January 23, 2022

Isaiah 49:1-6 (ESV)

1  Listen to me, O coastlands,
        and give attention, you peoples from afar.
    The Lord called me from the womb,
        from the body of my mother he named my name.
2  He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
        in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
    he made me a polished arrow;
        in his quiver he hid me away.
3  And he said to me, “You are my servant,
        Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
4  But I said, “I have labored in vain;
        I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
    yet surely my right is with the Lord,
        and my recompense with my God.”

5  And now the Lord says,
        he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
    to bring Jacob back to him;
        and that Israel might be gathered to him—
    for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
        and my God has become my strength—
6  he says:
    “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
        to raise up the tribes of Jacob
        and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
    I will make you as a light for the nations,
        that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Psalm 139:1-17 (ESV)

1   O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2   You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
        you discern my thoughts from afar.
3   You search out my path and my lying down
        and are acquainted with all my ways.
4   Even before a word is on my tongue,
        behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5   You hem me in, behind and before,
        and lay your hand upon me.
6   Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
        it is high; I cannot attain it.

7   Where shall I go from your Spirit?
        Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8   If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
        If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9   If I take the wings of the morning
        and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10  even there your hand shall lead me,
        and your right hand shall hold me.
11  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
        and the light about me be night,”
12  even the darkness is not dark to you;
        the night is bright as the day,
        for darkness is as light with you.

13  For you formed my inward parts;
        you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
     Wonderful are your works;
        my soul knows it very well.
15  My frame was not hidden from you,
     when I was being made in secret,
        intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
     in your book were written, every one of them,
        the days that were formed for me,
        when as yet there was none of them.

17  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
        How vast is the sum of them!

Matthew 25:31-46 (ESV)

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”