ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible

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ESV: Digging Deep into the Bible episodes

  • 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
  • November 22: Psalm 113; 2 Kings 21; Isaiah 11–12; John 14
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 113
    Psalm 113 (Listen)
    Who Is like the Lord Our God?

    113   Praise the LORD!
      Praise, O servants of the LORD,
        praise the name of the LORD!
    2   Blessed be the name of the LORD
        from this time forth and forevermore!
    3   From the rising of the sun to its setting,
        the name of the LORD is to be praised!
    4   The LORD is high above all nations,
        and his glory above the heavens!
    5   Who is like the LORD our God,
        who is seated on high,
    6   who looks far down
        on the heavens and the earth?
    7   He raises the poor from the dust
        and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
    8   to make them sit with princes,
        with the princes of his people.
    9   He gives the barren woman a home,
        making her the joyous mother of children.
      Praise the LORD!

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    2 Kings 21
    2 Kings 21 (Listen)
    Manasseh Reigns in Judah

    21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 And he burned his son as an offeringHebrew made his son pass through the fire">1 and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 7 And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 8 And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

    Manasseh’s Idolatry Denounced

    10 And the LORD said by his servants the prophets, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, 12 therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disasterOr evil">2 that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”

    16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

    17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son reigned in his place.

    Amon Reigns in Judah

    19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. 21 He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them. 22 He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD. 23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. 24 But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

    Footnotes

    [1] 21:6 Hebrew made his son pass through the fire


    [2] 21:12 Or evil

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 11–12
    Isaiah 11–12 (Listen)
    The Righteous Reign of the Branch

    11   There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
        and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
    2   And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
        the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
        the Spirit of counsel and might,
        the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
    3   And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
      He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
        or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
    4   but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
        and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
      and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
        and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
    5   Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
        and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
    6   The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
        and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
      and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
        and a little child shall lead them.
    7   The cow and the bear shall graze;
        their young shall lie down together;
        and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
    8   The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
        and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
    9   They shall not hurt or destroy
        in all my holy mountain;
      for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
        as the waters cover the sea.

    10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

    11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush,Probably Nubia">1 from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

    12   He will raise a signal for the nations
        and will assemble the banished of Israel,
      and gather the dispersed of Judah
        from the four corners of the earth.
    13   The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
        and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
      Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
        and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
    14   But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
        and together they shall plunder the people of the east.
      They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab,
        and the Ammonites shall obey them.
    15   And the LORD will utterly destroyHebrew devote to destruction">2
        the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
      and will wave his hand over the RiverThat is, the Euphrates">3
        with his scorching breath,Or wind">4
      and strike it into seven channels,
        and he will lead people across in sandals.
    16   And there will be a highway from Assyria
        for the remnant that remains of his people,
      as there was for Israel
        when they came up from the land of Egypt.

    The Lord Is My Strength and My Song

    12   YouThe Hebrew for you is singular in verse 1">5 will say in that day:
      “I will give thanks to you, O LORD,
        for though you were angry with me,
      your anger turned away,
        that you might comfort me.
    2   “Behold, God is my salvation;
        I will trust, and will not be afraid;
      for the LORD GODHEBREW FOR YAH, THE LORD">6 is my strength and my song,
        and he has become my salvation.”

    3 With joy youThe Hebrew for you is plural in verses 3, 4">7 will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:

      “Give thanks to the LORD,
        call upon his name,
      make known his deeds among the peoples,
        proclaim that his name is exalted.
    5   “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
        let this be made knownOr this is made known">8 in all the earth.
    6   Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
        for great in yourThe Hebrew for your in verse 6 is singular, referring to the inhabitant of Zion">9 midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 11:11 Probably Nubia


    [2] 11:15 Hebrew devote to destruction

    [3] 11:15 That is, the Euphrates

    [4] 11:15 Or wind

    [5] 12:1 The Hebrew for you is singular in verse 1

    [6] 12:2 Hebrew for Yah, the Lord

    [7] 12:3 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 3, 4

    [8] 12:5 Or this is made known

    [9] 12:6 The Hebrew for your in verse 6 is singular, referring to the inhabitant of Zion

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 14
    John 14 (Listen)
    I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

    14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;Or You believe in God">1 believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?Or In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you">2 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”Some manuscripts Where I am going you know, and the way you know">3 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.Or If you know me, you will know my Father also, or If you have known me, you will know my Father also">4 From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

    8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

    12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask meSome manuscripts omit me">5 anything in my name, I will do it.

    Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

    15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,Or Advocate, or Counselor; also 14:26; 15:26; 16:7">6 to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will beSome manuscripts and is">7 in you.

    18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

    25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

    Footnotes

    [1] 14:1 Or You believe in God


    [2] 14:2 Or In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you

    [3] 14:4 Some manuscripts Where I am going you know, and the way you know

    [4] 14:7 Or If you know me, you will know my Father also, or If you have known me, you will know my Father also

    [5] 14:14 Some manuscripts omit me

    [6] 14:16 Or Advocate, or Counselor; also 14:26; 15:26; 16:7

    [7] 14:17 Some manuscripts and is

    (ESV)

    13 min
  • November 21: Psalm 112; 2 Kings 20; Isaiah 9:8–10:34; John 13
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 112
    Psalm 112 (Listen)
    The Righteous Will Never Be Moved

    112   This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet">1 Praise the LORD!
      Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
        who greatly delights in his commandments!
    2   His offspring will be mighty in the land;
        the generation of the upright will be blessed.
    3   Wealth and riches are in his house,
        and his righteousness endures forever.
    4   Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
        he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
    5   It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
        who conducts his affairs with justice.
    6   For the righteous will never be moved;
        he will be remembered forever.
    7   He is not afraid of bad news;
        his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
    8   His heart is steady;Or established (compare 111:8)">2 he will not be afraid,
        until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
    9   He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
        his righteousness endures forever;
        his horn is exalted in honor.
    10   The wicked man sees it and is angry;
        he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
        the desire of the wicked will perish!

    Footnotes

    [1] 112:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet


    [2] 112:8 Or established (compare 111:8)

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    2 Kings 20
    2 Kings 20 (Listen)
    Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

    20 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3 “Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 5 “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, 6 and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” 7 And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

    8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?” 9 And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” 10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” 11 And Isaiah the prophet called to the LORD, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.

    Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys

    12 At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

    16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 18 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

    20 The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 9:8–10:34
    Isaiah 9:8–10:34 (Listen)
    Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression

    8   The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
        and it will fall on Israel;
    9   and all the people will know,
        Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
        who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
    10   “The bricks have fallen,
        but we will build with dressed stones;
      the sycamores have been cut down,
        but we will put cedars in their place.”
    11   But the LORD raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
        and stirs up his enemies.
    12   The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
        devour Israel with open mouth.
      For all this his anger has not turned away,
        and his hand is stretched out still.
    13   The people did not turn to him who struck them,
        nor inquire of the LORD of hosts.
    14   So the LORD cut off from Israel head and tail,
        palm branch and reed in one day—
    15   the elder and honored man is the head,
        and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
    16   for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
        and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
    17   Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
        and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
      for everyone is godless and an evildoer,
        and every mouth speaks folly.Or speaks disgraceful things">1
      For all this his anger has not turned away,
        and his hand is stretched out still.
    18   For wickedness burns like a fire;
        it consumes briers and thorns;
      it kindles the thickets of the forest,
        and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
    19   Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts
        the land is scorched,
      and the people are like fuel for the fire;
        no one spares another.
    20   They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry,
        and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied;
      each devours the flesh of his own arm,
    21   Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh;
        together they are against Judah.
      For all this his anger has not turned away,
        and his hand is stretched out still.
    10   Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
        and the writers who keep writing oppression,
    2   to turn aside the needy from justice
        and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
      that widows may be their spoil,
        and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
    3   What will you do on the day of punishment,
        in the ruin that will come from afar?
      To whom will you flee for help,
        and where will you leave your wealth?
    4   Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners
        or fall among the slain.
      For all this his anger has not turned away,
        and his hand is stretched out still.

    Judgment on Arrogant Assyria

    5   Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger;
        the staff in their hands is my fury!
    6   Against a godless nation I send him,
        and against the people of my wrath I command him,
      to take spoil and seize plunder,
        and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
    7   But he does not so intend,
        and his heart does not so think;
      but it is in his heart to destroy,
        and to cut off nations not a few;
    8   for he says:
      “Are not my commanders all kings?
    9   Is not Calno like Carchemish?
        Is not Hamath like Arpad?
        Is not Samaria like Damascus?
    10   As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols,
        whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
    11   shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
        as I have done to Samaria and her images?”

    12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, heHebrew I">2 will punish the speechHebrew fruit">3 of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 For he says:

      “By the strength of my hand I have done it,
        and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
      I remove the boundaries of peoples,
        and plunder their treasures;
        like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
    14   My hand has found like a nest
        the wealth of the peoples;
      and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
        so I have gathered all the earth;
      and there was none that moved a wing
        or opened the mouth or chirped.”
    15   Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it,
        or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
      As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
        or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
    16   Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts
        will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
      and under his glory a burning will be kindled,
        like the burning of fire.
    17   The light of Israel will become a fire,
        and his Holy One a flame,
      and it will burn and devour
        his thorns and briers in one day.
    18   The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land
        the LORD will destroy, both soul and body,
        and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
    19   The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
        that a child can write them down.

    The Remnant of Israel Will Return

    20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. 22 For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness. 23 For the Lord GOD of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in the midst of all the earth.

    24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts: “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25 For in a very little while my fury will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction. 26 And the LORD of hosts will wield against them a whip, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. And his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt. 27 And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck; and the yoke will be broken because of the fat.”The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain">4

    28   He has come to Aiath;
      he has passed through Migron;
        at Michmash he stores his baggage;
    29   they have crossed over the pass;
        at Geba they lodge for the night;
      Ramah trembles;
        Gibeah of Saul has fled.
    30   Cry aloud, O daughter of Gallim!
        Give attention, O Laishah!
        O poor Anathoth!
    31   Madmenah is in flight;
        the inhabitants of Gebim flee for safety.
    32   This very day he will halt at Nob;
        he will shake his fist
        at the mount of the daughter of Zion,
        the hill of Jerusalem.
    33   Behold, the Lord GOD of hosts
        will lop the boughs with terrifying power;
      the great in height will be hewn down,
        and the lofty will be brought low.
    34   He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe,
        and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.

    Footnotes

    [1] 9:17 Or speaks disgraceful things


    [2] 10:12 Hebrew I

    [3] 10:12 Hebrew fruit

    [4] 10:27 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 13
    John 13 (Listen)
    Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

    13 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet,Some manuscripts omit except for his feet">1 but is completely clean. And youThe Greek words for you in this verse are plural">2 are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

    12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servantOr bondservant, or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)">3 is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled,Greek But in order that the Scripture may be fulfilled">4 ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

    One of You Will Betray Me

    21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side,Greek in the bosom of Jesus">5 24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask JesusGreek lacks Jesus">6 of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

    A New Commandment

    31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

    Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial

    36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.

    Footnotes

    [1] 13:10 Some manuscripts omit except for his feet


    [2] 13:10 The Greek words for you in this verse are plural

    [3] 13:16 Or bondservant, or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)

    [4] 13:18 Greek But in order that the Scripture may be fulfilled

    [5] 13:23 Greek in the bosom of Jesus

    [6] 13:24 Greek lacks Jesus

    (ESV)

    17 min
  • November 20: Psalm 111; 2 Kings 19; Isaiah 9:1–7; John 12:20–50
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 111
    Psalm 111 (Listen)
    Great Are the Lord’s Works

    111   This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet">1 Praise the LORD!
      I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
        in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
    2   Great are the works of the LORD,
        studied by all who delight in them.
    3   Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
        and his righteousness endures forever.
    4   He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
        the LORD is gracious and merciful.
    5   He provides food for those who fear him;
        he remembers his covenant forever.
    6   He has shown his people the power of his works,
        in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
    7   The works of his hands are faithful and just;
        all his precepts are trustworthy;
    8   they are established forever and ever,
        to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
    9   He sent redemption to his people;
        he has commanded his covenant forever.
        Holy and awesome is his name!
    10   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
        all those who practice it have a good understanding.
        His praise endures forever!

    Footnotes

    [1] 111:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    2 Kings 19
    2 Kings 19 (Listen)
    Isaiah Reassures Hezekiah

    19 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the LORD your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.” 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”

    Sennacherib Defies the Lord

    8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

    Hezekiah’s Prayer

    14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

    Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall

    20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him:

      “She despises you, she scorns you—
        the virgin daughter of Zion;
      she wags her head behind you—
        the daughter of Jerusalem.
    22   “Whom have you mocked and reviled?
        Against whom have you raised your voice
      and lifted your eyes to the heights?
        Against the Holy One of Israel!
    23   By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
        and you have said, ‘With my many chariots
      I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
        to the far recesses of Lebanon;
      I felled its tallest cedars,
        its choicest cypresses;
      I entered its farthest lodging place,
        its most fruitful forest.
    24   I dug wells
        and drank foreign waters,
      and I dried up with the sole of my foot
        all the streams of Egypt.’
    25   “Have you not heard
        that I determined it long ago?
      I planned from days of old
        what now I bring to pass,
      that you should turn fortified cities
        into heaps of ruins,
    26   while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
        are dismayed and confounded,
      and have become like plants of the field
        and like tender grass,
      like grass on the housetops,
        blighted before it is grown.
    27   “But I know your sitting down
        and your going out and coming in,
        and your raging against me.
    28   Because you have raged against me
        and your complacency has come into my ears,
      I will put my hook in your nose
        and my bit in your mouth,
      and I will turn you back on the way
        by which you came.

    29 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD will do this.

    32 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. 34 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

    35 And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 9:1–7
    Isaiah 9:1–7 (Listen)
    For to Us a Child Is Born

    9 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew">1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.Or of the Gentiles">2

    2   Ch 9:1 in Hebrew">3 The people who walked in darkness
        have seen a great light;
      those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
        on them has light shone.
    3   You have multiplied the nation;
        you have increased its joy;
      they rejoice before you
        as with joy at the harvest,
        as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
    4   For the yoke of his burden,
        and the staff for his shoulder,
        the rod of his oppressor,
        you have broken as on the day of Midian.
    5   For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
        and every garment rolled in blood
        will be burned as fuel for the fire.
    6   For to us a child is born,
        to us a son is given;
      and the government shall be uponOr is upon">4 his shoulder,
        and his name shall be calledOr is called">5
      Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
        Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
    7   Of the increase of his government and of peace
        there will be no end,
      on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
        to establish it and to uphold it
      with justice and with righteousness
        from this time forth and forevermore.
      The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

    Footnotes

    [1] 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew


    [2] 9:1 Or of the Gentiles

    [3] 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew

    [4] 9:6 Or is upon

    [5] 9:6 Or is called

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 12:20–50
    John 12:20–50 (Listen)
    Some Greeks Seek Jesus

    20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

    The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

    27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

    The Unbelief of the People

    When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

      “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
        and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

    39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

    40   “He has blinded their eyes
        and hardened their heart,
      lest they see with their eyes,
        and understand with their heart, and turn,
        and I would heal them.”

    41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

    Jesus Came to Save the World

    44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

    (ESV)

    13 min
  • November 19: Psalm 110; 2 Kings 18; Isaiah 7–8; John 11:55–12:19
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 110
    Psalm 110 (Listen)
    Sit at My Right Hand
    A Psalm of David.

    110   The LORD says to my Lord:
        “Sit at my right hand,
      until I make your enemies your footstool.”
    2   The LORD sends forth from Zion
        your mighty scepter.
        Rule in the midst of your enemies!
    3   Your people will offer themselves freely
        on the day of your power,Or on the day you lead your forces">1
        in holy garments;Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains">2
      from the womb of the morning,
        the dew of your youth will be yours.The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain">3
    4   The LORD has sworn
        and will not change his mind,
      “You are a priest forever
        after the order of Melchizedek.”
    5   The Lord is at your right hand;
        he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
    6   He will execute judgment among the nations,
        filling them with corpses;
      he will shatter chiefsOr the head">4
        over the wide earth.
    7   He will drink from the brook by the way;
        therefore he will lift up his head.

    Footnotes

    [1] 110:3 Or on the day you lead your forces


    [2] 110:3 Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains

    [3] 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

    [4] 110:6 Or the head

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    2 Kings 18
    2 Kings 18 (Listen)
    Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

    18 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. 4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and serpent">1 5 He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

    9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

    Sennacherib Attacks Judah

    13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talentsA talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms">2 of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 18 And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

    19 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, “We trust in the LORD our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”

    26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

    28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of myHebrew his">3 hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with meHebrew Make a blessing with me">4 and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” 33 Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

    36 But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

    Footnotes

    [1] 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and serpent


    [2] 18:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms

    [3] 18:29 Hebrew his

    [4] 18:31 Hebrew Make a blessing with me

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 7–8
    Isaiah 7–8 (Listen)
    Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

    7 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league withHebrew Syria has rested upon">1 Ephraim,” the heart of AhazHebrew his heart">2 and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

    3 And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashubShear-jashub means A remnant shall return">3 your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 4 And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer itHebrew let us split it open">4 for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord GOD:

      “‘It shall not stand,
        and it shall not come to pass.
    8   For the head of Syria is Damascus,
        and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
      And within sixty-five years
        Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
    9   And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
        and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
      If youThe Hebrew for you is plural in verses 9, 13, 14">5 are not firm in faith,
        you will not be firm at all.’”

    The Sign of Immanuel

    10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the LORD yourThe Hebrew for you and your is singular in verses 11, 16, 17">6 God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” 13 And heThat is, Isaiah">7 said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.Immanuel means God is with us">8 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17 The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

    18 In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.Or watering holes, or brambles">9

    20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the RiverThat is, the Euphrates">10—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

    21 In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.

    23 In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekelsA shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams">11 of silver, will become briers and thorns. 24 With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. 25 And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

    The Coming Assyrian Invasion

    8 Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters,Hebrew with a man’s stylus">12 ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’Maher-shalal-hash-baz means The spoil speeds, the prey hastens">13 2 And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”

    3 And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; 4 for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

    5 The LORD spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River,That is, the Euphrates">14 mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

    9   Be broken,Or Be evil">15 you peoples, and be shattered;Or dismayed">16
        give ear, all you far countries;
      strap on your armor and be shattered;
        strap on your armor and be shattered.
    10   Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
        speak a word, but it will not stand,
        for God is with us.The Hebrew for God is with us is Immanuel">17

    Fear God, Wait for the Lord

    11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

    16 Bind up the testimony; seal the teachingOr law; also verse 20">18 among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21 They will pass through the land,Hebrew it">19 greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously againstOr speak contemptuously by">20 their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.

    Footnotes

    [1] 7:2 Hebrew Syria has rested upon


    [2] 7:2 Hebrew his heart

    [3] 7:3 Shear-jashub means A remnant shall return

    [4] 7:6 Hebrew let us split it open

    [5] 7:9 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 9, 13, 14

    [6] 7:11 The Hebrew for you and your is singular in verses 11, 16, 17

    [7] 7:13 That is, Isaiah

    [8] 7:14 Immanuel means God is with us

    [9] 7:19 Or watering holes, or brambles

    [10] 7:20 That is, the Euphrates

    [11] 7:23 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

    [12] 8:1 Hebrew with a man’s stylus

    [13] 8:1 Maher-shalal-hash-baz means The spoil speeds, the prey hastens

    [14] 8:7 That is, the Euphrates

    [15] 8:9 Or Be evil

    [16] 8:9 Or dismayed

    [17] 8:10 The Hebrew for God is with us is Immanuel

    [18] 8:16 Or law; also verse 20

    [19] 8:21 Hebrew it

    [20] 8:21 Or speak contemptuously by

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 11:55–12:19
    John 11:55–12:19 (Listen)

    55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 They were looking forGreek were seeking for">1 Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

    Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

    12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a poundGreek litra; a litra (or Roman pound) was equal to about 11 1/2 ounces or 327 grams">2 of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denariiA denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer">3 and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep itOr Leave her alone; she intended to keep it">4 for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

    The Plot to Kill Lazarus

    9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that JesusGreek he">5 was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

    The Triumphal Entry

    12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

    15   “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
      behold, your king is coming,
        sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

    16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 11:56 Greek were seeking for


    [2] 12:3 Greek litra; a litra (or Roman pound) was equal to about 11 1/2 ounces or 327 grams

    [3] 12:5 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer

    [4] 12:7 Or Leave her alone; she intended to keep it

    [5] 12:9 Greek he

    (ESV)

    17 min
  • November 18: Psalm 109; 2 Kings 17:24–41; Isaiah 6; John 11:1–54
    Psalms and Wisdom:
    Psalm 109
    Psalm 109 (Listen)
    Help Me, O Lord My God
    To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

    109   Be not silent, O God of my praise!
    2   For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
        speaking against me with lying tongues.
    3   They encircle me with words of hate,
        and attack me without cause.
    4   In return for my love they accuse me,
        but I give myself to prayer.Hebrew but I am prayer">1
    5   So they reward me evil for good,
        and hatred for my love.
    6   Appoint a wicked man against him;
        let an accuser stand at his right hand.
    7   When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
        let his prayer be counted as sin!
    8   May his days be few;
        may another take his office!
    9   May his children be fatherless
        and his wife a widow!
    10   May his children wander about and beg,
        seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
    11   May the creditor seize all that he has;
        may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
    12   Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
        nor any to pity his fatherless children!
    13   May his posterity be cut off;
        may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
    14   May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
        and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
    15   Let them be before the LORD continually,
        that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
    16   For he did not remember to show kindness,
        but pursued the poor and needy
        and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
    17   He loved to curse; let curses comeRevocalization; Masoretic Text curses have come">2 upon him!
        He did not delight in blessing; may it be farRevocalization; Masoretic Text it is far">3 from him!
    18   He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
        may it soakRevocalization; Masoretic Text it has soaked">4 into his body like water,
        like oil into his bones!
    19   May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
        like a belt that he puts on every day!
    20   May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,
        of those who speak evil against my life!
    21   But you, O GOD my Lord,
        deal on my behalf for your name’s sake;
        because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
    22   For I am poor and needy,
        and my heart is stricken within me.
    23   I am gone like a shadow at evening;
        I am shaken off like a locust.
    24   My knees are weak through fasting;
        my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
    25   I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
        when they see me, they wag their heads.
    26   Help me, O LORD my God!
        Save me according to your steadfast love!
    27   Let them know that this is your hand;
        you, O LORD, have done it!
    28   Let them curse, but you will bless!
        They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
    29   May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
        may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
    30   With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
        I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
    31   For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
        to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.

    Footnotes

    [1] 109:4 Hebrew but I am prayer


    [2] 109:17 Revocalization; Masoretic Text curses have come

    [3] 109:17 Revocalization; Masoretic Text it is far

    [4] 109:18 Revocalization; Masoretic Text it has soaked

    (ESV)

    Pentateuch and History:
    2 Kings 17:24–41
    2 Kings 17:24–41 (Listen)
    Assyria Resettles Samaria

    24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. 25 And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let himSyriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them">1 go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

    29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33 So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

    34 To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 The LORD made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but you shall fear the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39 but you shall fear the LORD your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.

    41 So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

    Footnotes

    [1] 17:27 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them

    (ESV)

    Chronicles and Prophets:
    Isaiah 6
    Isaiah 6 (Listen)
    Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord

    6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the trainOr hem">1 of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

      “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
      the whole earth is full of his glory!”Or may his glory fill the whole earth">2

    4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

    6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

    Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord

    8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

      “‘Keep on hearing,Or Hear indeed">3 but do not understand;
      keep on seeing,Or see indeed">4 but do not perceive.’
    10   Make the heart of this people dull,Hebrew fat">5
        and their ears heavy,
        and blind their eyes;
      lest they see with their eyes,
        and hear with their ears,
      and understand with their hearts,
        and turn and be healed.”
    11   Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
      And he said:
      “Until cities lie waste
        without inhabitant,
      and houses without people,
        and the land is a desolate waste,
    12   and the LORD removes people far away,
        and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
    13   And though a tenth remain in it,
        it will be burnedOr purged">6 again,
      like a terebinth or an oak,
        whose stump remains
        when it is felled.”
      The holy seedOr offspring">7 is its stump.

    Footnotes

    [1] 6:1 Or hem


    [2] 6:3 Or may his glory fill the whole earth

    [3] 6:9 Or Hear indeed

    [4] 6:9 Or see indeed

    [5] 6:10 Hebrew fat

    [6] 6:13 Or purged

    [7] 6:13 Or offspring

    (ESV)

    Gospels and Epistles:
    John 11:1–54
    John 11:1–54 (Listen)
    The Death of Lazarus

    11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

    5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that LazarusGreek he; also verse 17">1 was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin,Greek Didymus">2 said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

    I Am the Resurrection and the Life

    17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two milesGreek fifteen stadia; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters">3 off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.Some manuscripts omit and the life">4 Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

    Jesus Weeps

    28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply movedOr was indignant; also verse 38">5 in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

    Jesus Raises Lazarus

    38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

    The Plot to Kill Jesus

    45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

    54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

    Footnotes

    [1] 11:6 Greek he; also verse 17


    [2] 11:16 Greek Didymus

    [3] 11:18 Greek fifteen stadia; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters

    [4] 11:25 Some manuscripts omit and the life

    [5] 11:33 Or was indignant; also verse 38

    (ESV)

    15 min

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