Isaiah 57:15-59:21
Authorized (King James) Version
15 For thus saith the high and lofty One
that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy;
I dwell in the high and holy place,
with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble,
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
16 For I will not contend for ever,
neither will I be always wroth:
for the spirit should fail before me,
and the souls which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him:
I hid me, and was wroth,
and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him:
I will lead him also,
and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.
19 I create the fruit of the lips;
Peace, peace to him that is far off,
and to him that is near, saith the Lord;
and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest,
whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
58 Cry aloud, spare not,
lift up thy voice like a trumpet,
and shew my people their transgression,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to know my ways,
as a nation that did righteousness,
and forsook not the ordinance of their God:
they ask of me the ordinances of justice;
they take delight in approaching to God.
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?
wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?
Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure,
and exact all your labours.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate,
and to smite with the fist of wickedness:
ye shall not fast as ye do this day,
to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen?
a day for a man to afflict his soul?
is it to bow down his head as a bulrush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
wilt thou call this a fast,
and an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen?
to loose the bands of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens,
and to let the oppressed go free,
and that ye break every yoke?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?
when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him;
and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,
and thine health shall spring forth speedily:
and thy righteousness shall go before thee;
the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer;
thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.
If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke,
the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
10 and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul;
then shall thy light rise in obscurity,
and thy darkness be as the noonday:
11 and the Lord shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones:
and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places:
thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations;
and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach,
The restorer of paths to dwell in.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath,
from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight,
the holy of the Lord, honourable;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
59 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save;
neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 but your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood,
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth:
they trust in vanity, and speak lies;
they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
5 They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web:
he that eateth of their eggs dieth,
and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.
6 Their webs shall not become garments,
neither shall they cover themselves with their works:
their works are works of iniquity,
and the act of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed innocent blood:
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
wasting and destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of peace they know not;
and there is no judgment in their goings:
they have made them crooked paths:
whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
9 Therefore is judgment far from us,
neither doth justice overtake us:
we wait for light, but behold obscurity;
for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
10 We grope for the wall like the blind,
and we grope as if we had no eyes:
we stumble at noonday as in the night;
we are in desolate places as dead men.
11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves:
we look for judgment, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far off from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,
and our sins testify against us:
for our transgressions are with us;
and as for our iniquities, we know them;
13 in transgressing and lying against the Lord,
and departing away from our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 And judgment is turned away backward,
and justice standeth afar off:
for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
15 Yea, truth faileth;
and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey:
and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him
that there was no judgment.
16 And he saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no intercessor:
therefore his arm brought salvation unto him;
and his righteousness, it sustained him.
17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and an helmet of salvation upon his head;
and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay,
fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies;
to the islands he will repay recompence.
19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun.
When the enemy shall come in like a flood,
the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.
20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion,
and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord;
My spirit that is upon thee,
and my words which I have put in thy mouth,
shall not depart out of thy mouth,
nor out of the mouth of thy seed,
nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed,
saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.
Philippians 1:1-26
Authorized (King James) Version
1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2 grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 6 being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 7 even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. 8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10 that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 13 so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; 14 and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: 16 the one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17 but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. 18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. 19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. 23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: 24 nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; 26 that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
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Psalm 71
Authorized (King James) Version
Psalm 71
1 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust:
let me never be put to confusion.
2 Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape:
incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
3 Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort:
thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5 For thou art my hope, O Lord God:
thou art my trust from my youth.
6 By thee have I been holden up from the womb:
thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels:
my praise shall be continually of thee.
7 I am as a wonder unto many;
but thou art my strong refuge.
8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.
9 Cast me not off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength faileth.
10 For mine enemies speak against me;
and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
11 saying, God hath forsaken him:
persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.
12 O God, be not far from me:
O my God, make haste for my help.
13 Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul;
let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually,
and will yet praise thee more and more.
15 My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day;
for I know not the numbers thereof.
16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God:
I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.
17 O God, thou hast taught me from my youth:
and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
18 Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not;
until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation,
and thy power to every one that is to come.
19 Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things:
O God, who is like unto thee!
20 Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again,
and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 Thou shalt increase my greatness,
and comfort me on every side.
22 I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God:
unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee;
and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.
24 My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long:
for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.
Proverbs 24:9-10
Authorized (King James) Version
9 The thought of foolishness is sin:
and the scorner is an abomination to men.
10 If thou faint in the day of adversity,
thy strength is small.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.