from my dwelling
        like clear heat in sunshine,
        like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
    5   For before the harvest, when the blossom is over,
        and the flower becomes a ripening grape,
      he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks,
        and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away.
    6   They shall all of them be left
        to the birds of prey of the mountains
        and to the beasts of the earth.
      And the birds of prey will summer on them,
        and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.

    7 At that time tribute will be brought to the LORD of hosts

      from a people tall and smooth,
        from a people feared near and far,
      a nation mighty and conquering,
        whose land the rivers divide,

    to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the LORD of hosts.

    Footnotes

    [1] 17:11 Or though you carefully fence them


    [2] 17:11 Or will be a heap

    [3] 18:1 Probably Nubia

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 16:16–33
    John 16:16–33 (Listen)
    Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

    16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

    I Have Overcome the World

    25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.Some manuscripts from the Father">1 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

    29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 16:27 Some manuscripts from the Father

    (ESV)

    13 min
  • November 24: Psalm 115; 2 Kings 23:1–30; Isaiah 15–16; John 15:18–16:15
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 115
    Psalm 115 (Listen)
    To Your Name Give Glory

    115   Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
        for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
    2   Why should the nations say,
        “Where is their God?”
    3   Our God is in the heavens;
        he does all that he pleases.
    4   Their idols are silver and gold,
        the work of human hands.
    5   They have mouths, but do not speak;
        eyes, but do not see.
    6   They have ears, but do not hear;
        noses, but do not smell.
    7   They have hands, but do not feel;
        feet, but do not walk;
        and they do not make a sound in their throat.
    8   Those who make them become like them;
        so do all who trust in them.
    9   O Israel,Masoretic Text; many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac O house of Israel">1 trust in the LORD!
        He is their help and their shield.
    10   O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!
        He is their help and their shield.
    11   You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
        He is their help and their shield.
    12   The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us;
        he will bless the house of Israel;
        he will bless the house of Aaron;
    13   he will bless those who fear the LORD,
        both the small and the great.
    14   May the LORD give you increase,
        you and your children!
    15   May you be blessed by the LORD,
        who made heaven and earth!
    16   The heavens are the LORD’s heavens,
        but the earth he has given to the children of man.
    17   The dead do not praise the LORD,
        nor do any who go down into silence.
    18   But we will bless the LORD
        from this time forth and forevermore.
      Praise the LORD!

    Footnotes

    [1] 115:9 Masoretic Text; many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac O house of Israel

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    2 Kings 23:1–30
    2 Kings 23:1–30 (Listen)
    Josiah’s Reforms

    23 Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. 3 And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.

    4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the gate of the city. 9 However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.Hebrew might cause his son or daughter to pass through the fire for Molech">1 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">2 And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, he pulled down and broke in piecesHebrew pieces from there">3 and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

    15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned,Septuagint broke in pieces its stones">4 reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the LORD that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predictedHebrew called">5 these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the LORD to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20 And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

    Josiah Restores the Passover

    21 And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.

    24 Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

    26 Still the LORD did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

    Josiah’s Death in Battle

    28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him. 30 And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s place.

    Footnotes

    [1] 23:10 Hebrew might cause his son or daughter to pass through the fire for Molech


    [2] 23:11 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    [3] 23:12 Hebrew pieces from there

    [4] 23:15 Septuagint broke in pieces its stones

    [5] 23:17 Hebrew called

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 15–16
    Isaiah 15–16 (Listen)
    An Oracle Concerning Moab

    15 An oracle concerning Moab.

      Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,
        Moab is undone;
      because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,
        Moab is undone.
    2   He has gone up to the temple,Hebrew the house">1 and to Dibon,
        to the high placesOr temple, even Dibon to the high places">2 to weep;
      over Nebo and over Medeba
        Moab wails.
      On every head is baldness;
        every beard is shorn;
    3   in the streets they wear sackcloth;
        on the housetops and in the squares
        everyone wails and melts in tears.
    4   Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;
        their voice is heard as far as Jahaz;
      therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;
        his soul trembles.
    5   My heart cries out for Moab;
        her fugitives flee to Zoar,
        to Eglath-shelishiyah.
      For at the ascent of Luhith
        they go up weeping;
      on the road to Horonaim
        they raise a cry of destruction;
    6   the waters of Nimrim
        are a desolation;
      the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,
        the greenery is no more.
    7   Therefore the abundance they have gained
        and what they have laid up
      they carry away
        over the Brook of the Willows.
    8   For a cry has gone
        around the land of Moab;
      her wailing reaches to Eglaim;
        her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.
    9   For the waters of DibonDead Sea Scroll, Vulgate (compare Syriac); Masoretic Text Dimon; twice in this verse">3 are full of blood;
        for I will bring upon Dibon even more,
      a lion for those of Moab who escape,
        for the remnant of the land.
    16   Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
      from Sela, by way of the desert,
        to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
    2   Like fleeing birds,
        like a scattered nest,
      so are the daughters of Moab
        at the fords of the Arnon.
    3   “Give counsel;
        grant justice;
      make your shade like night
        at the height of noon;
      shelter the outcasts;
        do not reveal the fugitive;
    4   let the outcasts of Moab
        sojourn among you;
      be a shelter to themSome Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; Masoretic Text let my outcasts sojourn among you; as for Moab, be a shelter to them">4
        from the destroyer.
      When the oppressor is no more,
        and destruction has ceased,
      and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,
    5   then a throne will be established in steadfast love,
        and on it will sit in faithfulness
        in the tent of David
      one who judges and seeks justice
        and is swift to do righteousness.”
    6   We have heard of the pride of Moab—
        how proud he is!—
      of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;
        in his idle boasting he is not right.
    7   Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,
        let everyone wail.
      Mourn, utterly stricken,
        for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth.
    8   For the fields of Heshbon languish,
        and the vine of Sibmah;
      the lords of the nations
        have struck down its branches,
      which reached to Jazer
        and strayed to the desert;
      its shoots spread abroad
        and passed over the sea.
    9   Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer
        for the vine of Sibmah;
      I drench you with my tears,
        O Heshbon and Elealeh;
      for over your summer fruit and your harvest
        the shout has ceased.
    10   And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field,
      and in the vineyards no songs are sung,
        no cheers are raised;
      no treader treads out wine in the presses;
        I have put an end to the shouting.
    11   Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,
        and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.

    12 And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.

    13 This is the word that the LORD spoke concerning Moab in the past. 14 But now the LORD has spoken, saying, “In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt, in spite of all his great multitude, and those who remain will be very few and feeble.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 15:2 Hebrew the house


    [2] 15:2 Or temple, even Dibon to the high places

    [3] 15:9 Dead Sea Scroll, Vulgate (compare Syriac); Masoretic Text Dimon; twice in this verse

    [4] 16:4 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; Masoretic Text let my outcasts sojourn among you; as for Moab, be a shelter to them

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 15:18–16:15
    John 15:18–16:15 (Listen)
    The Hatred of the World

    18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin,Greek they would not have sin; also verse 24">1 but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

    26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

    16 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

    The Work of the Holy Spirit

    “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

    12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

    Footnotes

    [1] 15:22 Greek they would not have sin; also verse 24

    (ESV)

    15 min
  • November 23: Psalm 114; 2 Kings 22; Isaiah 13–14; John 15:1–17
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 114
    Psalm 114 (Listen)
    Tremble at the Presence of the Lord

    114   When Israel went out from Egypt,
        the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
    2   Judah became his sanctuary,
        Israel his dominion.
    3   The sea looked and fled;
        Jordan turned back.
    4   The mountains skipped like rams,
        the hills like lambs.
    5   What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
        O Jordan, that you turn back?
    6   O mountains, that you skip like rams?
        O hills, like lambs?
    7   Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
        at the presence of the God of Jacob,
    8   who turns the rock into a pool of water,
        the flint into a spring of water.

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    2 Kings 22
    2 Kings 22 (Listen)
    Josiah Reigns in Judah

    22 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

    Josiah Repairs the Temple

    3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the LORD, saying, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 5 And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the LORD, repairing the house 6 (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7 But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

    Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

    8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

    11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

    14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. 15 And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. 20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 13–14
    Isaiah 13–14 (Listen)
    The Judgment of Babylon

    13 The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

    2   On a bare hill raise a signal;
        cry aloud to them;
      wave the hand for them to enter
        the gates of the nobles.
    3   I myself have commanded my consecrated ones,
        and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger,
        my proudly exulting ones.Or those who exult in my majesty">1
    4   The sound of a tumult is on the mountains
        as of a great multitude!
      The sound of an uproar of kingdoms,
        of nations gathering together!
      The LORD of hosts is mustering
        a host for battle.
    5   They come from a distant land,
        from the end of the heavens,
      the LORD and the weapons of his indignation,
        to destroy the whole land.Or earth; also verse 9">2
    6   Wail, for the day of the LORD is near;
        as destruction from the AlmightyThe Hebrew words for destruction and almighty sound alike">3 it will come!
    7   Therefore all hands will be feeble,
        and every human heart will melt.
    8   They will be dismayed:
        pangs and agony will seize them;
        they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
      They will look aghast at one another;
        their faces will be aflame.
    9   Behold, the day of the LORD comes,
        cruel, with wrath and fierce anger,
      to make the land a desolation
        and to destroy its sinners from it.
    10   For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
        will not give their light;
      the sun will be dark at its rising,
        and the moon will not shed its light.
    11   I will punish the world for its evil,
        and the wicked for their iniquity;
      I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
        and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
    12   I will make people more rare than fine gold,
        and mankind than the gold of Ophir.
    13   Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,
        and the earth will be shaken out of its place,
      at the wrath of the LORD of hosts
        in the day of his fierce anger.
    14   And like a hunted gazelle,
        or like sheep with none to gather them,
      each will turn to his own people,
        and each will flee to his own land.
    15   Whoever is found will be thrust through,
        and whoever is caught will fall by the sword.
    16   Their infants will be dashed in pieces
        before their eyes;
      their houses will be plundered
        and their wives ravished.
    17   Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them,
        who have no regard for silver
        and do not delight in gold.
    18   Their bows will slaughterHebrew dash in pieces">4 the young men;
        they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
        their eyes will not pity children.
    19   And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
        the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans,
      will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
        when God overthrew them.
    20   It will never be inhabited
        or lived in for all generations;
      no Arab will pitch his tent there;
        no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there.
    21   But wild animals will lie down there,
        and their houses will be full of howling creatures;
      there ostrichesOr owls">5 will dwell,
        and there wild goats will dance.
    22   HyenasOr foxes">6 will cry in its towers,
        and jackals in the pleasant palaces;
      its time is close at hand
        and its days will not be prolonged.

    The Restoration of Jacob

    14 For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2 And the peoples will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them in the LORD’s land as male and female slaves.Or servants">7 They will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them.

    Israel’s Remnant Taunts Babylon

    3 When the LORD has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, 4 you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:

      “How the oppressor has ceased,
        the insolent furyDead Sea Scroll (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain">8 ceased!
    5   The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked,
        the scepter of rulers,
    6   that struck the peoples in wrath
        with unceasing blows,
      that ruled the nations in anger
        with unrelenting persecution.
    7   The whole earth is at rest and quiet;
        they break forth into singing.
    8   The cypresses rejoice at you,
        the cedars of Lebanon, saying,
      ‘Since you were laid low,
        no woodcutter comes up against us.’
    9   Sheol beneath is stirred up
        to meet you when you come;
      it rouses the shades to greet you,
        all who were leaders of the earth;
      it raises from their thrones
        all who were kings of the nations.
    10   All of them will answer
        and say to you:
      ‘You too have become as weak as we!
        You have become like us!’
    11   Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
        the sound of your harps;
      maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,
        and worms are your covers.
    12   “How you are fallen from heaven,
        O Day Star, son of Dawn!
      How you are cut down to the ground,
        you who laid the nations low!
    13   You said in your heart,
        ‘I will ascend to heaven;
      above the stars of God
        I will set my throne on high;
      I will sit on the mount of assembly
        in the far reaches of the north;Or in the remote parts of Zaphon">9
    14   I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
        I will make myself like the Most High.’
    15   But you are brought down to Sheol,
        to the far reaches of the pit.
    16   Those who see you will stare at you
        and ponder over you:
      ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
        who shook kingdoms,
    17   who made the world like a desert
        and overthrew its cities,
        who did not let his prisoners go home?’
    18   All the kings of the nations lie in glory,
        each in his own tomb;Hebrew house">10
    19   but you are cast out, away from your grave,
        like a loathed branch,
      clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,
        who go down to the stones of the pit,
        like a dead body trampled underfoot.
    20   You will not be joined with them in burial,
        because you have destroyed your land,
        you have slain your people.
      “May the offspring of evildoers
        nevermore be named!
    21   Prepare slaughter for his sons
        because of the guilt of their fathers,
      lest they rise and possess the earth,
        and fill the face of the world with cities.”

    22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity,” declares the LORD. 23 “And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog,Possibly porcupine, or owl">11 and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of hosts.

    An Oracle Concerning Assyria

    24   The LORD of hosts has sworn:
      “As I have planned,
        so shall it be,
      and as I have purposed,
        so shall it stand,
    25   that I will break the Assyrian in my land,
        and on my mountains trample him underfoot;
      and his yoke shall depart from them,
        and his burden from their shoulder.”
    26   This is the purpose that is purposed
        concerning the whole earth,
      and this is the hand that is stretched out
        over all the nations.
    27   For the LORD of hosts has purposed,
        and who will annul it?
      His hand is stretched out,
        and who will turn it back?

    An Oracle Concerning Philistia

    28 In the year that King Ahaz died came this oracle:

    29   Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you,
        that the rod that struck you is broken,
      for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder,
        and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent.
    30   And the firstborn of the poor will graze,
        and the needy lie down in safety;
      but I will kill your root with famine,
        and your remnant it will slay.
    31   Wail, O gate; cry out, O city;
        melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you!
      For smoke comes out of the north,
        and there is no straggler in his ranks.
    32   What will one answer the messengers of the nation?
      “The LORD has founded Zion,
        and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 13:3 Or those who exult in my majesty


    [2] 13:5 Or earth; also verse 9

    [3] 13:6 The Hebrew words for destruction and almighty sound alike

    [4] 13:18 Hebrew dash in pieces

    [5] 13:21 Or owls

    [6] 13:22 Or foxes

    [7] 14:2 Or servants

    [8] 14:4 Dead Sea Scroll (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain

    [9] 14:13 Or in the remote parts of Zaphon

    [10] 14:18 Hebrew house

    [11] 14:23 Possibly porcupine, or owl

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 15:1–17
    John 15:1–17 (Listen)
    I Am the True Vine

    15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

    12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants,Or bondservants, or slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface); likewise for servant later in this verse and in verse 20">1 for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

    Footnotes

    [1] 15:15 Or bondservants, or slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface); likewise for servant later in this verse and in verse 20

    (ESV)

    15 min

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