Day 256 of 365

Isa 6:1–8:22

6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.

6:2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.

6:3 One called to another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory!"

6:4 The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

6:5 Then I said, "Woe is me! For I am undone, because 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!"

6:6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.

6:7 He touched my mouth with it, and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven."

6:8 I heard the Lord's voice, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am. Send me!"

6:9 He said, "Go, and tell this people, 'You hear indeed, but do not understand; and you see indeed, but do not perceive.'

6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed."

6:11 Then I said, "Lord, how long?" He answered, "Until cities are waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land becomes utterly waste,

6:12 And the Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

6:13 If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed: as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stock remains when they are felled; so the holy seed is its stock."

7:1 It happened in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

7:2 It was told the house of David, saying, "Syria is allied with Ephraim." His heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.

7:3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you, and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field.

7:4 Tell him, 'Be careful, and keep calm. Do not be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

7:5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, saying,

7:6 "Let's go up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let's divide it among ourselves, and set up a king in its midst, even the son of Tabeel."

7:7 This is what the Lord God says: "It shall not stand, neither shall it happen."

7:8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people;

7:9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.'"

7:10 The Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

7:11 "Ask a sign of the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above."

7:12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord."

7:13 He said, "Listen now, house of David: Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also?

7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

7:15 He shall eat butter and honey when he knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

7:16 For before the child knows to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings you abhor shall be forsaken.

7:17 The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

7:18 It will happen in that day that the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

7:19 They shall come, and shall all rest in the desolate valleys, in the clefts of the rocks, on all thorn hedges, and on all pastures.

7:20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard.

7:21 It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;

7:22 and it shall happen, that because of the abundance of milk which they shall give he shall eat butter: for everyone will eat butter and honey that is left in the midst of the land.

7:23 It will happen in that day that every place where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver shekels, shall be for briers and thorns.

7:24 People will go there with arrows and with bow, because all the land will be briers and thorns.

7:25 All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep."

8:1 The Lord said to me, "Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man's pen, 'For Maher Shalal Hash Baz;'

8:2 and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah."

8:3 I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then said the Lord to me, "Call his name 'Maher Shalal Hash Baz.'

8:4 For before the child knows how to say, 'My father,' and, 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria."

8:5 The Lord spoke to me yet again, saying,

8:6 "Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

8:7 now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.

8:8 It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through; it will reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, Immanuel.

8:9 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!

8:10 Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us."

8:11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

8:12 "Do not say, 'A conspiracy!' concerning all about which this people say, 'A conspiracy!' neither fear their threats, nor be in dread.

8:13 The Lord of hosts is who you must regard as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.

8:14 And he will be a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock that makes them fall to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

8:15 Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured."

8:16 Wrap up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.

8:17 I will wait for the Lord, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

8:18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.

8:19 When they tell you, "Consult with those who have familiar spirits and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter:" shouldn't a people consult with their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

8:20 Turn to the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

8:21 They will pass through it, sore distressed and hungry; and it will happen that when they are hungry, they will worry, and curse by their king and by their God. They will turn their faces upward,

8:22 and look to the earth, and see distress, darkness, and the gloom of anguish. They will be driven into thick darkness.

Rom 16:1–24

1 I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church that is at Cenchreae,

2 that you receive her in the Lord, in a way worthy of the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may need from you, for she herself also has been a helper of many, and of my own self.

3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,

4 who for my life, laid down their own necks; to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

5 Greet the church that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruits of Asia to Christ.

6 Greet Mary, who labored much for you.

7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives and my fellow prisoners, who are notable among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.

9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.

10 Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.

11 Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet them of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.

12 Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet Persis, the beloved, who labored much in the Lord.

13 Greet Rufus, the chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.

15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.

17 Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them.

18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.

19 For your obedience has become known to all. I rejoice therefore over you. But I desire to have you wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil.

20 And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my relatives.

22 I, Tertius, who write the letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 Gaius, my host and host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, as does Quartus, the brother.

24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! Amen.

Ps 109:1–31

1 God of my praise, do not remain silent,

2 for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me. They have spoken to me with a lying tongue.

3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.

4 In return for my love, they are my adversaries; but I am in prayer.

5 They have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

6 Set a wicked man over him. Let an adversary stand at his right hand.

7 When he is judged, let him come forth guilty. Let his prayer be turned into sin.

8 Let his days be few. Let another take his office.

9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

10 Let his children be wandering beggars. Let them be sought from their ruins.

11 Let the creditor seize all that he has. Let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.

12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him, neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless children.

13 Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out.

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by the Lord. Do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15 Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth;

16 because he did not remember to show kindness, but persecuted the poor and needy man, the broken in heart, to kill them.

17 Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him. He did not delight in blessing, and it was far from him.

18 He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment. It came into his inward parts like water, like oil into his bones.

19 Let it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself, for the belt that is always around him.

20 This is the reward of my adversaries from the Lord, of those who speak evil against my soul.

21 But deal with me, the Lord the Lord, for your name's sake, because your loving kindness is good, deliver me;

22 for I am poor and needy. My heart is wounded within me.

23 I fade away like an evening shadow. I am shaken off like a locust.

24 My knees are weak through fasting. My body is thin and lacks fat.

25 I have also become a reproach to them. When they see me, they shake their head.

26 Help me, Lord, my God. Save me according to your loving kindness;

27 that they may know that this is your hand; that you, Lord, have done it.

28 They may curse, but you bless. When they arise, they will be shamed, but your servant shall rejoice.

29 Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor. Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.

30 I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth. Yes, I will praise him among the multitude.

31 For he will stand at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.