Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Ray Ortlund

Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Ray Ortlund

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Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Ray Ortlund episodes

  • October 4: Isaiah 20–22; Psalm 88; Acts 11
    Old Testament:
    Isaiah 20–22
    Isaiah 20–22 (Listen)
    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">1 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?’”

    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">2
        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">3
      “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.”

    An Oracle Concerning Jerusalem

    22 The oracle concerning the valley of vision.

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

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

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

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

    Footnotes

    [1] 20:3 Probably Nubia


    [2] 21:5 Or they set the watchman

    [3] 21:8 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac; Masoretic Text Then a lion cried out, or Then he cried out like a lion

    (ESV)

    Psalm:
    Psalm 88
    Psalm 88 (Listen)
    I Cry Out Day and Night Before You
    A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A MaskilProbably musical or liturgical terms">1 of Heman the Ezrahite.

    88   O LORD, God of my salvation,
        I cry out day and night before you.
    2   Let my prayer come before you;
        incline your ear to my cry!
    3   For my soul is full of troubles,
        and my life draws near to Sheol.
    4   I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
        I am a man who has no strength,
    5   like one set loose among the dead,
        like the slain that lie in the grave,
      like those whom you remember no more,
        for they are cut off from your hand.
    6   You have put me in the depths of the pit,
        in the regions dark and deep.
    7   Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
        and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
    8   You have caused my companions to shun me;
        you have made me a horrorOr an abomination">2 to them.
      I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
    9     my eye grows dim through sorrow.
      Every day I call upon you, O LORD;
        I spread out my hands to you.
    10   Do you work wonders for the dead?
        Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
    11   Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
        or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
    12   Are your wonders known in the darkness,
        or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
    13   But I, O LORD, cry to you;
        in the morning my prayer comes before you.
    14   O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?
        Why do you hide your face from me?
    15   Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
        I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">3
    16   Your wrath has swept over me;
        your dreadful assaults destroy me.
    17   They surround me like a flood all day long;
        they close in on me together.
    18   You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
        my companions have become darkness.Or darkness has become my only companion">4

    Footnotes

    [1] 88:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms


    [2] 88:8 Or an abomination

    [3] 88:15 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    [4] 88:18 Or darkness has become my only companion

    (ESV)

    New Testament:
    Acts 11
    Acts 11 (Listen)
    Peter Reports to the Church

    11 Now the apostles and the brothersOr brothers and sisters">1 who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision partyOr Jerusalem, those of the circumcision">2 criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

    The Church in Antioch

    19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the HellenistsOr Greeks (that is, Greek-speaking non-Jews)">3 also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, 24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

    27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothersOr brothers and sisters">4 living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

    Footnotes

    [1] 11:1 Or brothers and sisters


    [2] 11:2 Or Jerusalem, those of the circumcision

    [3] 11:20 Or Greeks (that is, Greek-speaking non-Jews)

    [4] 11:29 Or brothers and sisters

    (ESV)

    14 min
  • October 3: Isaiah 15–19; Psalm 87; Acts 10
    Old Testament:
    Isaiah 15–19
    Isaiah 15–19 (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.”

    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">5 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">6
        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">7
    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.

    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">8 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">9

    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.”

    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

    [5] 17:11 Or though you carefully fence them

    [6] 17:11 Or will be a heap

    [7] 18:1 Probably Nubia

    [8] 19:3 Or I will swallow up

    [9] 19:18 Dead Sea Scroll and some other manuscripts City of the Sun

    (ESV)

    Psalm:
    Psalm 87
    Psalm 87 (Listen)
    Glorious Things of You Are Spoken
    A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song.

    87   On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
    2     the LORD loves the gates of Zion
        more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
    3   Glorious things of you are spoken,
        O city of God. Selah
    4   Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
        behold, Philistia and Tyre, with CushProbably Nubia">1—
        “This one was born there,” they say.
    5   And of Zion it shall be said,
        “This one and that one were born in her”;
        for the Most High himself will establish her.
    6   The LORD records as he registers the peoples,
        “This one was born there.” Selah
    7   Singers and dancers alike say,
        “All my springs are in you.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 87:4 Probably Nubia

    (ESV)

    New Testament:
    Acts 10
    Acts 10 (Listen)
    Peter and Cornelius

    10 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. 3 About the ninth hour of the dayThat is, 3 p.m.">1 he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4 And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5 And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7 When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, 8 and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

    Peter's Vision

    9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hourThat is, noon">2 to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 16 This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

    17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation,Or accompany them, making no distinction">3 for I have sent them.” 21 And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23 So he invited them in to be his guests.

    The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

    30 And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour,That is, 3 p.m.">4 and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ 33 So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

    Gentiles Hear the Good News

    34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

    The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

    44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

    Footnotes

    [1] 10:3 That is, 3 p.m.


    [2] 10:9 That is, noon

    [3] 10:20 Or accompany them, making no distinction

    [4] 10:30 That is, 3 p.m.

    (ESV)

    20 min
  • October 2: Isaiah 13–14; Psalm 86; Acts 9
    Old Testament:
    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)

    Psalm:
    Psalm 86
    Psalm 86 (Listen)
    Great Is Your Steadfast Love
    A Prayer of David.

    86   Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me,
        for I am poor and needy.
    2   Preserve my life, for I am godly;
        save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
    3   Be gracious to me, O Lord,
        for to you do I cry all the day.
    4   Gladden the soul of your servant,
        for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
    5   For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
        abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
    6   Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
        listen to my plea for grace.
    7   In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
        for you answer me.
    8   There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
        nor are there any works like yours.
    9   All the nations you have made shall come
        and worship before you, O Lord,
        and shall glorify your name.
    10   For you are great and do wondrous things;
        you alone are God.
    11   Teach me your way, O LORD,
        that I may walk in your truth;
        unite my heart to fear your name.
    12   I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
        and I will glorify your name forever.
    13   For great is your steadfast love toward me;
        you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
    14   O God, insolent men have risen up against me;
        a band of ruthless men seeks my life,
        and they do not set you before them.
    15   But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
        slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
    16   Turn to me and be gracious to me;
        give your strength to your servant,
        and save the son of your maidservant.
    17   Show me a sign of your favor,
        that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
        because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

    (ESV)

    New Testament:
    Acts 9
    Acts 9 (Listen)
    The Conversion of Saul

    9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

    10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.

    Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues

    For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

    Saul Escapes from Damascus

    23 When many days had passed, the JewsThe Greek word Ioudaioi refers specifically here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, who opposed the Christian faith in that time">1 plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,Greek through the wall">2 lowering him in a basket.

    Saul in Jerusalem

    26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists.That is, Greek-speaking Jews">3 But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

    31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

    The Healing of Aeneas

    32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

    Dorcas Restored to Life

    36 Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas.The Aramaic name Tabitha and the Greek name Dorcas both mean gazelle">4 She was full of good works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunicsGreek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin">5 and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner.

    Footnotes

    [1] 9:23 The Greek word Ioudaioi refers specifically here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, who opposed the Christian faith in that time


    [2] 9:25 Greek through the wall

    [3] 9:29 That is, Greek-speaking Jews

    [4] 9:36 The Aramaic name Tabitha and the Greek name Dorcas both mean gazelle

    [5] 9:39 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin

    (ESV)

    17 min
  • October 1: Isaiah 10–12; Psalm 85; Acts 8
    Old Testament:
    Isaiah 10–12
    Isaiah 10–12 (Listen)

    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">1 will punish the speechHebrew fruit">2 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">3

    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.

    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">4 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">5
        the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
      and will wave his hand over the RiverThat is, the Euphrates">6
        with his scorching breath,Or wind">7
      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">8 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">9 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">10 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">11 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">12 midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 10:12 Hebrew I


    [2] 10:12 Hebrew fruit

    [3] 10:27 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

    [4] 11:11 Probably Nubia

    [5] 11:15 Hebrew devote to destruction

    [6] 11:15 That is, the Euphrates

    [7] 11:15 Or wind

    [8] 12:1 The Hebrew for you is singular in verse 1

    [9] 12:2 Hebrew for Yah, the Lord

    [10] 12:3 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 3, 4

    [11] 12:5 Or this is made known

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

    (ESV)

    Psalm:
    Psalm 85
    Psalm 85 (Listen)
    Revive Us Again
    To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

    85   LORD, you were favorable to your land;
        you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
    2   You forgave the iniquity of your people;
        you covered all their sin. Selah
    3   You withdrew all your wrath;
        you turned from your hot anger.
    4   Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
        and put away your indignation toward us!
    5   Will you be angry with us forever?
        Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
    6   Will you not revive us again,
        that your people may rejoice in you?
    7   Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
        and grant us your salvation.
    8   Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,
        for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
        but let them not turn back to folly.
    9   Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
        that glory may dwell in our land.
    10   Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
        righteousness and peace kiss each other.
    11   Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
        and righteousness looks down from the sky.
    12   Yes, the LORD will give what is good,
        and our land will yield its increase.
    13   Righteousness will go before him
        and make his footsteps a way.

    (ESV)

    New Testament:
    Acts 8
    Acts 8 (Listen)
    Saul Ravages the Church

    8 And Saul approved of his execution.

    And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

    Philip Proclaims Christ in Samaria

    4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the citySome manuscripts a city">1 of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.

    Simon the Magician Believes

    9 But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. 10 They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miraclesGreek works of power">2 performed, he was amazed.

    14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gallThat is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile">3 of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” 24 And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

    25 Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

    Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

    26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the southOr go at about noon">4 to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

      “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
        and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
        so he opens not his mouth.
    33   In his humiliation justice was denied him.
        Who can describe his generation?
      For his life is taken away from the earth.”

    34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”">5 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

    Footnotes

    [1] 8:5 Some manuscripts a city


    [2] 8:13 Greek works of power

    [3] 8:23 That is, a bitter fluid secreted by the liver; bile

    [4] 8:26 Or go at about noon

    [5] 8:36 Some manuscripts add all or most of verse 37: And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

    (ESV)

    16 min
  • September 30: Isaiah 8–9; Psalm 84; Acts 7
    Old Testament:
    Isaiah 8–9
    Isaiah 8–9 (Listen)
    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">1 ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’Maher-shalal-hash-baz means The spoil speeds, the prey hastens">2 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">3 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">4 you peoples, and be shattered;Or dismayed">5
        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">6

    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">7 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">8 greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously againstOr speak contemptuously by">9 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.

    For to Us a Child Is Born

    9  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">10

    2   Ch 9:1 in Hebrew">11 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">12 his shoulder,
        and his name shall be calledOr is called">13
      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.

    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">14
      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.

    Footnotes

    [1] 8:1 Hebrew with a man's stylus


    [2] 8:1 Maher-shalal-hash-baz means The spoil speeds, the prey hastens

    [3] 8:7 That is, the Euphrates

    [4] 8:9 Or Be evil

    [5] 8:9 Or dismayed

    [6] 8:10 The Hebrew for God is with us is Immanuel

    [7] 8:16 Or law; also verse 20

    [8] 8:21 Hebrew it

    [9] 8:21 Or speak contemptuously by

    [10] 9:1 Or of the Gentiles

    [11] 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew

    [12] 9:6 Or is upon

    [13] 9:6 Or is called

    [14] 9:17 Or speaks disgraceful things

    (ESV)

    Psalm:
    Psalm 84
    Psalm 84 (Listen)
    My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord
    To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.Probably a musical or liturgical term">1 A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

    84   How lovely is your dwelling place,
        O LORD of hosts!
    2   My soul longs, yes, faints
        for the courts of the LORD;
      my heart and flesh sing for joy
        to the living God.
    3   Even the sparrow finds a home,
        and the swallow a nest for herself,
        where she may lay her young,
      at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
        my King and my God.
    4   Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
        ever singing your praise! Selah
    5   Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
        in whose heart are the highways to Zion.Hebrew lacks to Zion">2
    6   As they go through the Valley of Baca
        they make it a place of springs;
        the early rain also covers it with pools.
    7   They go from strength to strength;
        each one appears before God in Zion.
    8   O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
        give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
    9   Behold our shield, O God;
        look on the face of your anointed!
    10   For a day in your courts is better
        than a thousand elsewhere.
      I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
        than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
    11   For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
        the LORD bestows favor and honor.
      No good thing does he withhold
        from those who walk uprightly.
    12   O LORD of hosts,
        blessed is the one who trusts in you!

    Footnotes

    [1] 84:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term


    [2] 84:5 Hebrew lacks to Zion

    (ESV)

    New Testament:
    Acts 7
    Acts 7 (Listen)
    Stephen's Speech

    7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:

    “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

    9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, 16 and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

    17 “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. 19 He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. 20 At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, 21 and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

    23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

    30 “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

    35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

      “‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
        during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
    43   You took up the tent of Moloch
        and the star of your god Rephan,
        the images that you made to worship;
      and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

    44 “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob">1 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

    49   “‘Heaven is my throne,
        and the earth is my footstool.
      What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
        or what is the place of my rest?
    50   Did not my hand make all these things?’

    51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

    The Stoning of Stephen

    54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed togetherOr rushed with one mind">2 at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

    Footnotes

    [1] 7:46 Some manuscripts for the house of Jacob


    [2] 7:57 Or rushed with one mind

    (ESV)

    17 min
  • September 29: Isaiah 5–7; Psalm 83; Acts 6
    Old Testament:
    Isaiah 5–7
    Isaiah 5–7 (Listen)
    The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed

    5   Let me sing for my beloved
        my love song concerning his vineyard:
      My beloved had a vineyard
        on a very fertile hill.
    2   He dug it and cleared it of stones,
        and planted it with choice vines;
      he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
        and hewed out a wine vat in it;
      and he looked for it to yield grapes,
        but it yielded wild grapes.
    3   And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
        and men of Judah,
      judge between me and my vineyard.
    4   What more was there to do for my vineyard,
        that I have not done in it?
      When I looked for it to yield grapes,
        why did it yield wild grapes?
    5   And now I will tell you
        what I will do to my vineyard.
      I will remove its hedge,
        and it shall be devoured;Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5">1
      I will break down its wall,
        and it shall be trampled down.
    6   I will make it a waste;
        it shall not be pruned or hoed,
        and briers and thorns shall grow up;
      I will also command the clouds
        that they rain no rain upon it.
    7   For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
        is the house of Israel,
      and the men of Judah
        are his pleasant planting;
      and he looked for justice,
        but behold, bloodshed;The Hebrew words for justice and bloodshed sound alike">2
      for righteousness,
        but behold, an outcry!The Hebrew words for righteous and outcry sound alike">3

    Woe to the Wicked

    8   Woe to those who join house to house,
        who add field to field,
      until there is no more room,
        and you are made to dwell alone
        in the midst of the land.
    9   The LORD of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
      “Surely many houses shall be desolate,
        large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
    10   For ten acresHebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day">4 of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
        and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters">5
    11   Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
        that they may run after strong drink,
      who tarry late into the evening
        as wine inflames them!
    12   They have lyre and harp,
        tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,
      but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD,
        or see the work of his hands.
    13   Therefore my people go into exile
        for lack of knowledge;Or without their knowledge">6
      their honored men go hungry,Or die of hunger">7
        and their multitude is parched with thirst.
    14   Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
        and opened its mouth beyond measure,
      and the nobility of JerusalemHebrew her nobility">8 and her multitude will go down,
        her revelers and he who exults in her.
    15   Man is humbled, and each one is brought low,
        and the eyes of the haughtyHebrew high">9 are brought low.
    16   But the LORD of hosts is exaltedHebrew high">10 in justice,
        and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
    17   Then shall the lambs graze as in their pasture,
        and nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.
    18   Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
        who draw sin as with cart ropes,
    19   who say: “Let him be quick,
        let him speed his work
        that we may see it;
      let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
        and let it come, that we may know it!”
    20   Woe to those who call evil good
        and good evil,
      who put darkness for light
        and light for darkness,
      who put bitter for sweet
        and sweet for bitter!
    21   Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
        and shrewd in their own sight!
    22   Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
        and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
    23   who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
        and deprive the innocent of his right!
    24   Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours the stubble,
        and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,
      so their root will be as rottenness,
        and their blossom go up like dust;
      for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts,
        and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
    25   Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people,
        and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,
        and the mountains quaked;
      and their corpses were as refuse
        in the midst of the streets.
      For all this his anger has not turned away,
        and his hand is stretched out still.
    26   He will raise a signal for nations far away,
        and whistle for them from the ends of the earth;
      and behold, quickly, speedily they come!
    27   None is weary, none stumbles,
        none slumbers or sleeps,
      not a waistband is loose,
        not a sandal strap broken;
    28   their arrows are sharp,
        all their bows bent,
      their horses' hoofs seem like flint,
        and their wheels like the whirlwind.
    29   Their roaring is like a lion,
        like young lions they roar;
      they growl and seize their prey;
        they carry it off, and none can rescue.
    30   They will growl over it on that day,
        like the growling of the sea.
      And if one looks to the land,
        behold, darkness and distress;
      and the light is darkened by its clouds.

    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">11 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">12

    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">13 but do not understand;
      keep on seeing,Or see indeed">14 but do not perceive.’
    10   Make the heart of this people dull,Hebrew fat">15
        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">16 again,
      like a terebinth or an oak,
        whose stump remains
        when it is felled.”
      The holy seedOr offspring">17 is its stump.

    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">18 Ephraim,” the heart of AhazHebrew his heart">19 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">20 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">21 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">22 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">23 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">24 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">25 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">26

    20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the RiverThat is, the Euphrates">27—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">28 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.

    Footnotes

    [1] 5:5 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5


    [2] 5:7 The Hebrew words for justice and bloodshed sound alike

    [3] 5:7 The Hebrew words for righteous and outcry sound alike

    [4] 5:10 Hebrew ten yoke, the area ten yoke of oxen can plow in a day

    [5] 5:10 A bath was about 6 gallons or 22 liters; a homer was about 6 bushels or 220 liters; an ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters

    [6] 5:13 Or without their knowledge

    [7] 5:13 Or die of hunger

    [8] 5:14 Hebrew her nobility

    [9] 5:15 Hebrew high

    [10] 5:16 Hebrew high

    [11] 6:1 Or hem

    [12] 6:3 Or may his glory fill the whole earth

    [13] 6:9 Or Hear indeed

    [14] 6:9 Or see indeed

    [15] 6:10 Hebrew fat

    [16] 6:13 Or purged

    [17] 6:13 Or offspring

    [18] 7:2 Hebrew Syria has rested upon

    [19] 7:2 Hebrew his heart

    [20] 7:3 Shear-jashub means A remnant shall return

    [21] 7:6 Hebrew let us split it open

    [22] 7:9 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 9, 13, 14

    [23] 7:11 The Hebrew for you and your is singular in verses 11, 16, 17

    [24] 7:13 That is, Isaiah

    [25] 7:14 Immanuel means God is with us

    [26] 7:19 Or watering holes, or brambles

    [27] 7:20 That is, the Euphrates

    [28] 7:23 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

    (ESV)

    Psalm:
    Psalm 83
    Psalm 83 (Listen)
    O God, Do Not Keep Silence
    A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

    83   O God, do not keep silence;
        do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
    2   For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
        those who hate you have raised their heads.
    3   They lay crafty plans against your people;
        they consult together against your treasured ones.
    4   They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
        let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
    5   For they conspire with one accord;
        against you they make a covenant—
    6   the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
        Moab and the Hagrites,
    7   Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
        Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
    8   Asshur also has joined them;
        they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah
    9   Do to them as you did to Midian,
        as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
    10   who were destroyed at En-dor,
        who became dung for the ground.
    11   Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
        all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
    12   who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves
        of the pastures of God.”
    13   O my God, make them like whirling dust,Or like a tumbleweed">1
        like chaff before the wind.
    14   As fire consumes the forest,
        as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
    15   so may you pursue them with your tempest
        and terrify them with your hurricane!
    16   Fill their faces with shame,
        that they may seek your name, O LORD.
    17   Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
        let them perish in disgrace,
    18   that they may know that you alone,
        whose name is the LORD,
        are the Most High over all the earth.

    Footnotes

    [1] 83:13 Or like a tumbleweed

    (ESV)

    New Testament:
    Acts 6
    Acts 6 (Listen)
    Seven Chosen to Serve

    6 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the HellenistsThat is, Greek-speaking Jews">1 arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers,Or brothers and sisters">2 pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

    7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

    Stephen Is Seized

    8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

    Footnotes

    [1] 6:1 That is, Greek-speaking Jews


    [2] 6:3 Or brothers and sisters

    (ESV)

    15 min
  • September 28: Isaiah 2–4; Psalm 82; Acts 5
    Old Testament:
    Isaiah 2–4
    Isaiah 2–4 (Listen)
    The Mountain of the Lord

    2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

    2   It shall come to pass in the latter days
        that the mountain of the house of the LORD
      shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
        and shall be lifted up above the hills;
      and all the nations shall flow to it,
    3     and many peoples shall come, and say:
      “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
        to the house of the God of Jacob,
      that he may teach us his ways
        and that we may walk in his paths.”
      For out of Zion shall go forth the law,Or teaching">1
        and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
    4   He shall judge between the nations,
        and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
      and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
        and their spears into pruning hooks;
      nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
        neither shall they learn war anymore.
    5   O house of Jacob,
        come, let us walk
        in the light of the LORD.

    The Day of the Lord

    6   For you have rejected your people,
        the house of Jacob,
      because they are full of things from the east
        and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,
        and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
    7   Their land is filled with silver and gold,
        and there is no end to their treasures;
      their land is filled with horses,
        and there is no end to their chariots.
    8   Their land is filled with idols;
        they bow down to the work of their hands,
        to what their own fingers have made.
    9   So man is humbled,
        and each one is brought low—
        do not forgive them!
    10   Enter into the rock
        and hide in the dust
      from before the terror of the LORD,
        and from the splendor of his majesty.
    11   The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
        and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
      and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
    12   For the LORD of hosts has a day
        against all that is proud and lofty,
        against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
    13   against all the cedars of Lebanon,
        lofty and lifted up;
        and against all the oaks of Bashan;
    14   against all the lofty mountains,
        and against all the uplifted hills;
    15   against every high tower,
        and against every fortified wall;
    16   against all the ships of Tarshish,
        and against all the beautiful craft.
    17   And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
        and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
        and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
    18   And the idols shall utterly pass away.
    19   And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
        and the holes of the ground,Hebrew dust">2
      from before the terror of the LORD,
        and from the splendor of his majesty,
        when he rises to terrify the earth.
    20   In that day mankind will cast away
        their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
      which they made for themselves to worship,
        to the moles and to the bats,
    21   to enter the caverns of the rocks
        and the clefts of the cliffs,
      from before the terror of the LORD,
        and from the splendor of his majesty,
        when he rises to terrify the earth.
    22   Stop regarding man
        in whose nostrils is breath,
        for of what account is he?

    Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

    3   For behold, the Lord GOD of hosts
        is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah
      support and supply,Hebrew staff">3
        all support of bread,
        and all support of water;
    2   the mighty man and the soldier,
        the judge and the prophet,
        the diviner and the elder,
    3   the captain of fifty
        and the man of rank,
      the counselor and the skillful magician
        and the expert in charms.
    4   And I will make boys their princes,
        and infantsOr caprice">4 shall rule over them.
    5   And the people will oppress one another,
        every one his fellow
        and every one his neighbor;
      the youth will be insolent to the elder,
        and the despised to the honorable.
    6   For a man will take hold of his brother
        in the house of his father, saying:
      “You have a cloak;
        you shall be our leader,
      and this heap of ruins
        shall be under your rule”;
    7   in that day he will speak out, saying:
      “I will not be a healer;Hebrew binder of wounds">5
        in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
      you shall not make me
        leader of the people.”
    8   For Jerusalem has stumbled,
        and Judah has fallen,
      because their speech and their deeds are against the LORD,
        defying his glorious presence.Hebrew the eyes of his glory">6
    9   For the look on their faces bears witness against them;
        they proclaim their sin like Sodom;
        they do not hide it.
      Woe to them!
        For they have brought evil on themselves.
    10   Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,
        for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
    11   Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,
        for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
    12   My people—infants are their oppressors,
        and women rule over them.
      O my people, your guides mislead you
        and they have swallowed upOr they have confused">7 the course of your paths.
    13   The LORD has taken his place to contend;
        he stands to judge peoples.
    14   The LORD will enter into judgment
        with the elders and princes of his people:
      “It is you who have devouredOr grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5">8 the vineyard,
        the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
    15   What do you mean by crushing my people,
        by grinding the face of the poor?”
          declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
    16   The LORD said:
      Because the daughters of Zion are haughty
        and walk with outstretched necks,
        glancing wantonly with their eyes,
      mincing along as they go,
        tinkling with their feet,
    17   therefore the Lord will strike with a scab
        the heads of the daughters of Zion,
        and the LORD will lay bare their secret parts.

    18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20 the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21 the signet rings and nose rings; 22 the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

    24   Instead of perfume there will be rottenness;
        and instead of a belt, a rope;
      and instead of well-set hair, baldness;
        and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth;
        and branding instead of beauty.
    25   Your men shall fall by the sword
        and your mighty men in battle.
    26   And her gates shall lament and mourn;
        empty, she shall sit on the ground.

    4 And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”

    The Branch of the Lord Glorified

    2 In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.Or purging">9 5 Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. 6 There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

    Footnotes

    [1] 2:3 Or teaching


    [2] 2:19 Hebrew dust

    [3] 3:1 Hebrew staff

    [4] 3:4 Or caprice

    [5] 3:7 Hebrew binder of wounds

    [6] 3:8 Hebrew the eyes of his glory

    [7] 3:12 Or they have confused

    [8] 3:14 Or grazed over; compare Exodus 22:5

    [9] 4:4 Or purging

    (ESV)

    Psalm:
    Psalm 82
    Psalm 82 (Listen)
    Rescue the Weak and Needy
    A Psalm of Asaph.

    82   God has taken his place in the divine council;
        in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
    2   “How long will you judge unjustly
        and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
    3   Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
        maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
    4   Rescue the weak and the needy;
        deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
    5   They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
        they walk about in darkness;
        all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
    6   I said, “You are gods,
        sons of the Most High, all of you;
    7   nevertheless, like men you shall die,
        and fall like any prince.”Or fall as one man, O princes">1
    8   Arise, O God, judge the earth;
        for you shall inherit all the nations!

    Footnotes

    [1] 82:7 Or fall as one man, O princes

    (ESV)

    New Testament:
    Acts 5
    Acts 5 (Listen)
    Ananias and Sapphira

    5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

    7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether youThe Greek for you is plural here">1 sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

    Many Signs and Wonders Done

    12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

    The Apostles Arrested and Freed

    17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.

    Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

    27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

    33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

    Footnotes

    [1] 5:8 The Greek for you is plural here

    (ESV)

    15 min
  • September 27: Isaiah 1; Psalm 81; Acts 4
    Old Testament:
    Isaiah 1
    Isaiah 1 (Listen)

    1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

    The Wickedness of Judah

    2   Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
        for the LORD has spoken:
      “ChildrenOr Sons; also verse 4">1 have I reared and brought up,
        but they have rebelled against me.
    3   The ox knows its owner,
        and the donkey its master's crib,
      but Israel does not know,
        my people do not understand.”
    4   Ah, sinful nation,
        a people laden with iniquity,
      offspring of evildoers,
        children who deal corruptly!
      They have forsaken the LORD,
        they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
        they are utterly estranged.
    5   Why will you still be struck down?
        Why will you continue to rebel?
      The whole head is sick,
        and the whole heart faint.
    6   From the sole of the foot even to the head,
        there is no soundness in it,
      but bruises and sores
        and raw wounds;
      they are not pressed out or bound up
        or softened with oil.
    7   Your country lies desolate;
        your cities are burned with fire;
      in your very presence
        foreigners devour your land;
        it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
    8   And the daughter of Zion is left
        like a booth in a vineyard,
      like a lodge in a cucumber field,
        like a besieged city.
    9   If the LORD of hosts
        had not left us a few survivors,
      we should have been like Sodom,
        and become like Gomorrah.
    10   Hear the word of the LORD,
        you rulers of Sodom!
      Give ear to the teachingOr law">2 of our God,
        you people of Gomorrah!
    11   “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
        says the LORD;
      I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
        and the fat of well-fed beasts;
      I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
        or of lambs, or of goats.
    12   “When you come to appear before me,
        who has required of you
        this trampling of my courts?
    13   Bring no more vain offerings;
        incense is an abomination to me.
      New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
        I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
    14   Your new moons and your appointed feasts
        my soul hates;
      they have become a burden to me;
        I am weary of bearing them.
    15   When you spread out your hands,
        I will hide my eyes from you;
      even though you make many prayers,
        I will not listen;
        your hands are full of blood.
    16   Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
        remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
      cease to do evil,
    17     learn to do good;
      seek justice,
        correct oppression;
      bring justice to the fatherless,
        plead the widow's cause.
    18   “Come now, let us reasonOr dispute">3 together, says the LORD:
      though your sins are like scarlet,
        they shall be as white as snow;
      though they are red like crimson,
        they shall become like wool.
    19   If you are willing and obedient,
        you shall eat the good of the land;
    20   but if you refuse and rebel,
        you shall be eaten by the sword;
        for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

    The Unfaithful City

    21   How the faithful city
        has become a whore,Or become unchaste">4
        she who was full of justice!
      Righteousness lodged in her,
        but now murderers.
    22   Your silver has become dross,
        your best wine mixed with water.
    23   Your princes are rebels
        and companions of thieves.
      Everyone loves a bribe
        and runs after gifts.
      They do not bring justice to the fatherless,
        and the widow's cause does not come to them.
    24   Therefore the Lord declares,
        the LORD of hosts,
        the Mighty One of Israel:
      “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies
        and avenge myself on my foes.
    25   I will turn my hand against you
        and will smelt away your dross as with lye
        and remove all your alloy.
    26   And I will restore your judges as at the first,
        and your counselors as at the beginning.
      Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
        the faithful city.”
    27   Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
        and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
    28   But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
        and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
    29   For theySome Hebrew manuscripts you">5 shall be ashamed of the oaks
        that you desired;
      and you shall blush for the gardens
        that you have chosen.
    30   For you shall be like an oak
        whose leaf withers,
        and like a garden without water.
    31   And the strong shall become tinder,
        and his work a spark,
      and both of them shall burn together,
        with none to quench them.

    Footnotes

    [1] 1:2 Or Sons; also verse 4


    [2] 1:10 Or law

    [3] 1:18 Or dispute

    [4] 1:21 Or become unchaste

    [5] 1:29 Some Hebrew manuscripts you

    (ESV)

    Psalm:
    Psalm 81
    Psalm 81 (Listen)
    Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me
    To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.Probably a musical or liturgical term">1 Of Asaph.

    81   Sing aloud to God our strength;
        shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
    2   Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
        the sweet lyre with the harp.
    3   Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
        at the full moon, on our feast day.
    4   For it is a statute for Israel,
        a ruleOr just decree">2 of the God of Jacob.
    5   He made it a decree in Joseph
        when he went out overOr against">3 the land of Egypt.
      I hear a language I had not known:
    6   “I relieved yourHebrew his; also next line">4 shoulder of the burden;
        your hands were freed from the basket.
    7   In distress you called, and I delivered you;
        I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
        I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
    8   Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
        O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
    9   There shall be no strange god among you;
        you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
    10   I am the LORD your God,
        who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
        Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
    11   “But my people did not listen to my voice;
        Israel would not submit to me.
    12   So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
        to follow their own counsels.
    13   Oh, that my people would listen to me,
        that Israel would walk in my ways!
    14   I would soon subdue their enemies
        and turn my hand against their foes.
    15   Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,
        and their fate would last forever.
    16   But he would feed youThat is, Israel; Hebrew him">5 with the finest of the wheat,
        and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 81:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term


    [2] 81:4 Or just decree

    [3] 81:5 Or against

    [4] 81:6 Hebrew his; also next line

    [5] 81:16 That is, Israel; Hebrew him

    (ESV)

    New Testament:
    Acts 4
    Acts 4 (Listen)
    Peter and John Before the Council

    4 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

    5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This JesusGreek This one">1 is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.Greek the head of the corner">2 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among menThe Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women">3 by which we must be saved.”

    13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

    The Believers Pray for Boldness

    23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,Or child; also verses 27, 30">4 said by the Holy Spirit,

      “‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
        and the peoples plot in vain?
    26   The kings of the earth set themselves,
        and the rulers were gathered together,
        against the Lord and against his Anointed’Or Christ">5—

    27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

    They Had Everything in Common

    32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.

    Footnotes

    [1] 4:11 Greek This one


    [2] 4:11 Greek the head of the corner

    [3] 4:12 The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women

    [4] 4:25 Or child; also verses 27, 30

    [5] 4:26 Or Christ

    (ESV)

    12 min
  • September 26: Song of Solomon 5–8; Psalm 80; Acts 3
    Old Testament:
    Song of Solomon 5–8
    Song of Solomon 5–8 (Listen)

    He
    5   I came to my garden, my sister, my bride,
        I gathered my myrrh with my spice,
        I ate my honeycomb with my honey,
        I drank my wine with my milk.
    Others
      Eat, friends, drink,
        and be drunk with love!

    The Bride Searches for Her Beloved

    She
    2   I slept, but my heart was awake.
      A sound! My beloved is knocking.
      “Open to me, my sister, my love,
        my dove, my perfect one,
      for my head is wet with dew,
        my locks with the drops of the night.”
    3   I had put off my garment;
        how could I put it on?
      I had bathed my feet;
        how could I soil them?
    4   My beloved put his hand to the latch,
        and my heart was thrilled within me.
    5   I arose to open to my beloved,
        and my hands dripped with myrrh,
      my fingers with liquid myrrh,
        on the handles of the bolt.
    6   I opened to my beloved,
        but my beloved had turned and gone.
      My soul failed me when he spoke.
      I sought him, but found him not;
        I called him, but he gave no answer.
    7   The watchmen found me
        as they went about in the city;
      they beat me, they bruised me,
        they took away my veil,
        those watchmen of the walls.
    8   I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
        if you find my beloved,
      that you tell him
        I am sick with love.
    Others
    9   What is your beloved more than another beloved,
        O most beautiful among women?
      What is your beloved more than another beloved,
        that you thus adjure us?

    The Bride Praises Her Beloved

    She
    10   My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
        distinguished among ten thousand.
    11   His head is the finest gold;
        his locks are wavy,
        black as a raven.
    12   His eyes are like doves
        beside streams of water,
      bathed in milk,
        sitting beside a full pool.The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain">1
    13   His cheeks are like beds of spices,
        mounds of sweet-smelling herbs.
      His lips are lilies,
        dripping liquid myrrh.
    14   His arms are rods of gold,
        set with jewels.
      His body is polished ivory,The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">2
        bedecked with sapphires.Hebrew lapis lazuli">3
    15   His legs are alabaster columns,
        set on bases of gold.
      His appearance is like Lebanon,
        choice as the cedars.
    16   His mouthHebrew palate">4 is most sweet,
        and he is altogether desirable.
      This is my beloved and this is my friend,
        O daughters of Jerusalem.
    Others
    6   Where has your beloved gone,
        O most beautiful among women?
      Where has your beloved turned,
        that we may seek him with you?

    Together in the Garden of Love

    She
    2   My beloved has gone down to his garden
        to the beds of spices,
      to grazeOr to pasture his flock; also verse 3">5 in the gardens
        and to gather lilies.
    3   I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine;
        he grazes among the lilies.

    Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

    He
    4   You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,
        lovely as Jerusalem,
        awesome as an army with banners.
    5   Turn away your eyes from me,
        for they overwhelm me—
      Your hair is like a flock of goats
        leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
    6   Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
        that have come up from the washing;
      all of them bear twins;
        not one among them has lost its young.
    7   Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
        behind your veil.
    8   There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
        and virgins without number.
    9   My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,
        the only one of her mother,
        pure to her who bore her.
      The young women saw her and called her blessed;
        the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.
    10   “Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
        beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
        awesome as an army with banners?”
    She
    11   I went down to the nut orchard
        to look at the blossoms of the valley,
      to see whether the vines had budded,
        whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
    12   Before I was aware, my desire set me
        among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib">6
    Others
    13   Ch 7:1 in Hebrew">7 Return, return, O Shulammite,
        return, return, that we may look upon you.
    He
      Why should you look upon the Shulammite,
        as upon a dance before two armies?Or dance of Mahanaim">8
      7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
        O noble daughter!
      Your rounded thighs are like jewels,
        the work of a master hand.
    2   Your navel is a rounded bowl
        that never lacks mixed wine.
      Your belly is a heap of wheat,
        encircled with lilies.
    3   Your two breasts are like two fawns,
        twins of a gazelle.
    4   Your neck is like an ivory tower.
      Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,
        by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
      Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
        which looks toward Damascus.
    5   Your head crowns you like Carmel,
        and your flowing locks are like purple;
        a king is held captive in the tresses.
    6   How beautiful and pleasant you are,
        O loved one, with all your delights!Or among delights">9
    7   Your stature is like a palm tree,
        and your breasts are like its clusters.
    8   I say I will climb the palm tree
        and lay hold of its fruit.
      Oh may your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
        and the scent of your breath like apples,
    9   and your mouthHebrew palate">10 like the best wine.
    She
      It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
        gliding over lips and teeth.Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew causing the lips of sleepers to speak, or gliding over the lips of those who sleep">11
    10   I am my beloved's,
        and his desire is for me.

    The Bride Gives Her Love

    11   Come, my beloved,
        let us go out into the fields
        and lodge in the villages;Or among the henna plants">12
    12   let us go out early to the vineyards
        and see whether the vines have budded,
      whether the grape blossoms have opened
        and the pomegranates are in bloom.
      There I will give you my love.
    13   The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
        and beside our doors are all choice fruits,
      new as well as old,
        which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

    Longing for Her Beloved

    8   Oh that you were like a brother to me
        who nursed at my mother's breasts!
      If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
        and none would despise me.
    2   I would lead you and bring you
        into the house of my mother—
        she who used to teach me.
      I would give you spiced wine to drink,
        the juice of my pomegranate.
    3   His left hand is under my head,
        and his right hand embraces me!
    4   I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
        that you not stir up or awaken love
        until it pleases.
    5   Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
        leaning on her beloved?
      Under the apple tree I awakened you.
      There your mother was in labor with you;
        there she who bore you was in labor.
    6   Set me as a seal upon your heart,
        as a seal upon your arm,
      for love is strong as death,
        jealousyOr ardor">13 is fierce as the grave.Hebrew as Sheol">14
      Its flashes are flashes of fire,
        the very flame of the LORD.
    7   Many waters cannot quench love,
        neither can floods drown it.
      If a man offered for love
        all the wealth of his house,
        heOr it">15 would be utterly despised.

    Final Advice

    Others
    8   We have a little sister,
        and she has no breasts.
      What shall we do for our sister
        on the day when she is spoken for?
    9   If she is a wall,
        we will build on her a battlement of silver,
      but if she is a door,
        we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
    She
    10   I was a wall,
        and my breasts were like towers;
      then I was in his eyes
        as one who findsOr brings out">16 peace.
    11   Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
        he let out the vineyard to keepers;
        each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.
    12   My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
        you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
        and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.
    He
    13   O you who dwell in the gardens,
        with companions listening for your voice;
        let me hear it.
    She
    14   Make haste, my beloved,
        and be like a gazelle
      or a young stag
        on the mountains of spices.

    Footnotes

    [1] 5:12 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain


    [2] 5:14 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    [3] 5:14 Hebrew lapis lazuli

    [4] 5:16 Hebrew palate

    [5] 6:2 Or to pasture his flock; also verse 3

    [6] 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib

    [7] 6:13 Ch 7:1 in Hebrew

    [8] 6:13 Or dance of Mahanaim

    [9] 7:6 Or among delights

    [10] 7:9 Hebrew palate

    [11] 7:9 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew causing the lips of sleepers to speak, or gliding over the lips of those who sleep

    [12] 7:11 Or among the henna plants

    [13] 8:6 Or ardor

    [14] 8:6 Hebrew as Sheol

    [15] 8:7 Or it

    [16] 8:10 Or brings out

    (ESV)

    Psalm:
    Psalm 80
    Psalm 80 (Listen)
    Restore Us, O God
    To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm.

    80   Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
        you who lead Joseph like a flock.
      You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
    2     Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
      stir up your might
        and come to save us!
    3   Restore us,Or Turn us again; also verses 7, 19">1 O God;
        let your face shine, that we may be saved!
    4   O LORD God of hosts,
        how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?
    5   You have fed them with the bread of tears
        and given them tears to drink in full measure.
    6   You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,
        and our enemies laugh among themselves.
    7   Restore us, O God of hosts;
        let your face shine, that we may be saved!
    8   You brought a vine out of Egypt;
        you drove out the nations and planted it.
    9   You cleared the ground for it;
        it took deep root and filled the land.
    10   The mountains were covered with its shade,
        the mighty cedars with its branches.
    11   It sent out its branches to the sea
        and its shoots to the River.That is, the Euphrates">2
    12   Why then have you broken down its walls,
        so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
    13   The boar from the forest ravages it,
        and all that move in the field feed on it.
    14   Turn again, O God of hosts!
        Look down from heaven, and see;
      have regard for this vine,
    15     the stock that your right hand planted,
        and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
    16   They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;
        may they perish at the rebuke of your face!
    17   But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
        the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
    18   Then we shall not turn back from you;
        give us life, and we will call upon your name!
    19   Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
        Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

    Footnotes

    [1] 80:3 Or Turn us again; also verses 7, 19


    [2] 80:11 That is, the Euphrates

    (ESV)

    New Testament:
    Acts 3
    Acts 3 (Listen)
    The Lame Beggar Healed

    3 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.That is, 3 p.m.">1 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

    Peter Speaks in Solomon's Portico

    11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servantOr child; also verse 26">2 Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through JesusGreek him">3 has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

    17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

    Footnotes

    [1] 3:1 That is, 3 p.m.


    [2] 3:13 Or child; also verse 26

    [3] 3:16 Greek him

    (ESV)

    14 min
  • September 25: Song of Solomon 1–4; Psalm 79; Acts 2
    Old Testament:
    Song of Solomon 1–4
    Song of Solomon 1–4 (Listen)

    1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.

    The Bride Confesses Her Love

    SheThe translators have added speaker identifications based on the gender and number of the Hebrew words">1
    2   Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
      For your love is better than wine;
    3     your anointing oils are fragrant;
      your name is oil poured out;
        therefore virgins love you.
    4   Draw me after you; let us run.
        The king has brought me into his chambers.
    Others
      We will exult and rejoice in you;
        we will extol your love more than wine;
        rightly do they love you.
    She
    5   I am very dark, but lovely,
        O daughters of Jerusalem,
      like the tents of Kedar,
        like the curtains of Solomon.
    6   Do not gaze at me because I am dark,
        because the sun has looked upon me.
      My mother's sons were angry with me;
        they made me keeper of the vineyards,
        but my own vineyard I have not kept!
    7   Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
        where you pasture your flock,
        where you make it lie down at noon;
      for why should I be like one who veils herself
        beside the flocks of your companions?

    Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

    He
    8   If you do not know,
        O most beautiful among women,
      follow in the tracks of the flock,
        and pasture your young goats
        beside the shepherds' tents.
    9   I compare you, my love,
        to a mare among Pharaoh's chariots.
    10   Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,
        your neck with strings of jewels.
    Others
    11   We will make for youThe Hebrew for you is feminine singular">2 ornaments of gold,
        studded with silver.
    She
    12   While the king was on his couch,
        my nard gave forth its fragrance.
    13   My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh
        that lies between my breasts.
    14   My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
        in the vineyards of Engedi.
    He
    15   Behold, you are beautiful, my love;
        behold, you are beautiful;
        your eyes are doves.
    She
    16   Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful.
      Our couch is green;
    17     the beams of our house are cedar;
        our rafters are pine.
    2   I am a roseProbably a bulb, such as a crocus, asphodel, or narcissus">3 of Sharon,
        a lily of the valleys.
    He
    2   As a lily among brambles,
        so is my love among the young women.
    She
    3   As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
        so is my beloved among the young men.
      With great delight I sat in his shadow,
        and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
    4   He brought me to the banqueting house,Hebrew the house of wine">4
        and his banner over me was love.
    5   Sustain me with raisins;
        refresh me with apples,
        for I am sick with love.
    6   His left hand is under my head,
        and his right hand embraces me!
    7   I adjure you,That is, I put you on oath; so throughout the Song">5 O daughters of Jerusalem,
        by the gazelles or the does of the field,
      that you not stir up or awaken love
        until it pleases.

    The Bride Adores Her Beloved

    8   The voice of my beloved!
        Behold, he comes,
      leaping over the mountains,
        bounding over the hills.
    9   My beloved is like a gazelle
        or a young stag.
      Behold, there he stands
        behind our wall,
      gazing through the windows,
        looking through the lattice.
    10   My beloved speaks and says to me:
      “Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
        and come away,
    11   for behold, the winter is past;
        the rain is over and gone.
    12   The flowers appear on the earth,
        the time of singingOr pruning">6 has come,
      and the voice of the turtledove
        is heard in our land.
    13   The fig tree ripens its figs,
        and the vines are in blossom;
        they give forth fragrance.
      Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
        and come away.
    14   O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
        in the crannies of the cliff,
      let me see your face,
        let me hear your voice,
      for your voice is sweet,
        and your face is lovely.
    15   Catch the foxesOr jackals">7 for us,
        the little foxes
      that spoil the vineyards,
        for our vineyards are in blossom.”
    16   My beloved is mine, and I am his;
        he grazesOr he pastures his flock">8 among the lilies.
    17   Until the day breathes
        and the shadows flee,
      turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle
        or a young stag on cleft mountains.Or mountains of Bether">9

    The Bride's Dream

    3   On my bed by night
      I sought him whom my soul loves;
        I sought him, but found him not.
    2   I will rise now and go about the city,
        in the streets and in the squares;
      I will seek him whom my soul loves.
        I sought him, but found him not.
    3   The watchmen found me
        as they went about in the city.
      “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
    4   Scarcely had I passed them
        when I found him whom my soul loves.
      I held him, and would not let him go
        until I had brought him into my mother's house,
        and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
    5   I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
        by the gazelles or the does of the field,
      that you not stir up or awaken love
        until it pleases.

    Solomon Arrives for the Wedding

    6   What is that coming up from the wilderness
        like columns of smoke,
      perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
        with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
    7   Behold, it is the litterThat is, the couch on which servants carry a king">10 of Solomon!
      Around it are sixty mighty men,
        some of the mighty men of Israel,
    8   all of them wearing swords
        and expert in war,
      each with his sword at his thigh,
        against terror by night.
    9   King Solomon made himself a carriageOr sedan chair">11
        from the wood of Lebanon.
    10   He made its posts of silver,
        its back of gold, its seat of purple;
      its interior was inlaid with love
        by the daughters of Jerusalem.
    11   Go out, O daughters of Zion,
        and look upon King Solomon,
      with the crown with which his mother crowned him
        on the day of his wedding,
        on the day of the gladness of his heart.

    Solomon Admires His Bride's Beauty

    He
    4   Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
        behold, you are beautiful!
      Your eyes are doves
        behind your veil.
      Your hair is like a flock of goats
        leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
    2   Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
        that have come up from the washing,
      all of which bear twins,
        and not one among them has lost its young.
    3   Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
        and your mouth is lovely.
      Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
        behind your veil.
    4   Your neck is like the tower of David,
        built in rows of stone;The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain">12
      on it hang a thousand shields,
        all of them shields of warriors.
    5   Your two breasts are like two fawns,
        twins of a gazelle,
        that graze among the lilies.
    6   Until the day breathes
        and the shadows flee,
      I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
        and the hill of frankincense.
    7   You are altogether beautiful, my love;
        there is no flaw in you.
    8   Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
        come with me from Lebanon.
      DepartOr Look">13 from the peak of Amana,
        from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
      from the dens of lions,
        from the mountains of leopards.
    9   You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
        you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
        with one jewel of your necklace.
    10   How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
        How much better is your love than wine,
        and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
    11   Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
        honey and milk are under your tongue;
        the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
    12   A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
        a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
    13   Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
        with all choicest fruits,
        henna with nard,
    14   nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
        with all trees of frankincense,
      myrrh and aloes,
        with all choice spices—
    15   a garden fountain, a well of living water,
        and flowing streams from Lebanon.
    16   Awake, O north wind,
        and come, O south wind!
      Blow upon my garden,
        let its spices flow.

    Together in the Garden of Love

    She
      Let my beloved come to his garden,
        and eat its choicest fruits.

    Footnotes

    [1] 1:2 The translators have added speaker identifications based on the gender and number of the Hebrew words


    [2] 1:11 The Hebrew for you is feminine singular

    [3] 2:1 Probably a bulb, such as a crocus, asphodel, or narcissus

    [4] 2:4 Hebrew the house of wine

    [5] 2:7 That is, I put you on oath; so throughout the Song

    [6] 2:12 Or pruning

    [7] 2:15 Or jackals

    [8] 2:16 Or he pastures his flock

    [9] 2:17 Or mountains of Bether

    [10] 3:7 That is, the couch on which servants carry a king

    [11] 3:9 Or sedan chair

    [12] 4:4 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

    [13] 4:8 Or Look

    (ESV)

    Psalm:
    Psalm 79
    Psalm 79 (Listen)
    How Long, O Lord?
    A Psalm of Asaph.

    79   O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
        they have defiled your holy temple;
        they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
    2   They have given the bodies of your servants
        to the birds of the heavens for food,
        the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
    3   They have poured out their blood like water
        all around Jerusalem,
        and there was no one to bury them.
    4   We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
        mocked and derided by those around us.
    5   How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever?
        Will your jealousy burn like fire?
    6   Pour out your anger on the nations
        that do not know you,
      and on the kingdoms
        that do not call upon your name!
    7   For they have devoured Jacob
        and laid waste his habitation.
    8   Do not remember against us our former iniquities;Or the iniquities of former generations">1
        let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
        for we are brought very low.
    9   Help us, O God of our salvation,
        for the glory of your name;
      deliver us, and atone for our sins,
        for your name's sake!
    10   Why should the nations say,
        “Where is their God?”
      Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
        be known among the nations before our eyes!
    11   Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
        according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
    12   Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors
        the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
    13   But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
        will give thanks to you forever;
        from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

    Footnotes

    [1] 79:8 Or the iniquities of former generations

    (ESV)

    New Testament:
    Acts 2
    Acts 2 (Listen)
    The Coming of the Holy Spirit

    2 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and restedOr And tongues as of fire appeared to them, distributed among them, and rested">1 on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

    5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

    Peter's Sermon at Pentecost

    14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.That is, 9 a.m.">2 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

    17   “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
      that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
      and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
        and your young men shall see visions,
        and your old men shall dream dreams;
    18   even on my male servants and female servants
        in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
    19   And I will show wonders in the heavens above
        and signs on the earth below,
        blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
    20   the sun shall be turned to darkness
        and the moon to blood,
        before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
    21   And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

    22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—23 this Jesus,Greek this one">3 delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,

      “‘I saw the Lord always before me,
        for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
    26   therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
        my flesh also will dwell in hope.
    27   For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
        or let your Holy One see corruption.
    28   You have made known to me the paths of life;
        you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

    29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

      “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
      “Sit at my right hand,
    35     until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

    36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

    37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

    The Fellowship of the Believers

    42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And aweOr fear">4 came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

    Footnotes

    [1] 2:3 Or And tongues as of fire appeared to them, distributed among them, and rested


    [2] 2:15 That is, 9 a.m.

    [3] 2:23 Greek this one

    [4] 2:43 Or fear

    (ESV)

    17 min

About Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Ray Ortlund

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Listen to the ESV Bible in 365 days with bestselling author Ray Ortlund. Each daily podcast includes one Old Testament reading, one New Testament reading, and one reading from the Psalms. Over the…

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