WELS Through my Bible in Three Years

WELS Through my Bible in Three Years

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WELS Through my Bible in Three Years episodes

  • Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 2
    Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 2
    1 John 2:3-27 (EHV)

    LISTEN HERE
    Through My Bible – January 2

    Bible reading based on 1 John 2:3-27 (EHV)

    https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/02-0102db.mp3
    See series: Through My Bible

    1 John 2

    3 This is how we know that we have known him: if we keep his commands. 4 The one who says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 If anyone keeps God’s word, the love of God is truly made complete in him. This is how we know that we are in him: 6 The one who says he remains in him should walk as Jesus[1] walked.

    7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one that you have had since the beginning. The old command is the message you heard. 8 At the same time, the command I am writing is new—it is true in Jesus[2] and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10 The one who loves his brother remains in the light, and nothing causes him to stumble. 11 The one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

    12 I am writing to you, dear children,

        because your sins have been forgiven because of his name.
    13 I am writing to you, fathers,
        because you have known him who is from the beginning.
    I am writing to you, young men,
        because you have overcome the Evil One.
    14 I have written to you, little children,
        because you have known the Father.
    I have written to you, fathers,
        because you have known him who is from the beginning.
    I have written to you, young men,
        because you are strong,
        and the word of God remains in you,
        and you have overcome the Evil One.

    Do Not Love the World

    15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, boasting about material possessions—is not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

    Warning Against False Teachers

    18 Dear children, it is the last hour. The Antichrist is coming, just as you have heard, and even now many antichrists have come. (This is how you know that it is the last hour.) 19 They went out from us, but they really were not part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. Instead they all showed that they were not part of us.

    20 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.[3] 21 I did not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is a liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is an antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father. But the one who confesses the Son has the Father as well. 24 Let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and the Father. 25 And this is what he promised you: eternal life.

    26 I have written these things to you about those who are misleading you. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you have no need for someone to teach you. Rather, since his anointing teaches you all things and since it is true and is no lie, remain in him, just as it has taught you.



    Footnotes
    1. 1 John 2:6 Literally that one
    2. 1 John 2:8 Literally him
    3. 1 John 2:20 A few witnesses to the text read But all of you know that you have an anointing from the Holy One.


      4. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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      5 min
    4. Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 1
      Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 1
      1 John 1-2:2 (EHV)

      LISTEN HERE
      Through My Bible – January 1

      Bible reading based on 1 John 1-2:2 (EHV)

      https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/02-0101db.mp3
      See series: Through My Bible

      1 John 1
      The Word of Life

      1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have observed and our hands have touched regarding the Word of Life— 2 the life appeared, and we have seen it. We testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We are proclaiming what we have seen and heard also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We write these things to you so that our[1] joy may be complete.

      Walking in the Light

      5 This is the message we heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him but still walk in darkness, we are lying and do not put the truth into practice. 7 But if we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ,[2] his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar, and his Word[3] is not in us.

      1 John 2

      1 My children, I write these things to you so that you will not sin. If anyone does sin, we have an Advocate before the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world.



      Footnotes
      1. 1 John 1:4 Some witnesses to the text read your. (“Witnesses to the text” mentioned in footnotes may include Greek manuscripts, lectionaries, translations, and quotations in the church fathers.)
      2. 1 John 1:7 Some witnesses to the text omit Christ.
      3. 1 John 1:10 Or word. This term could refer to Jesus (Word) or God’s message (word).


        4. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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        3 min
      4. Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 31
        Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 31Isaiah 38 – 39
        LISTEN HERE
        Through My Bible – December 31

        Isaiah 38 – 39 (EHV)

        https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-1231db.mp3
        See series: Through My Bible

        Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

        Isaiah 38

        1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was dying. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says. Give instructions to your household, because you are going to die. You will not survive.”

        2 So Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. 3 He said, “Please remember, Lord, how I have walked before you in truth and with my whole heart. I have done what is good in your eyes.” Hezekiah wept bitterly.

        4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah.

        5 Go back and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says:

        I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Now then, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.

        7 This will be the sign from the Lord to you. The Lord will do what he has promised. 8 Watch! I will make the shadow of the setting sun that has moved down the stairway of Ahaz move back, ten steps higher on the staircase.

        Then the sun’s shadow moved backwards, ten steps higher on the stairway that it had just descended.

        9 A poem written by Hezekiah king of Judah, after his illness and recovery. [1]

        10 I thought that, only halfway through my life,

        I was entering into the gates of death, [2]
        deprived of the remaining years of my life.
        11 I thought, I will not see the Lord—
        the Lord [3] in the land of the living.
        I will no longer see anyone among the inhabitants of the world. [4]
        12 My dwelling place is being pulled down.
        It is carried away from me like a shepherd’s tent.
        I have rolled up my life like a weaver.
        He is cutting me off from the loom.
        From day until night, you make an end of me. [5]
        13 I pondered this until the morning.
        He will break all my bones like a lion!
        From day until night, you make an end of me.
        14 I chirp weakly like a swift or a swallow.
        I mourn like a dove.
        My eyes are tired from looking upward.
        O Lord, I am oppressed.
        Be my security.

        15 What can I say?

        He has spoken to me, and he is the one to act.
        I will march slowly throughout all my years,
        because my heart is bitter. [6]
        16 Lord, people live because you give them life.
        My spirit lives through this. [7]
        Restore me, and let me live. [8]
        17 The bitter things I experienced were for my benefit.
        Your love has preserved my life from the pit of destruction,
        for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.
        18 The grave [9] cannot thank you.
        Death cannot praise you.
        Those who go down into the pit cannot trust your faithfulness.
        19 The living one, the living one, he praises you, as I do today.
        A father tells his children about your faithfulness.
        20 The Lord will save me,
        so we will sing songs with stringed instruments
            all the days of our lives in the House of the Lord.

        21 Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs, apply it as a poultice on the inflamed spot, and he will recover.”

        22 Hezekiah had also asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the House of the Lord?”

        Hezekiah Receives Envoys From Babylon

        Isaiah 39

        1 At that time, Merodak [10] Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah was happy to receive the envoys, and he showed them his palace treasury—the silver and the gold, the spices and the precious oil, his whole armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace or in all his domain that Hezekiah did not show them.

        3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did those men say? Where did they come from?”

        Hezekiah replied, “They have come from a faraway country, from Babylon.”

        4 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

        Hezekiah said, “They have seen everything in my palace. There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

        5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of the Lord of Armies. 6 Listen carefully. The days are coming when whatever is in your house—everything that your fathers have stored up until today—will be carried away to Babylon. Not a thing will be left, says the Lord. 7 They will take away some of the sons who were born to you, your own children, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

        8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For Hezekiah also said, “There will be peace and stability during my days.”

        Footnotes
        1. Isaiah 38:9 This poem is not included in 2 Kings.
        2. Isaiah 38:10 Hebrew sheol
        3. Isaiah 38:11 The Hebrew text here has two occurrences of Yah, the short form of the divine name. Some Hebrew manuscripts have a single occurrence of Yahweh.
        4. Isaiah 38:11 Hebrew variant this passing world
        5. Isaiah 38:12 Or day, and then night! So quickly you have made an end of me. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
        6. Isaiah 38:15 The translation follows the Hebrew. The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and the Syriac read What can I say? I will say to him that he is the one to act. I cannot sleep, because my heart is bitter.
        7. Isaiah 38:16 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
        8. Isaiah 38:16 Or you restore me, and you let me live!
        9. Isaiah 38:18 Hebrew sheol
        10. Isaiah 39:1 Merodak is probably a derogatory form of the name Marduk, the chief god of Babylon.




          11. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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          6 min
        11. Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 30
          Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 30Isaiah 36 – 37
          LISTEN HERE
          Through My Bible – December 30

          Isaiah 36 – 37 (EHV)

          https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-1230db.mp3
          See series: Through My Bible

          Assyria Threatens Jerusalem

          Isaiah 36

          1 Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all of the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. 2 The king of Assyria sent his herald [1] from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah. A large army was with him. He stood by the water channel from the upper pool on the road to the launderer’s [2] field. 3 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was the palace administrator, Shebna, who was the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, who was the recorder, came out to meet him.

          4 The herald told them this.

          Tell Hezekiah this is what the Great King, the king of Assyria, says.

          What makes you so confident? 5 Your wisdom and military strength are based on empty promises. Who do you trust, so that you now have rebelled against me? 6 Tell me! Are you really trusting in Egypt to be your staff, that splintered reed that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it? That is what happens to anyone who relies on Pharaoh king of Egypt.

          7 If you say to me that you trust in the Lord your God, isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed? Didn’t Hezekiah tell Judah and Jerusalem to worship at this altar?

          8 Now then, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses, if you can find enough riders for them. 9 How can you resist even one officer from among the least of my lord’s servants? How can you put your trust in Egypt for chariots and charioteers?

          10 What’s more, have I attacked this land to destroy it without the Lord’s orders? The Lord is the one who said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”

          11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the herald, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew, because there are people on the city wall who are listening.”

          12 But the herald replied, “Has my lord sent me only to you and to your lord to speak these words, and not to the men who are sitting on the wall, who will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine with you?” [3]

          13 Then the herald stood up and called out in a loud voice in Hebrew. He said:

          Listen to the words of the Great King, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says.

          Do not let Hezekiah deceive you! He will not be able to deliver you. 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord, when he says that the Lord will save you, and that this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.

          16 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says. Make a peace treaty with me and surrender to me. Each one of you will eat from his own vine, from his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink water from his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land with grain and sweet wine, a land with bread and vineyards. 18 Do not let Hezekiah make you think that the Lord will deliver you!

          Have any of the gods of the nations kept them from being handed over to the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20 Which of the gods of these countries have delivered their country from my hand? Will the Lord really deliver Jerusalem from my hand?

          21 But the officials remained silent, saying nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

          22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was the palace administrator, Shebna, who was the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, who was the recorder, went to Hezekiah with their clothing torn and told him everything the herald had said.

          Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Advice

          Isaiah 37

          1 When King Hezekiah heard the report, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the House of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, who were wearing sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

          3 They told him what Hezekiah said: “This is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation, because children are about to be born, but there is no strength left to give birth. 4 Perhaps the Lord your God will take note of the words of this herald, who was sent by his lord, the king of Assyria, in defiance of the living God, and perhaps the Lord your God will rebuke him for what he has heard. So please, pray for the small group that is left here.”

          5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 he said to them, “Tell your master that this is what the Lord says. Do not be afraid of what you have heard. The lackeys [4] of the king of Assyria have blasphemed against me. 7 Watch! I will put a spirit in him, so that when he hears certain news, he will return to his own land. There I will cause him to be killed.”

          8 Then the herald went back. He heard that the king of Assyria had already left Lachish and was fighting against Libnah.

          9 When Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah king of Cush [5] had set out to fight against him, he sent messengers to Hezekiah 10 to say this to Hezekiah king of Judah:

          Do not let the God you trust deceive you, saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria. 11 Listen, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other lands, destroying them completely. And you expect to be saved? 12 Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed save them—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden, who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the kings of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?

          14 Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. He went up to the House of the Lord and placed it there before the Lord. 15 Then he prayed to the Lord.

          16 O Lord of Armies, God of Israel, seated above the cherubim, you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. 17 Turn your ear toward me, Lord, and hear. Open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to all of the words of Sennacherib, who has defied the living God. 18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these lands and their territory. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods at all, but the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 20 Now, Lord our God, save us from his power, and let all the kingdoms of the earth know that you are the Lord, and you alone.

          The Lord Replies to Hezekiah Through Isaiah

          21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah.

          The Lord, the God of Israel, says that because you have prayed to him about Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 the Lord sends you this reply about him.

          The virgin daughter of Zion [6] despises you and jeers at you.

          The daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head at you in scorn.
          23 Who is it whom you have mocked and blasphemed?
          Against whom have you raised your voice
          and lifted up your proud eyes?
          It is against the Holy One of Israel.
          24 You have used your servants to mock the Lord.
          You have boasted, “I have driven my many chariots
          up the high mountains, to the most remote parts of Lebanon.
          I cut down its tallest cedars and its best fir trees.
          I have reached its highest peak, its most lush forest.
          25 I dug wells and drank their water,
          and I dried up all the rivers of Egypt with the soles of my feet.”

          26 Have you not heard?

          I did all this long ago.
          I formed all this in ancient times.
          Now I caused it all to take place.
          I enabled you to destroy fortified cities,
          reducing them to heaps of ruins.
          27 Their inhabitants were powerless.
          Overwhelmed and ashamed,
          they were like plants in the field,
          like fresh green grass, like grass on a housetop,
          and like a field before it has grown. [7]
          28 But I know when you stand and when you sit, [8]
          when you go out and when you come in,
          and how you rage wildly against me.
          29 Because you rage against me,
          and because your arrogance has reached my ears,
          I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth,
          and I will make you go back by the same way that you came.

          30 This will be a sign for you:

          This year you will eat what grows by itself.

          Next year you will eat what springs up from that.
          But in the third year, you will sow crops and harvest them.
          You will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
          31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah
          will again put down roots below and bear fruit above.
          32 For from Jerusalem a remnant will go out,
          and survivors from Mount Zion.
          The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.

          33 This is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

          He will not enter this city.

          He will not shoot an arrow there.
          He will not advance against it with a shield,
          and he will not build a siege ramp against it.
          34 He will go back by the same route that he came,
          and he will not enter this city, declares the Lord.
          35 For I will defend this city to save it,
          for my own sake,
          and for the sake of my servant David.

          The Destruction of Sennacherib

          36 Then an angel of the Lord went and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. Early in the morning, there they were—all the dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned to Nineveh and remained there. 38 One day when Sennacherib was worshipping in the house of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They fled to the land of Ararat, [9] and his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.

          Footnotes
          1. Isaiah 36:2 Or chief spokesman. The Hebrew/Assyrian term rab shakeh refers to a high-ranking military officer.
          2. Isaiah 36:2 Or washerman’s or wool-cleaner’s
          3. Isaiah 36:12 The Hebrew terms for excrement and urine are apparently coarse, because the scribal notes substitute euphemisms for them.
          4. Isaiah 37:6 Or junior officers, an insulting term to use for such high-ranking officers
          5. Isaiah 37:9 Cush is the ancient name for the territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. Called Ethiopia in Roman times, it included most of present-day Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia. The Cushite or Nubian kings were the pharaohs of Egypt at this time.
          6. Isaiah 37:22 Daughter of Zion is a personification of Jerusalem and the people of Judah.
          7. Isaiah 37:27 The translation follows the main Hebrew reading of this verse. The parallel text in 2 Kings 19:26 reads scorched before it becomes a full-grown stalk. The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah reads scorched by the east wind.
          8. Isaiah 37:28 The translation follows the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah. The Hebrew does not have when you stand and.
          9. Isaiah 37:38 The region of present-day Armenia




            10. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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            12 min
          10. Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 29
            Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 29Isaiah 33 – 35
            LISTEN HERE
            Through My Bible – December 29

            Isaiah 33 – 35 (EHV)

            https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-1229db.mp3
            See series: Through My Bible

            Rise Up, O Lord!
            Isaiah 33

            1 Woe to you who destroy, even though you have not been destroyed,

            you who betray, though you have not been betrayed!

            When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed,
            and when you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.

            2 O Lord, be gracious to us. We wait hopefully for you.

            Be our strength every morning.
            Be our salvation in times of trouble.
            3 At the thunder of your voice, people flee.
            When you stir up your great power, nations scatter.
            4 Your plunder will be taken away
                the way a caterpillar [1] eats things up.
            People will swarm on it like a locust swarm.
            5 The Lord is exalted, because he dwells on high.
            He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
            6 There will be stability in your time,
            a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
            Your treasure will be the fear of the Lord.
            7 Listen! Their elite troops [2] are crying in the streets.
            The peace envoys weep bitterly.
            8 The highways are deserted.
            All travel has stopped.
            The treaty has been broken.
            Witnesses [3] are despised,
            and no one is respected.
            9 The land mourns and becomes weak.
            Lebanon is ashamed and withers away.
            The Plain of Sharon is like the Arabah,
            and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.

            10 Now I will arise, says the Lord.

            Now I will lift myself up.
            Now I will be exalted.
            11 You will conceive chaff
            and give birth to stubble.
            Like fire, your own breath will consume you.
            12 People will be burned to lime, [4]
            like thorns that are cut and burned in the fire.
            13 You who are far away, recognize what I have done.
            You who are close by, acknowledge my mighty acts.

            14 The sinners in Zion are afraid.

            Trembling has seized the ungodly.
            Who of us can live with a consuming fire?
            Who of us can live in a place that burns without end?
            15 Those who walk righteously and speak blamelessly,
            those who despise dishonest gain,
            whose hands refuse a bribe,
            whose ears will not listen to violent plans,
            whose eyes reject evil—
            16 they will dwell on high.
            Their defense will be a fortress on the cliffs.
            Their bread will be provided.
                Their water supply will be reliable.

            17 Your eyes will see the King [5] in his splendor.

            They will see a land that stretches far and wide.
            18 Your heart will think about the past terrors.
            You will think, “Where is the one who took the inventory? [6]
            Where is the one who weighed the silver?
            Where is the one who counted the towers?”
            19 You will no longer see a barbaric people,
            a people with unintelligible speech, which you cannot understand,
            a people who babble in a language that makes no sense.
            20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold our festivals.
            You will see Jerusalem as a peaceful place,
            as a tent that cannot be removed.
            Its stakes will never be pulled up.
            Its ropes will never be broken.
            21 There the Lord will be with us in majesty,
            as in a place with wide rivers and streams,
            where no enemy warship can row,
            where no sailing ship can slip past.
            22 Because the Lord is our judge,
            the Lord is our lawgiver,
            and the Lord is our king,
            he is the one who will save us.

            23 Your rigging hangs loose.

            The mast is not steady.
            The sail is not set. [7]

            When they divide all the plunder,

            there will be so much that even the crippled will take part.
            24 No one who lives there will say, “I am sick.”
            The guilt of the people who live there will be forgiven.

            Judgment Against the Nations
            Isaiah 34

            1 Come near, you nations, and hear!

            Listen, you peoples.

            Let the earth and everything in it hear,
            the world and everything that it produces.

            2 The Lord is angry with all the nations,

            and he is furious with all their armies.
            He has condemned them to destruction.
            He has handed them over for slaughter.
            3 Their fallen bodies will lie unburied,
            and the stench of their corpses will linger.
            The mountains will flow with their blood.
            4 The whole army of the heavens will fall apart.
            The sky will be rolled up like a scroll,
            and its whole army will waste away and fall,
                like leaves withering on a vine,
                like fruit that falls from a fig tree.

            5 Yes, my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.

            Now it will fall on Edom,
            on the people I have sentenced to judgment.
            6 The sword of the Lord is covered with blood.
            It is coated with fat,
            with the blood of lambs and goats,
            with the fat from the kidneys of rams,
            for the Lord has made a sacrifice in Bozrah,
            a massive slaughter in the land of Edom.
            7 Wild oxen will fall along with them,
            bull calves and powerful bulls.
            Their land will be soaked with blood,
            and their dust will be saturated with fat.
            8 It will be a day of vengeance for the Lord,
            a year of retribution for Zion’s sake. [8]
            9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch,
            its dust into sulfur,
            and its land will become burning pitch,
            10 which will not be extinguished night or day.
            Its smoke will go up forever.
            Generation after generation, it will lie in ruins.
            No one will ever pass through it. Never again!
            11 But the desert owl and the porcupine will live there. [9]
            The screech owl and the raven will nest there.
            God will stretch a measuring line for chaos over Edom,
            and a plumb line for uninhabited ruins. [10]
            12 There will be nothing left for its nobles to call a kingdom.
            All its officials will be gone.
            13 Thorns will cover its citadels.
            Thistles and briers will overgrow its fortresses.
            It will be a den of jackals,
            a haunt for ostriches.
            14 Desert animals and hyenas will gather,
            and wild goats [11] will bleat to each other.
            Creatures of the night [12] will settle there
            and find a resting place.
            15 An owl [13] will nest there.
            She will lay eggs, hatch them,
            and gather her young under her shade.
            Falcons will gather there too,
            each with its mate.

            16 Search through the book of the Lord, and read.

            Not one of them will be missing.
            Not one will lack her mate.
            For his mouth has commanded this,
            and his Spirit has gathered them together.
            17 He has allotted this land for these creatures.
            His hand has divided it up for them with a surveying line.
            They will possess it forever.
            They will live there generation after generation.

            The Joyful Return
            Isaiah 35

            1 The wilderness and the desert will be glad.

            The wasteland of the Arabah will rejoice and blossom like a crocus.

            2 It will bloom lavishly,
            and there will be great joy and singing.
            The glory of Lebanon will be given to it.
            It will be excellent like Carmel and Sharon.
            They will see the glory of the Lord,
            the majesty of our God.

            3 Strengthen the weak hands,

            and make the shaky knees steady.
            4 Tell those who have a fearful heart:
                Be strong.
                Do not be afraid.
                Look! Your God will come with vengeance.
                With God’s own retribution, he will come and save you.

            5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,

            and the ears of the deaf will be unplugged.
            6 The crippled will leap like a deer,
            and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy.
            Waters will flow in the wilderness,
            and streams in the wasteland.
            7 The burning sand will become a pool,
            and in the thirsty ground there will be springs of water.
            There will be grass, reeds, and rushes where the haunts
                of jackals once lay.
            8 A highway will be there,
            a road that will be called the holy way.
            The impure will not walk there.
            It will be reserved for those who walk in that holy way.
            Wicked fools will not wander onto it.
            9 No lion will be there,
            nor will any ferocious animal go up on it.
            They will not be found there,
            but only the redeemed will walk there.
            10 Then those ransomed by the Lord will return.
            They will enter Zion with a joyful shout,
            and everlasting joy will crown their heads.
            Happiness and joy will overtake them,
            and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

            Footnotes
            1. Isaiah 33:4 The term refers to a life stage or a type of locust.
            2. Isaiah 33:7 Or the people of Ariel
            3. Isaiah 33:8 The translation follows the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah. The standard Hebrew text reads cities.
            4. Isaiah 33:12 Or to ashes
            5. Isaiah 33:17 Or the king
            6. Isaiah 33:18 The verse apparently refers to the actions of the enemy officers as they plundered Jerusalem.
            7. Isaiah 33:23 Or Your ropes are loose. Their flagpole is not firmly set, and the flag will not fly. But see verse 21.
            8. Isaiah 34:8 Or a time of retribution for the Defender of Zion
            9. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these animals and other animals in this section is uncertain. The word translated porcupine may be another type of owl.
            10. Isaiah 34:11 The words translated chaos and uninhabited ruins are the same words that describe the undeveloped, empty world on the first day of creation.
            11. Isaiah 34:14 The term translated wild goats later became associated with satyrs and demons, but here it seems to refer to regular animals.
            12. Isaiah 34:14 Hebrew lilith. In later Jewish writing this term became the name of a female demon.
            13. Isaiah 34:15 Or the arrow snake. The meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain.




              14. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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              10 min
            14. Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 28
              Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 28Isaiah 30:18 – 32:20
              LISTEN HERE
              Through My Bible – December 28

              Isaiah 30:18 – 32:20 (EHV)

              https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-1228db.mp3
              See series: Through My Bible

              Isaiah 30

              18 But the Lord is eager to be gracious to you.

              He waits on high to have mercy on you,
              for the Lord is a God of justice.
              Blessed are all those who long for him.

              19 So people will live in Zion. In Jerusalem you will weep no more. The Lord will be very gracious to you when he hears your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you. 20 Though the Lord has given you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, he is your teacher. [1] He will not be hidden any longer. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. 21 Whenever you are tempted to turn to the right or to the left, you will hear his voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.” 22 You will defile your idols that are plated with silver and your images overlaid with gold. You will throw them away like a filthy cloth, [2] saying, “Get away from me!”

              23 Then he will give you rain so that you can sow seed in the ground. The bread from your land’s harvest will be excellent and plentiful. On that day your livestock will graze in wide pastures. 24 The oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat the best feed [3]—winnowed with a shovel and a winnowing fork. 25 On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams flowing with water.

              It will be a day of terrible slaughter, when towers fall. 26 The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day when the Lord will bind up the wounds of his people and heal the injuries he inflicted.

              God Will Punish Assyria

              27 Look! The name of the Lord is coming from far away,

              burning with anger, in a column of thick smoke.
              His lips are full of anger,
              and his tongue is a consuming fire.
              28 His breath is a stream at flood stage,
              surging all the way up to your neck.
              He shakes the nations in a sieve to destroy them,
              and he puts a bridle in their mouths to lead them to destruction.
              29 You will sing as you do on the night of a holy festival,
                  with glad hearts,
              as when they go up with flutes to the mountain of the Lord,
              to the Rock of Israel.
              30 The Lord will cause the majestic splendor of his voice to be heard.
              He will make them see his arm come crashing down in fierce anger,
              like the flames of a consuming fire,
              like driving rain, a furious storm with hailstones.
              31 The voice of the Lord will terrify Assyria.
              He will strike it with his rod.
              32 Every stroke of the punishing rod [4] which the Lord will lay on them
                  will be accompanied by the music of drums and lyres.
              He himself will fight, battling them, swinging weapons.
              33 Topheth has long been made ready.
              It is prepared for the king,
              a flaming funeral pyre, deep and wide, with plenty of wood.
              The breath of the Lord, like a river of liquid fire, sets it ablaze.

              Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt
              Isaiah 31

              1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,

              who put their faith in horses,

              who trust in chariots because there are many of them,
              who trust in charioteers [5] because they are very powerful.
              They do not trust in the Holy One of Israel.
              They do not seek the Lord.
              2 The Lord is wise, and he will bring disaster.
              He will not go back on his word,
              but he will deal with those who do evil,
              and with those who help the wicked.
              3 The Egyptians are merely men, not gods.
              Their horses are flesh, not spirit.
              When the Lord stretches out his hand to punish,
              both the helper and the one seeking help will fall.
              Together they will perish.

              4 This is what the Lord said to me:

                  When a lion or a young lion snarls over its prey,
                  and a band of shepherds is called out to drive it away,
                  it is not afraid of their shouts,
                  and it is not bothered by the noise they make.
                  In the same way, the Lord of Armies will fearlessly come down
                      to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights.
              5 Like a hovering [6] bird,
              the Lord of Armies will protect Jerusalem.
              He will protect it and deliver it.
              He will pass over it and preserve it.
              6 O people of Israel, return to the one you have so completely betrayed. 7 In that day every one of you will throw away his idols of silver and his idols of gold—things you made, which caused you to sin.

              8 Assyria will fall, but not by a human sword.

              A sword will devour him, but not one wielded by men.
              He will flee from the sword,
              but his young men will be forced into slavery.
              9 His rocky stronghold will pass away because of fear,
              and his officials will abandon their banner in panic,
              declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion,
              whose blast furnace is in Jerusalem.

              The Righteous Kingdom
              Isaiah 32

              1 See, a king will reign in righteousness,

              and officials will govern with justice.

              2 Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind
              and a refuge from the storm,
              like streams of water for a dry place,
              like the shade of a massive cliff in a parched land.
              3 The eyes of those who see will not be closed,
              and the ears of those who hear will listen.
              4 Hasty hearts [7] will gain understanding,
              and stammering tongues will speak clearly.

              5 The fool will no longer be called noble,

              nor will rogues be treated like respectable people. [8]
              6 The fool speaks folly,
              and his heart plots evil:
              to do what is ungodly,
              to tell lies about the Lord,
              to deny food to the hungry,
              and to refuse even one drink for the thirsty.
              7 The rogue’s ways are evil.
              He plots evil to ruin the humble with lies,
              even when the poor speak with justice.

              8 But the noble man plans noble deeds,

              and by noble deeds he stands.

              Judgment and Restoration

              9 Get up, you complacent women, and listen!

              You carefree girls, hear what I have to say!
              10 In a little more than a year, you carefree women will be worried,
              because the grape harvest will fail,
              and the fruit harvest will not arrive.
              11 Tremble, you complacent women!
              Be worried, you carefree girls!
              Strip yourselves naked,
              and put sackcloth around your waist.
              12 Beat your breasts in mourning
                  for the pleasant fields,
                  for the fruitful vines,
              13 because my people’s land will yield only thorns and briers.
              Weep for all the houses where you partied,
                  in the city where you celebrated.
              14 Then the fortress will be abandoned.
              The crowded city will be deserted.
              The citadel and the watchtower will become
                  rugged ruins [9] for a long time,
                  enjoyed by wild donkeys,
                  and a pasture for flocks,
              15 until the Spirit is poured out on us from on high,
              and the wilderness becomes a fertile field,
              and the fertile field seems like a forest.
              16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
              and righteousness will live in the fertile field.
              17 The result of righteousness will be peace,
              and righteousness will bring lasting tranquility and security.
              18 My people will live in a peaceful place,
              in secure dwellings,
              and in quiet resting places.
              19 Even if hail destroys the forest,
              or if the city is totally leveled,
              20 how blessed you will be,
              as you sow seed beside streams,
              and let your cattle and donkeys run free.

              Footnotes
              1. Isaiah 30:20 The Hebrew reads teachers, perhaps referring to the prophets, but the singular he occurs throughout verses 20-26.
              2. Isaiah 30:22 The Hebrew words refer to a cloth stained with menstrual blood. Blood made a person who contacted it ceremonially unclean.
              3. Isaiah 30:24 Or seasoned feed
              4. Isaiah 30:32 Or the appointed rod
              5. Isaiah 31:1 Or horsemen
              6. Isaiah 31:5 Or swooping
              7. Isaiah 32:4 Or rash minds
              8. Isaiah 32:5 Or celebrities
              9. Isaiah 32:14 Or animals’ dens




                10. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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                9 min
              10. Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 27
                Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 27Isaiah 29:1 – 30:17
                LISTEN HERE
                Through My Bible – December 27

                Isaiah 29:1 – 30:17 (EHV)

                https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-1227db.mp3
                See series: Through My Bible

                Woe to the City of David
                Isaiah 29

                1  Woe to Ariel! [1] Ariel, the city where David made his camp.

                Add one year to another.

                Let your cycle of festivals roll on.
                2 But then I will bring distress to Ariel,
                and there will be mourning and lamentation.
                Then she will become an altar hearth [2] to me.
                3 I will encamp against you on all sides,
                and I will lay siege against you with towers. [3]
                I will raise siege works against you.
                4 You will be brought so low
                that you will speak from the ground.
                You will murmur from the dust.
                Your voice will be like a ghost from a pit in the ground,
                and your speech will whisper from the dust.
                5 But your many foes will become like fine dust,
                and the ruthless hordes like blowing chaff.
                This will take place suddenly, in an instant.
                6 You will be visited by the Lord of Armies
                with thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise,
                with a strong wind and a storm,
                and with the flames of a devouring fire.
                7 The hordes of nations that fight against Ariel,
                all who fight against her and her stronghold,
                all who besiege her—
                all of them will be like a dream,
                like a vision in the night.
                8 They will be like a hungry man who dreams and sees himself eating,
                but then he wakes up, and his hunger is not satisfied.
                They will be like a thirsty man who dreams and sees himself drinking,
                but then he wakes up and, sure enough, he is weak with thirst.
                That is how it will be with the hordes of nations
                    that fight against Mount Zion.
                9 Be stunned! Be amazed!
                Blind yourselves and be blind!
                They are drunk, but not with wine.
                They stagger, but not from beer. [4]
                10 For the Lord has poured out a spirit of deep sleep over you.
                He has closed your eyes—the prophets.
                He has covered your heads—the seers.

                11 For you this whole vision has become like the words of a sealed scroll. If you give it to someone who can read, and you say, “Read this, please,” he will say, “I can’t. It is sealed.” 12 And if you give it to someone who cannot read, and you say, “Read this, please,” he will say, “I can’t read.”

                13 The Lord says:

                These people approach me with their words,
                and they honor me with their lips,
                but their hearts are far from me.
                Their worship of me is nothing but commandments taught by men. [5]
                14 So watch how I will continue to amaze these people
                    with amazing, extraordinary things.
                The wisdom of the wise will perish,
                and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.

                Hope for the Future

                15 Woe to those who try to hide their plans from the Lord.

                Their deeds are done in darkness,
                and they think that no one sees them
                or knows what they are doing.

                16 You turn things upside down!

                Should the potter be treated like clay?
                Should the thing that was made say to its maker,
                    “You didn’t make me”?
                Should the creation say to the creator,
                    “You know nothing”?

                17 Isn’t it true that in a very short time

                    Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field,
                    and the fertile field will seem like a forest?
                18 On that day, the deaf will hear the words from a book,
                and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
                19 The humble will rejoice in the Lord once again,
                and the poor will delight in the Holy One of Israel.
                20 But the ruthless will come to nothing.
                Those who mock will be no more,
                and all those who plan evil will be cut off—
                21 all those who slander others with a word,
                all those who argue cases at the city gate,
                all those who use false testimony to deprive the innocent of justice.

                22 Therefore this is what the Lord, who redeemed Abraham,

                says about the house of Jacob:
                    Jacob will not be ashamed anymore.
                    His face will not grow pale.
                23     But when his children see what I do among them,
                    they will honor my name.
                    They will honor the Holy One of Jacob.
                    They will stand in awe of the God of Israel.
                24     Those who are confused will come to understand,
                    and those who complain will gladly receive instruction.

                A Useless Treaty With Egypt
                Isaiah 30

                1  Woe to this rebellious people, says the Lord.

                They take advice, but not from me.

                They establish an alliance, but not by my Spirit.
                Then they sin more and more.
                2 Woe to those who go down to Egypt, without consulting me.
                They seek Pharaoh’s protection,
                and they take refuge in the shade of Egypt!
                3 So Pharaoh’s protection will bring you shame.
                Taking refuge in the shade of Egypt will be your downfall.
                4 Even though Israel’s officials are in Zoan,
                and their envoys have gone as far as Hanes,
                5 they will all be humiliated
                because of a people that is useless to them.
                They can neither help nor provide any benefit.
                They bring only shame and reproach.

                Judah’s Envoys Take Tribute to Egypt

                6 An oracle about the animals of the Negev.

                Through the land of trouble and distress,

                the land of the lioness and the lion,
                of the viper and the venomous flying serpent,
                Judah’s envoys carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys
                and their treasures on camels’ humps,
                to a nation that cannot help them.
                7 For Egypt’s help is useless and serves no purpose.
                That is why I have called her “the dragon that just sits there.” [6]
                8 Go and write it on a tablet for them.
                Record it on a scroll,
                so that in the future it may serve as a permanent witness.
                9 These are a rebellious people, lying children,
                children unwilling to hear the law of the Lord,
                10 who tell the seers, “Stop seeing!”
                who tell the prophets, “Stop prophesying what is right!
                Tell us pleasant things. Prophesy illusions.
                11 Leave the way! Turn from the path!
                Stop getting in our face about the Holy One of Israel!”
                12 This is what the Holy One of Israel says:
                    Since you have rejected my word,
                    and you trust in oppression and deceit,
                    and you rely on them,
                13     your guilt will be like a crack in a wall,
                    bulging out and about to collapse.
                    It will suddenly fall without warning.
                14     It will crash like a broken clay pot,
                    smashed to pieces so violently that not one useful piece will be left,
                    not even a piece good enough to pick up a coal from the hearth
                    or to ladle water from a cistern.
                15 This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says:
                    If you repent and wait quietly, you will be saved.
                    Your strength will depend on quietness and trust.
                But you refused.
                16 You said, “No, we will flee on horseback!”
                Yes indeed, you will flee.
                You said, “We will ride away swiftly!”
                Yes indeed, you will be pursued swiftly.
                17 A thousand will flee when just one threatens.
                When five threaten, you will flee,
                until you are like a single flag, fluttering on a mountaintop,
                like a lonely banner on a hill.

                Footnotes
                1. Isaiah 29:1 That is, Jerusalem. Ariel means Lion of God, but it also can mean an altar hearth of burning coals, which is what Jerusalem will become.
                2. Isaiah 29:2 Hebrew Ariel
                3. Isaiah 29:3 Or a garrison or an invading army or earthen ramps
                4. Isaiah 29:9 Beer refers to any fermented drink not made from grapes. Distilled alcohol was unknown in biblical times.
                5. Isaiah 29:13 The translation follows the Hebrew. The Greek reads: They worship me in vain. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. See Matthew 15:8-9.
                6. Isaiah 30:7 Literally Rahab who sits still. Rahab was the name of a dragon-like sea monster or river monster. See Job 26:12; Psalm 89:9-10.




                  7. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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                  8 min
                7. Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 26
                  Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 26Isaiah 28
                  LISTEN HERE
                  Through My Bible – December 26

                  Isaiah 28 (EHV)

                  https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-1226db.mp3
                  See series: Through My Bible

                  A Warning to the Northern Kingdom

                  1 Woe to drunken Ephraim’s proud crown,

                  to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,

                  on the peak that overlooks a fertile valley.
                  Woe to those who are overcome with wine!

                  2 Look, the Lord has someone who is strong and mighty.

                  Like a hailstorm,
                  like a destructive windstorm,
                  like a hurricane that drives surging waters,
                  he will throw them down to the earth with his own hand.
                  3 Drunken Ephraim’s proud crown will be trampled underfoot.
                  4 The fading flower of its glorious beauty, on the peak overlooking
                          a fertile valley,
                      will be like the early figs before summer,
                      which someone picks and swallows as soon as he sees them.
                  5 On that day the Lord of Armies will become a glorious crown
                  and a beautifully braided headband for the remnant of his people.
                  6 He will provide a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment,
                  and strength for those who turn back the battle at the gate.

                  The Drunken Prophets and Priests

                  7 They stagger into error because of wine,

                  and they stumble off the way because of beer.
                  The priests and prophets stagger with beer,
                  and they are dizzy from wine.
                  They stumble from beer.
                  They stagger when they see visions.
                  They reel when they render judgment.
                  8 All their tables are covered with vomit.
                  There is not a spot without filth.

                  9 They [1] say:

                      Who is he trying to teach?
                      Who needs his instruction?
                      A baby who has just been weaned from milk?
                      An infant just taken from the breast?
                  10 They say:
                      Law by law, law by law,
                      rule by rule, rule by rule, [2]
                      a little here, a little there.
                  11 So the Lord will speak to this people
                      with barbarous lips and in a foreign tongue.
                  12 He said to them,
                  “This is the resting place.
                  Let the weary rest.
                  This is the place to be refreshed,”
                  but they would not listen.
                  13 That is why to them the word of the Lord will be:
                      Law by law, law by law,
                      rule by rule, rule by rule, [3]
                      a little here, a little there.
                  As a result they will try to walk,
                  but they will fall backwards.
                  They will be hurt, trapped, and taken.

                  A Covenant With Death

                  14 So now, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,

                  who rule this people in Jerusalem.
                  15 You said:
                      We have made a covenant with death,
                      an agreement with the grave. [4]
                      When the punishing whip [5] comes, it will not touch us,
                      for we have made lies our refuge,
                      and we have hidden ourselves behind falsehood.

                  A Cornerstone for Zion

                  16 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

                      Look, I am laying a stone in Zion as a foundation,
                      a tested stone,
                      a precious cornerstone to provide a sure foundation.
                      Whoever believes will not be put to shame. [6]
                  17 I will make justice the measuring line
                  and righteousness the plumb line.
                  A hailstorm will sweep away the refuge of lies,
                  and floodwaters will wash away your shelter.
                  18 Your covenant with death will be canceled,
                  and your agreement with the grave will not stand.
                  When the punishing whip comes,
                  you will be beaten down by it.
                  19 Every time it comes, it will carry you away.
                  It could come any morning, any day, any night.

                  If you understand this message, you will be utterly terrified:

                  20     The bed is too short to lie on,
                      and the blanket is too narrow to cover you.
                  21 For the Lord will rise up as he did on Mount Perazim.
                  He will be enraged, as he was in the valley of Gibeon,
                      to do his work, his strange work,
                      and to accomplish his task, his foreign task.
                  22 Now stop your scornful attitude, or your chains
                          will be made stronger,
                  because I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord,
                          the Lord of Armies,
                      against the whole earth.

                  A Parable

                  23 Listen! Hear my voice.

                  Pay attention to what I say.
                  24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day in order to plant?
                  Does he keep tilling the soil and turning over the dirt?
                  25 When he has leveled the surface,
                  doesn’t he plant the dill
                  and scatter cumin seed?
                  He plants the wheat in one place,
                  barley in another field,
                  and spelt along the edge.
                  26 His God instructs him
                  and teaches him good judgment.
                  27 Of course he does not thresh the dill with a threshing sledge,
                  nor does he roll the wheel of a cart over the cumin.
                  No, he beats the dill with a stick
                  and strikes the cumin with a staff.
                  28 Flour for bread needs to be ground,
                  so he does not thresh endlessly.
                  He drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it
                  and even his team of horses,
                  but he does not pulverize it.
                  29 This also springs forth from the Lord of Armies.
                  He gives amazing advice.
                  He provides great guidance.

                  Footnotes
                  1. Isaiah 28:9 That is, the drunken priests and prophets who mock Isaiah
                  2. Isaiah 28:10 The Hebrew text reads sav lasav sav lasav kav lakav kav lakav. It is possible that these are meaningless sounds imitating a baby’s babble and mocking the prophet’s words and rejecting God’s laws.
                  3. Isaiah 28:13 The Hebrew is the same as in verse 10, but now the Lord uses the words of the mockers as a warning about the foreign speech of the invading Assyrians.
                  4. Isaiah 28:15 Hebrew sheol
                  5. Isaiah 28:15 Or overwhelming judgment. The two words in this phrase do not match well. The noun means whip. The adjective means flooding. Also in verse 18.
                  6. Isaiah 28:16 The translation here follows the Greek text. The Hebrew and Latin read will not be in haste.




                    7. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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                    6 min
                  7. Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 25
                    Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 25Isaiah 26 – 27
                    LISTEN HERE
                    Through My Bible – December 25

                    Isaiah 26 – 27 (EHV)

                    https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-1225db.mp3
                    See series: Through My Bible

                    A Victory Song

                    Isaiah 26

                    1 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah.

                    We have a strong city.

                    God sets up salvation as its walls and ramparts.
                    2 Open the gates,
                    so that the righteous nation may enter,
                    the nation that guards the truth. [1]
                    3 You preserve perfect peace for the person
                        whose resolve is steadfast,
                    because he trusts in you.
                    4 Trust in the Lord forever,
                    for Yah the Lord [2] is the eternal Rock.
                    5 He humbles those who live in a high place,
                        in a high, secure city.
                    He brings it down!
                    He brings it down to the ground!
                    He throws it down into the dust!
                    6 It is trampled down
                    by the feet of the poor,
                    by the soles of the feet of the helpless.

                    A Prayer for Blessing

                    7 The way of the righteous is level and smooth.

                    You are righteous. [3] You smooth the path for the righteous.
                    8 Truly, Lord, we have waited for you on the path of your judgments.
                    Your name and your renown are what our soul desires.
                    9 My soul longs for you during the night.
                    My spirit within me looks for you early in the morning,
                    because when your judgments are known on earth,
                    the inhabitants of the world will learn what righteousness is.
                    10 Although grace is shown to the wicked,
                    they do not learn righteousness.
                    They will continue to act unjustly even in a righteous land.
                    They will not recognize the Lord’s majesty.
                    11 Lord, your hand is raised, ready to strike,
                    but they do not see it.
                    But they will see your zeal for the people,
                    and they will be put to shame.
                    May fire consume your enemies.
                    12 O Lord, you establish peace for us.
                    Everything we have done, you have accomplished for us.
                    13 O Lord our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us,
                    but we honor only your name.
                    14 They are dead. They will not live again.
                    Their departed spirits will not return.
                    You have dealt with them and destroyed them.
                    You have wiped out all memory of them.
                    15 You have enlarged the nation, O Lord.
                    You have enlarged the nation!
                    You are glorified!
                    You have extended all the borders of the land.

                    16 O Lord, they appealed to you in distress.

                    They whispered a prayer as you disciplined them.
                    17 Just as a pregnant woman nearing the time of her delivery
                        writhes and cries out in her pain,
                    so we have done before you, O Lord.
                    18 We have been in pain
                        as if we were about to give birth to a child,
                    but we gave birth only to wind.
                    We have not brought salvation for the earth.
                    We have not given birth to people who can inhabit the world. [4]
                    19 But your dead ones will live.
                    Their [5] dead bodies will rise.
                    Wake up and sing for joy,
                    you who dwell in the dust,
                    because your dew will glisten like morning light,
                    and the earth will give up the spirits of the dead. [6]
                    20 Go, my people, go into your rooms,
                    and shut the doors behind you.
                    Hide yourselves for a little while,
                    until his wrath has passed over.
                    21 Look! The Lord is coming out of his place
                        to deal with the guilt of those who live on the earth.
                    Then the earth will reveal the blood shed on it.
                    It will no longer cover those who have been killed.

                    The Lord Will Deliver Israel

                    Isaiah 27

                    1 On that day, the Lord will draw his sharp, great, and powerful sword, and he will kill Leviathan, [7] the slithering serpent—Leviathan, the coiling serpent. The Lord will kill the monster [8] in the sea.

                    2 On that day, sing about a delightful vineyard! [9]

                    3 I, the Lord, am serving as its caretaker.
                    I water it constantly.
                    So that nothing will damage it,
                    I guard it night and day.
                    4 I am not angry,
                    but if I do find briers and thorns there,
                    I will fight them!
                    I will charge against them and set them all on fire.
                    5 To prevent this, let them turn to me for protection
                    and make peace with me.
                    Let them make peace with me! [10]

                    6 In days to come,

                    Jacob will take root.
                    Israel will blossom and bud.
                    It will fill the whole world with fruit.

                    7 Has he struck Israel the way he struck those who struck them?

                    Have they been killed the same way those who killed them were killed?
                    8 When you drive them away [11] and send them into exile,
                    you make your case against them.
                    He drives them out with his violent storm,
                    as on a day when the hot east wind blows.
                    9 In this way the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,
                    and this will be all the fruit that results from taking away his sin.
                    He will make all the altar stones like chalk that has been crushed,
                    and no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.
                    10 Then the fortified city will be all alone,
                    a dwelling place, deserted and forsaken, like a wilderness.
                    Calves will graze there.
                    They will lie down there and eat all the leaves off the branches.
                    11 When its twigs are dried up, they are broken off.
                    Women will come and build a fire with them.
                    Because they are a people who have no understanding,
                    therefore their Maker will have no compassion on them.
                    He who formed them will not be gracious to them.

                    12 On that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing river, the Euphrates, to the Stream of Egypt, [12] and you Israelites will be gathered one by one. 13 On that day there will be a very loud blast on a ram’s horn, and those who were about to perish in the land of Assyria, together with those who were scattered in the land of Egypt, will come. They will worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

                    Footnotes
                    1. Isaiah 26:2 Or remains faithful
                    2. Isaiah 26:4 The Hebrew text here includes both the short and long forms of the divine name, Yah and Yahweh. Since we usually translate Yahweh as Lord and there is no difference in meaning between the two terms, Yah is left untranslated.
                    3. Isaiah 26:7 The grammatical construction of the line is unclear. The word translated you are righteous is the same Hebrew root that means level and smooth. It does not appear in the Greek text and perhaps should be omitted.
                    4. Isaiah 26:18 The meaning of this line is uncertain.
                    5. Isaiah 26:19 The Hebrew reads my dead body, but the verb is plural.
                    6. Isaiah 26:19 The last lines of the verse are difficult.
                    7. Isaiah 27:1 Leviathan is well known in the literature of the ancient Near East. It is a dragon or sea serpent that represents chaos and disorder. Like the dragon in Revelation 12, it can represent Satan.
                    8. Isaiah 27:1 Hebrew tannin
                    9. Isaiah 27:2 Hebrew variant a vineyard of red wine
                    10. Isaiah 27:5 The precise line of thought in verses 4 and 5 is uncertain.
                    11. Isaiah 27:8 The meaning of this phrase is uncertain.
                    12. Isaiah 27:12 One of the intermittent streambeds near the border of Egypt, not the Nile




                      13. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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                      7 min
                    13. Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 24
                      Through My Bible Yr 01 – December 24
                      Isaiah 24 – 25
                      LISTEN HERE
                      Through My Bible – December 24

                      Isaiah 24 – 25 (EHV)

                      https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/01-1224db.mp3
                      See series: Through My Bible

                      The Lord Will Judge the Earth
                      Isaiah 24

                      1 Watch, the Lord is going to strip the earth bare and make it desolate.

                      He will wring it out and scatter its inhabitants.
                      2 It will be the same for people and priest,
                          for servant and master,
                          for servant girl and lady,
                          for buyer and seller,
                          for lender and borrower,
                          for creditor and debtor.
                      3 The earth will be stripped bare, totally plundered,
                          for the Lord has spoken this word.
                      4 The earth mourns and withers.
                      The world fades and withers away.
                      The proud people of the earth fade away.
                      5 The earth is polluted by its inhabitants,
                      because they have bypassed the laws.
                      They have changed the statutes
                      and set aside the everlasting covenant.
                      6 Therefore a curse devours the earth,
                      and those who live there will be found guilty.
                      That is why the inhabitants of the earth will be burned up,
                      and so few will remain.
                      7 The new wine mourns.
                      The vine dries up.
                      Those who were feeling merry now sigh.
                      8 The happy sound of drums has ceased.
                      The noise of partying has ended.
                      The joyful lyre is silent.
                      9 They will drink no wine with their songs anymore.
                      Beer [1] is bitter to those who drink it.
                      10 The city is in chaos and ruins.
                      Every house is closed up,
                      and no one can get in.
                      11 They cry for wine in the streets,
                      but all festive joy is gone.
                      Joyful celebration is banished from the land.
                      12 The city is left desolate,
                      and the gate is smashed into pieces.
                      13 This is the way it will be among the peoples on earth:
                      It will be like an olive tree after it has been picked over,
                      like the gleanings left after the grape harvest.

                      14 They raise their voices and sing for joy.

                      From the west [2] they shout for the majesty of the Lord.
                      15 Therefore, in the east [3] glorify the Lord.
                      In the coastlands of the sea, glorify the name of the Lord,
                          the God of Israel!
                      16 We hear songs from the ends of the earth:
                      Glory to the Righteous One!

                      But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me!”

                      The treacherous deal treacherously.
                      Yes, the treacherous deal very treacherously.

                      17 Panic, pit, and peril [4] await all who live on the earth.

                      18 Whoever flees from the noise of terror will fall into the pit.
                      Whoever crawls out of the pit will be caught in the trap.
                      The windows [5] in the sky have opened,
                      and the foundations of the earth quake.
                      19 The earth is broken to pieces.
                      The earth is tearing itself apart.
                      The earth is shaking violently.
                      20 The earth staggers like a drunken man.
                      It shakes like a shack in a windstorm.
                      The burden of its rebellion is so heavy
                          that it will fall, unable to rise again.

                      21 On that day the Lord will deal with the army on high

                      and with the kings of the earth below.
                      22 They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit.
                      They will be locked up in prison,
                      and after many days they will be dealt with.
                      23 Then the bright moon will be ashamed,
                      and the hot sun will be embarrassed,
                      for the Lord of Armies will reign on Mount Zion in Jerusalem,
                      and his glory will shine in the presence of his elders.

                      A Song of Praise
                      Isaiah 25

                      1 O Lord, you are my God.

                      I will exalt you! I will praise your name,

                      because you have done astounding things,
                      plans laid long ago that are firm and faithful. [6]
                      2 For you have reduced the city to a heap,
                      the fortified city to ruins.
                      The citadel of foreigners is no longer a city at all.
                      It will never be rebuilt.
                      3 That is why powerful peoples will honor you.
                      The cities of cruel nations will fear you,
                      4 for you have been a stronghold for the poor,
                      a stronghold for the needy in their distress.
                      You have been a shelter from the rainstorm
                      and shade from the heat.
                      When the breath of the ruthless is like a rainstorm battering a wall,
                      5 like a hot wind drying up the desert,
                      you put down the uproar of foreigners.
                      It is like heat cooled by the shade of a cloud.
                      The song of the ruthless is silenced.

                      A Banquet for All Peoples

                      6 On this mountain

                      the Lord of Armies will prepare for all peoples
                          a banquet of rich food,
                          a banquet of aged wines,
                          with the best cuts of meat,
                          and with the finest wines. [7]
                      7 On this mountain
                      he will destroy the shroud that covers all peoples,
                      the burial cloth stretched over all nations.
                      8 He has swallowed up death forever!
                      The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face.
                      He will take away the shame of his people throughout the earth.
                      For the Lord has spoken.
                      9 On that day it will be said,
                      “Look, here is our God!
                      We waited for him, and he saved us!
                      This is the Lord!
                      We waited for him.
                      Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”

                      God Will Punish Moab

                      10 On this mountain

                      the Lord’s hand will rest.
                      Moab will be trampled underfoot,
                      like straw trampled into manure.
                      11 Moab will spread out his hands in the middle of it,
                          like someone trying to swim,
                      but the Lord will bring down Moab’s pride,
                      along with everything [8] Moab’s hands have done.
                      12 The Lord will topple your high-walled fortress
                      and bring it to the ground,
                      all the way down to the dust.

                      Footnotes
                      1. Isaiah 24:9 Beer refers to any fermented drink not made from grapes. Distilled alcohol was not used in biblical times.
                      2. Isaiah 24:14 Literally sea
                      3. Isaiah 24:15 Literally among the lights
                      4. Isaiah 24:17 The Hebrew words pahad, pahat, and pah sound similar and are used for poetic effect. A bit of literalness is sacrificed to retain the effect; pah is more literally trap.
                      5. Isaiah 24:18 Or floodgates
                      6. Isaiah 25:1 The text has two forms of the Hebrew root amen, which are rendered firm and faithful.
                      7. Isaiah 25:6 More literally a banquet of fat food, a banquet of wine dregs, fat food filled with marrow, and dregs that are filtered
                      8. Isaiah 25:11 Or deceitful things. The meaning of this word is uncertain.




                        9. The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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                        7 min

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