Isaiah 30:12-33

English Standard Version

¹²Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise this word
    and trust in ^(A)oppression and perverseness
    and rely on them,
¹³therefore this iniquity shall be to you
    ^(B)like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse,
    whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant;
¹⁴and its breaking is ^(C)like that of a potter's vessel
    that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found
    with which to take fire from the hearth,
    or to dip up water out of the cistern.”

¹⁵For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In ^(D)returning^[a] and ^(E)rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, ¹⁶and you said,
“No! We will flee upon ^(F)horses”;
    therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”;
    therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
¹⁷^(G)A thousand shall flee at the threat of one;
    at the threat of five you shall flee,
till you are left
    like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
    like a signal on a hill.

The Lord Will Be Gracious

¹⁸Therefore the Lord ^(H)waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he ^(I)exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
^(J)blessed are all those who wait for him.

¹⁹For a people shall dwell ^(K)in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. ²⁰And though the Lord give you the ^(L)bread of adversity and the ^(M)water of affliction, ^(N)yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. ²¹^(O)And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is ^(P)the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. ²²Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. ^(Q)You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”

²³^(R)And he will give ^(S)rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. ^(T)In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, ²⁴and ^(U)the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. ²⁵And ^(V)on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, ^(W)when the towers fall. ²⁶^(X)Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when ^(Y)the Lord binds up ^(Z)the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

²⁷Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
    burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke;^[b]
his lips are full of fury,
    and his tongue is like a devouring fire;
²⁸^(AA)his breath is ^(AB)like an overflowing stream
    that reaches up to the neck;
to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction,
    and to place on the jaws of the peoples ^(AC)a bridle that leads astray.

²⁹You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, ^(AD)as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to ^(AE)the mountain of the Lord, to ^(AF)the Rock of Israel. ³⁰And the Lord ^(AG)will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger ^(AH)and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst ^(AI)and storm and hailstones. ³¹The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, ^(AJ)when he strikes with his rod. ³²And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them ^(AK)will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. ^(AL)Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. ³³For ^(AM)a burning place^[c] has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, ^(AN)its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; ^(AO)the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 30:15 Or repentance
Isaiah 30:27 Hebrew in weight of uplifted clouds
Isaiah 30:33 Or For Topheth

Galatians 5:1-12

English Standard Version

Christ Has Set Us Free

5 For ^(A)freedom Christ has ^(B)set us free; ^(C)stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to ^(D)a yoke of ^(E)slavery.

²Look: I, Paul, say to you that ^(F)if you accept circumcision, ^(G)Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that ^(H)he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴You are ^(I)severed from Christ, ^(J)you who would be justified^[a] by the law; ^(K)you have fallen away from grace. ⁵For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly ^(L)wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶For in Christ Jesus ^(M)neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but ^(N)only faith working through love.

⁷^(O)You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying ^(P)the truth? ⁸This persuasion is not from ^(Q)him who calls you. ⁹^(R)A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ¹⁰^(S)I have confidence in the Lord that you will ^(T)take no other view, and ^(U)the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. ¹¹But if I, brothers,^[b] still preach^[c] circumcision, ^(V)why am I still being persecuted? In that case ^(W)the offense of the cross has been removed. ¹²I wish ^(X)those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

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Footnotes

Galatians 5:4 Or counted righteous
Galatians 5:11 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 13
Galatians 5:11 Greek proclaim

Psalm 63

English Standard Version

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David, ^(A)when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

63 O God, you are my God; ^(B)earnestly I seek you;
    ^(C)my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
    as in ^(D)a dry and weary land where there is no water.
²So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
    beholding ^(E)your power and glory.
³Because your ^(F)steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise you.
⁴So I will bless you ^(G)as long as I live;
    in your ^(H)name I will ^(I)lift up my hands.

⁵My soul will be ^(J)satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
⁶when I remember you ^(K)upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in ^(L)the watches of the night;
⁷for you have been my help,
    and in ^(M)the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
⁸My soul ^(N)clings to you;
    your right hand ^(O)upholds me.

⁹But those who seek to destroy my life
    ^(P)shall go down into ^(Q)the depths of the earth;
¹⁰they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
    they shall be a portion for jackals.
¹¹But ^(R)the king shall rejoice in God;
    all who ^(S)swear by him shall exult,
    ^(T)for the mouths of ^(U)liars will be stopped.