Isaiah 56-57

English Standard Version

Salvation for Foreigners

56 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
^(A)for soon my salvation will come,
    and my righteousness be revealed.
²Blessed is the man who does this,
    and the son of man who holds it fast,
^(B)who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
    and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

³Let not ^(C)the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
    “Behold, I am ^(D)a dry tree.”
⁴For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs ^(E)who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose the things that please me
    and hold fast my covenant,
⁵^(F)I will give in my house and within my walls
    a ^(G)monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
^(H)I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.

⁶“And ^(I)the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
    to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
everyone ^(J)who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
    and holds fast my covenant—
⁷^(K)these I will bring to ^(L)my holy mountain,
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
^(M)their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for ^(N)my house shall be called a house of prayer
    for all peoples.”
⁸The Lord God,
    ^(O)who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
^(P)“I will gather yet others to him
    besides those already gathered.”

Israel's Irresponsible Leaders

⁹^(Q)All you beasts of the field, come to devour—
    all you beasts in the forest.
¹⁰^(R)His watchmen are blind;
    they are all without knowledge;
they are all silent ^(S)dogs;
    they cannot bark,
dreaming, lying down,
    loving to slumber.
¹¹^(T)The dogs have a mighty appetite;
    they never have enough.
But ^(U)they are shepherds who have no understanding;
    they have all turned to their own way,
    ^(V)each to his own gain, one and all.
¹²^(W)“Come,” they say, “let me get wine;
    let us fill ourselves with strong drink;
^(X)and tomorrow will be like this day,
    great beyond measure.”

Israel's Futile Idolatry

57 The righteous man perishes,
    and no one lays it to heart;
^(Y)devout men are taken away,
    while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from calamity;
²    ^(Z)he enters into peace;
they rest ^(AA)in their beds
    who walk in their uprightness.
³But you, draw near,
    sons of the sorceress,
    ^(AB)offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.
⁴Whom are you mocking?
    Against whom ^(AC)do you open your mouth wide
    and stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of ^(AD)transgression,
    ^(AE)the offspring of deceit,
⁵you who burn with lust among ^(AF)the oaks,^[a]
    under every green tree,
^(AG)who slaughter your children in the valleys,
    under the clefts of the rocks?
⁶Among the smooth stones of ^(AH)the valley is your portion;
    they, they, are your lot;
to them you have poured out a drink offering,
    you have brought a grain offering.
    Shall I relent for these things?
⁷^(AI)On a high and lofty mountain
    you have set your bed,
    and there you went up to offer sacrifice.
⁸Behind the door and the doorpost
    you have set up your memorial;
for, deserting me, ^(AJ)you have uncovered your bed,
    you have gone up to it,
    ^(AK)you have made it wide;
and you have made a covenant for yourself with them,
    you have loved their bed,
    you have looked on nakedness.^[b]
⁹You journeyed to the king with oil
    and multiplied your perfumes;
^(AL)you sent your envoys far off,
    and sent down even to Sheol.
¹⁰You were wearied with the length of your way,
    ^(AM)but you did not say, “It is hopeless”;
you found new life for your strength,
    and so you were not faint.^[c]

¹¹^(AN)Whom did you dread and fear,
    ^(AO)so that you lied,
and did not remember me,
    did not lay it to heart?
^(AP)Have I not held my peace, even for a long time,
    and you do not fear me?
¹²I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
    but they will not profit you.
¹³^(AQ)When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you!
    The wind will carry them all off,
    a breath will take them away.
^(AR)But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land
    and shall inherit ^(AS)my holy mountain.

Comfort for the Contrite

¹⁴And it shall be said,
^(AT)“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
    remove every obstruction from my people's way.”
¹⁵For thus says ^(AU)the One who is high and lifted up,
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is ^(AV)Holy:
^(AW)“I dwell in the high and holy place,
    and also ^(AX)with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
^(AY)to revive the spirit of the lowly,
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.
¹⁶^(AZ)For I will not contend forever,
    nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
    and the breath of life that I made.
¹⁷Because of the iniquity of his ^(BA)unjust gain I was angry,
    I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
    but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
¹⁸I have seen his ways, ^(BB)but I will heal him;
    I will lead him ^(BC)and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
¹⁹    ^(BD)creating ^(BE)the fruit of the lips.
^(BF)Peace, peace, ^(BG)to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
    ^(BH)“and I will heal him.
²⁰^(BI)But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
    for it cannot be quiet,
    and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
²¹^(BJ)There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 57:5 Or among the terebinths
Isaiah 57:8 Or on a monument (see 56:5); Hebrew on a hand
Isaiah 57:10 Hebrew and so you were not sick

1 Timothy 6:3-21

English Standard Version

³If anyone ^(A)teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with ^(B)the sound^[a] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching ^(C)that accords with godliness, ⁴^(D)he is puffed up with conceit and ^(E)understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for ^(F)controversy and for ^(G)quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵and constant friction among people ^(H)who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, ^(I)imagining that godliness is a means of gain. ⁶But ^(J)godliness ^(K)with contentment is great gain, ⁷for ^(L)we brought nothing into the world, and^[b] we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸But ^(M)if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹But ^(N)those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, ^(O)into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that ^(P)plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For the love of money is a root of ^(Q)all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

¹¹But as for you, ^(R)O man of God, ^(S)flee these things. ^(T)Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹²^(U)Fight the good fight of the faith. ^(V)Take hold of the eternal life ^(W)to which you were called and about which you made ^(X)the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³^(Y)I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, ^(Z)who in his testimony before^[c] Pontius Pilate made ^(AA)the good confession, ¹⁴to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until ^(AB)the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which he will display ^(AC)at the proper time—he who is ^(AD)the blessed and only Sovereign, ^(AE)the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶^(AF)who alone has immortality, ^(AG)who dwells in ^(AH)unapproachable light, ^(AI)whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

¹⁷As for the rich in ^(AJ)this present age, charge them ^(AK)not to be haughty, nor ^(AL)to set their hopes on ^(AM)the uncertainty of riches, but on God, ^(AN)who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. ¹⁸They are to do good, ^(AO)to be rich in good works, to be generous and ^(AP)ready to share, ¹⁹thus ^(AQ)storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may ^(AR)take hold of ^(AS)that which is truly life.

²⁰O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. ^(AT)Avoid the ^(AU)irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” ²¹for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

^(AV)Grace be with you.^[d]

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Footnotes

1 Timothy 6:3 Or healthy
1 Timothy 6:7 Greek for; some manuscripts insert [it is] certain [that]
1 Timothy 6:13 Or in the time of
1 Timothy 6:21 The Greek for you is plural

Psalm 90

English Standard Version

Book Four

From Everlasting to Everlasting

A ^(A)Prayer of Moses, the ^(B)man of God.

90 Lord, you have been our ^(C)dwelling place^[a]
    in all generations.
²^(D)Before the ^(E)mountains were brought forth,
    or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
    ^(F)from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³You return man to dust
    and say, ^(G)“Return, ^(H)O children of man!”^[b]
⁴For ^(I)a thousand years in your sight
    are but as ^(J)yesterday when it is past,
    or as ^(K)a watch in the night.

⁵You ^(L)sweep them away as with a flood; they are like ^(M)a dream,
like ^(N)grass that is renewed in the morning:
⁶in ^(O)the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it ^(P)fades and ^(Q)withers.

⁷For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
⁸You have ^(R)set our iniquities before you,
our ^(S)secret sins in the light of your presence.

⁹For all our days pass away under your wrath;
    we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
¹⁰The years of our life are seventy,
    or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span^[c] is but toil and trouble;
    they are soon gone, and we fly away.
¹¹Who considers the power of your anger,
    and your wrath according to the fear of you?

¹²^(T)So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.
¹³^(U)Return, O Lord! ^(V)How long?
    Have ^(W)pity on your servants!
¹⁴Satisfy us in the ^(X)morning with your steadfast love,
    that we may ^(Y)rejoice and be glad all our days.
¹⁵Make us glad for as many days as you have ^(Z)afflicted us,
    and for as many years as we have seen evil.
¹⁶Let your ^(AA)work be shown to your servants,
    and your glorious power to their children.
¹⁷Let the ^(AB)favor^[d] of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish ^(AC)the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!

Footnotes

Psalm 90:1 Some Hebrew manuscripts (compare Septuagint) our refuge
Psalm 90:3 Or of Adam
Psalm 90:10 Or pride
Psalm 90:17 Or beauty

Proverbs 25:7-10

English Standard Version

⁷for ^(A)it is better to be told, “Come up here,”
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

What your eyes have seen
⁸    ^(B)do not hastily bring into court,^[a]
for^[b] what will you do in the end,
    when your neighbor puts you to shame?
⁹^(C)Argue your case with your neighbor himself,
    and do not reveal another's secret,
¹⁰lest he who hears you bring shame upon you,
    and your ill repute have no end.