Isaiah 10:5-19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Arrogant Assyria Also Judged
5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger—
the club in their hands is my fury!(A)
6 Against a godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take spoil and seize plunder,
and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.(B)
7 But this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind,
but it is in his heart to destroy
and to cut off nations not a few.(C)
8 For he says:
“Are not my commanders all kings?(D)
9 Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus?(E)
10 As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols
whose images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,(F)
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and her idols
what I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12 When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he[a] will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride.(G) 13 For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I have removed the boundaries of peoples
and have plundered their treasures;
like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.(H)
14 My hand has found, like a nest,
the wealth of the peoples,
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth,
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened its mouth or chirped.”(I)
15 Shall the ax vaunt itself over the one who wields it
or the saw magnify itself against the one who handles it?
As if a rod should raise the one who lifts it up,
or as if a staff should lift the one who is not wood!(J)
16 Therefore the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts,
will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors,
and under his glory a burning will be kindled
like the burning of fire.(K)
17 The light of Israel will become a fire
and his Holy One a flame,
and it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers in one day.(L)
18 The glory of his forest and his fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when an invalid wastes away.(M)
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.(N)
Footnotes
- 10.12 Gk: Heb I
Isaiah 10:20-27
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Repentant Remnant of Israel
20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer lean on the one who struck them but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.(A) 21 A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.(B) 22 For though your people, O Israel, were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, an overwhelming verdict.(C) 23 For the Lord God of hosts will make a full end, as decreed, in all the earth.[a](D)
24 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they beat you with a rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. 25 For in a very little while my indignation will come to an end, and my anger will be directed to their destruction.”(E) 26 The Lord of hosts will wield a whip against them, as when he struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; his staff will be over the sea, and he will lift it as he did in Egypt.(F) 27 On that day his burden will be removed from your shoulder, and his yoke will be destroyed from your neck.
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2 Peter 2:17-22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the deepest darkness has been reserved.(A) 18 For they speak bombastic nonsense, and with debased[a] desires of the flesh they entice people who have just[b] escaped from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for people are slaves to whatever masters them.(B) 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the[c] Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first.(C) 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was handed on to them.(D) 22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb,
“The dog turns back to its own vomit,”
and,
“The sow is washed only to wallow in the mud.”(E)
Jude 17-25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Warnings and Exhortations
17 But you, beloved, must remember the words previously spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 for they said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.”(A) 19 It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. 20 But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;(B) 21 keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to[a] eternal life.(C) 22 And have mercy on some who are wavering; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.[b](D)
Benediction
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing,(E) 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.(F)
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Matthew 11:2-15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Messengers from John the Baptist
2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah[a] was doing, he sent word by his[b] disciples(A) 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”(B) 4 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.(C) 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”(D)
Jesus Praises John the Baptist
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?(E) 8 What, then, did you go out to see? Someone[c] dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet?[d] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.(F) 10 This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’(G)
11 “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,[e] and violent people take it by force.(H) 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John came, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.(I) 15 Let anyone with ears[f] listen!(J)
Read full chapterNew Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.