November 5, 2018

Private Prayer... by Gary Rose



Two nighttime prayers; One from Stella Joan that I had never heard before and one that my mother taught me when I was about 5 or 6 years of age. Both are reverent and worthwhile. The first one seeks protection in the here and now, while the second one seems to focus in on the future.

Frankly, I am not into form prayers, because I believe it should be an outpouring of the heart to God. However, even something that is a form is not necessarily something you should not do.

Jesus said...


Matthew 6 (World English Bible)
 5  When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward.   6  But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.   7  In praying, don’t use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking.   8  Therefore don’t be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him.   9  Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.   10  Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.   11 Give us today our daily bread.   12  Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.   13  Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. (emphasis added)



Jesus’ prayer could be just repeated “as is”, but I think it would be better if the principles expressed in his prayer were uttered from your own stream of consciousness. Why? Well, because of verses five to eight. Would it be wrong to recite Jesus’ words? No, but I think the point is a quiet interaction with God; a private expression of your heart. Words learned by rote have the potential of being just something that is said and not an expression of the heart.  

Whatever you say in prayer, I encourage you to follow the principles Jesus lays forth in his “model prayer”- they are magnificent!!


ps. I think I actually like the prayer from Stella Joan better than the one I learned in my youth.

Bible Reading November 5-8 by Gary Rose


Bible Reading November 5-8 

(World English Bible)

Nov. 5
Isaiah 37-40

Isa 37:1 It happened, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh's house.
Isa 37:2 He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
Isa 37:3 They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth.
Isa 37:4 It may be Yahweh your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.' "
Isa 37:5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
Isa 37:6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Don't be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
Isa 37:7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land." ' "
Isa 37:8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
Isa 37:9 He heard news concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "He has come out to fight against you." When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
Isa 37:10 "Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, 'Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem won't be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."
Isa 37:11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered?
Isa 37:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?
Isa 37:13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?' "
Isa 37:14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to Yahweh's house, and spread it before Yahweh.
Isa 37:15 Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying,
Isa 37:16 "Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, who is enthroned among the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
Isa 37:17 Turn your ear, Yahweh, and hear. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and behold. Hear all of the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to defy the living God.
Isa 37:18 Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the countries and their land,
Isa 37:19 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.
Isa 37:20 Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, even you only."
Isa 37:21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,
Isa 37:22 this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
Isa 37:23 Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 37:24 By your servants, have you defied the Lord, and have said, "With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice fir trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field.
Isa 37:25 I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt."
Isa 37:26 Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps.
Isa 37:27 Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown.
Isa 37:28 But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.
Isa 37:29 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
Isa 37:30 This shall be the sign to you. You will eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same; and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
Isa 37:31 The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
Isa 37:32 For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go forth, and survivors will escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.'
Isa 37:33 Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria, 'He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.
Isa 37:34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come to this city,' says Yahweh.
Isa 37:35 'For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.' "
Isa 37:36 The angel of Yahweh went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
Isa 37:37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went away, returned to Nineveh, and stayed there.
Isa 37:38 It happened, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.

Isa 38:1 In those days was Hezekiah sick and near death. Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, 'Set your house in order, for you will die, and not live.' "
Isa 38:2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh,
Isa 38:3 and said, "Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight." Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Isa 38:4 Then the word of Yahweh came to Isaiah, saying,
Isa 38:5 "Go, and tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father, "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
Isa 38:6 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.
Isa 38:7 This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken.
Isa 38:8 Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down." ' "
Isa 38:9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered of his sickness.
Isa 38:10 I said, "In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years."
Isa 38:11 I said, "I won't see Yah, Yah in the land of the living. I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
Isa 38:12 My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me like a shepherd's tent. I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life. He will cut me off from the loom. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
Isa 38:13 I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
Isa 38:14 I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security."
Isa 38:15 What will I say? He has both spoken to me, and himself has done it. I will walk carefully all my years because of the anguish of my soul.
Isa 38:16 Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them: you restore me, and cause me to live.
Isa 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
Isa 38:18 For Sheol can't praise you. Death can't celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can't hope for your truth.
Isa 38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day. The father shall make known your truth to the children.
Isa 38:20 Yahweh will save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of Yahweh.
Isa 38:21 Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover."
Isa 38:22 Hezekiah also had said, "What is the sign that I will go up to the house of Yahweh?"

Isa 39:1 At that time, Merodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and had recovered.
Isa 39:2 Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn't show them.
Isa 39:3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and asked him, "What did these men say? Where did they come from to you?" Hezekiah said, "They have come from a country far from me, even from Babylon."
Isa 39:4 Then he asked, "What have they seen in your house?" Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."
Isa 39:5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of Yahweh of Armies:
Isa 39:6 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,' says Yahweh.
Isa 39:7 'They will take away your sons who will issue from you, whom you shall father, and they will be eunuchs in the king of Babylon's palace.' "
Isa 39:8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "Yahweh's word which you have spoken is good." He said moreover, "For there will be peace and truth in my days."

Isa 40:1 "Comfort, comfort my people," says your God.
Isa 40:2 "Speak comfortably to Jerusalem; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh's hand double for all her sins."
Isa 40:3 The voice of one who calls out, "Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.
Isa 40:5 The glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it."
Isa 40:6 The voice of one saying, "Cry!" One said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
Isa 40:7 The grass withers, the flower fades, because Yahweh's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
Isa 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever."
Isa 40:9 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don't be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold, your God!"
Isa 40:10 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
Isa 40:11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.
Isa 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
Isa 40:13 Who has directed the Spirit of Yahweh, or has taught him as his counselor?
Isa 40:14 Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
Isa 40:15 Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
Isa 40:16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
Isa 40:17 All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
Isa 40:18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
Isa 40:19 A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
Isa 40:20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved.
Isa 40:21 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard, yet? Haven't you been told from the beginning? Haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth?
Isa 40:22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;
Isa 40:23 who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless.
Isa 40:24 They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
Isa 40:25 "To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, Not one is lacking.
Isa 40:27 Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel, "My way is hidden from Yahweh, and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?"
Isa 40:28 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, The Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary. His understanding is unsearchable.
Isa 40:29 He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might.
Isa 40:30 Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall;
Isa 40:31 But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.

Nov. 6
Isaiah 41-44

Isa 41:1 "Keep silent before me, islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let's meet together for judgment.
Isa 41:2 Who has raised up one from the east? Whom called him to his foot in righteousness? He hands over nations to him, and makes him rule over kings. He gives them like the dust to his sword, like the driven stubble to his bow.
Isa 41:3 He pursues them, and passes by safely, Even by a way that he had not gone with his feet.
Isa 41:4 Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, the first, and with the last, I am he."
Isa 41:5 The islands have seen, and fear. The ends of the earth tremble. They approach, and come.
Isa 41:6 Everyone helps his neighbor. They say to their brothers, "Be strong!"
Isa 41:7 So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith. He who smoothes with the hammer encourages him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good;" and he fastens it with nails, that it might not totter.
Isa 41:8 "But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,
Isa 41:9 You whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from its corners, and said to you, 'You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you away;'
Isa 41:10 Don't you be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isa 41:11 Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish.
Isa 41:12 You will seek them, and won't find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent thing.
Isa 41:13 For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Don't be afraid. I will help you.'
Isa 41:14 Don't be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you," says Yahweh, "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 41:15 Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff.
Isa 41:16 You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. You will rejoice in Yahweh. You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 41:17 The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
Isa 41:18 I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
Isa 41:19 I will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oil trees in the wilderness. I will set fir trees, pine, and box trees together in the desert;
Isa 41:20 that they may see, know, consider, and understand together, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Isa 41:21 Produce your cause," says Yahweh. "Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob.
Isa 41:22 "Let them announce, and declare to us what shall happen. Declare the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.
Isa 41:23 Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together.
Isa 41:24 Behold, you are of nothing, and your work is of nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination.
Isa 41:25 "I have raised up one from the north, and he has come; from the rising of the sun, one who calls on my name; and he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter treads clay.
Isa 41:26 Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? And before, that we may say, 'He is right?' Surely, there is no one who declares. Surely, there is no one who shows. Surely, there is no one who hears your words.
Isa 41:27 I am the first to say to Zion, 'Behold, look at them;' and I will give one who brings good news to Jerusalem.
Isa 41:28 When I look, there is no man; even among them there is no counselor who, when I ask of them, can answer a word.
Isa 41:29 Behold, all of them, their works are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion.

Isa 42:1 "Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights-- I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
Isa 42:2 He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street.
Isa 42:3 He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.
Isa 42:4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands will wait for his law."
Isa 42:5 Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.
Isa 42:6 "I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations;
Isa 42:7 to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.
Isa 42:8 "I am Yahweh. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images.
Isa 42:9 Behold, the former things have happened, and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up."
Isa 42:10 Sing to Yahweh a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands and their inhabitants.
Isa 42:11 Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices, with the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing. Let them shout from the top of the mountains!
Isa 42:12 Let them give glory to Yahweh, and declare his praise in the islands.
Isa 42:13 Yahweh will go out like a mighty man. He will stir up zeal like a man of war. He will raise a war cry. Yes, he will shout aloud. He will triumph over his enemies.
Isa 42:14 "I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.
Isa 42:15 I will destroy mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs. I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.
Isa 42:16 I will bring the blind by a way that they don't know. I will lead them in paths that they don't know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.
Isa 42:17 "Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, 'You are our gods' will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.
Isa 42:18 "Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see.
Isa 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is as blind as he who is at peace, and as blind as Yahweh's servant?
Isa 42:20 You see many things, but don't observe. His ears are open, but he doesn't listen.
Isa 42:21 It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.
Isa 42:22 But this is a robbed and plundered people. All of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prisons. They have become a prey, and no one delivers; and a spoil, and no one says, 'Restore them!'
Isa 42:23 Who is there among you who will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
Isa 42:24 Who gave Jacob as plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Didn't Yahweh, he against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in his ways, and they disobeyed his law.
Isa 42:25 Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire all around, but he didn't know; and it burned him, but he didn't take it to heart."

Isa 43:1 But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: "Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
Isa 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.
Isa 43:3 For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Isa 43:4 Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you; therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.
Isa 43:5 Don't be afraid; for I am with you. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west.
Isa 43:6 I will tell the north, 'Give them up!' and tell the south, 'Don't hold them back! Bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth--
Isa 43:7 everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.' "
Isa 43:8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears.
Isa 43:9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, "That is true."
Isa 43:10 "You are my witnesses," says Yahweh, "With my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me.
Isa 43:11 I myself am Yahweh; and besides me there is no savior.
Isa 43:12 I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown; and there was no strange god among you. Therefore you are my witnesses," says Yahweh, "and I am God.
Isa 43:13 Yes, since the day was I am he; and there is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?"
Isa 43:14 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake, I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.
Isa 43:15 I am Yahweh, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King."
Isa 43:16 Thus says Yahweh, who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
Isa 43:17 who brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched like a wick):
Isa 43:18 "Don't remember the former things, and don't consider the things of old.
Isa 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs forth now. Don't you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Isa 43:20 The animals of the field shall honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
Isa 43:21 the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise.
Isa 43:22 Yet you have not called on me, Jacob; but you have been weary of me, Israel.
Isa 43:23 You have not brought me of your sheep for burnt offerings; neither have you honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense.
Isa 43:24 You have bought me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have burdened me with your sins. You have wearied me with your iniquities.
Isa 43:25 I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
Isa 43:26 Put me in remembrance. Let us plead together. Set forth your case, that you may be justified.
Isa 43:27 Your first father sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me.
Isa 43:28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel a reviling."

Isa 44:1 Yet listen now, Jacob my servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen.
Isa 44:2 This is what Yahweh who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you says: "Don't be afraid, Jacob my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
Isa 44:3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your seed, and my blessing on your offspring:
Isa 44:4 and they will spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
Isa 44:5 One will say, 'I am Yahweh's;' and another will be called by the name of Jacob; and another will write with his hand 'to Yahweh,' and honor the name of Israel."
Isa 44:6 This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: "I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.
Isa 44:7 Who is like me? Who will call, and will declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? Let them declare the things that are coming, and that will happen.
Isa 44:8 Don't fear, neither be afraid. Haven't I declared it to you long ago, and shown it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don't know any other Rock."
Isa 44:9 Everyone who makes an engraved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don't see, nor know, that they may be disappointed.
Isa 44:10 Who has fashioned a god, or molds an image that is profitable for nothing?
Isa 44:11 Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed; and the workmen are mere men. Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up. They will fear. They will be put to shame together.
Isa 44:12 The blacksmith takes an axe, works in the coals, fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm. He is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is faint.
Isa 44:13 The carpenter stretches out a line. He marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes. He marks it out with compasses, and shapes it like the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to reside in a house.
Isa 44:14 He cuts down cedars for himself, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir tree, and the rain nourishes it.
Isa 44:15 Then it will be for a man to burn; and he takes some of it, and warms himself. Yes, he burns it, and bakes bread. Yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it an engraved image, and falls down to it.
Isa 44:16 He burns part of it in the fire. With part of it, he eats meat. He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. Yes, he warms himself, and says, "Aha! I am warm. I have seen the fire."
Isa 44:17 The rest of it he makes into a god, even his engraved image. He bows down to it and worships, and prays to it, and says, "Deliver me; for you are my god!"
Isa 44:18 They don't know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can't see; and their hearts, that they can't understand.
Isa 44:19 No one thinks, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, "I have burned part of it in the fire. Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten it. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?"
Isa 44:20 He feeds on ashes. A deceived heart has turned him aside; and he can't deliver his soul, nor say, "Isn't there a lie in my right hand?"
Isa 44:21 Remember these things, Jacob and Israel; for you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant. Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
Isa 44:23 Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.
Isa 44:24 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb: "I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;
Isa 44:25 who frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad; who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish;
Isa 44:26 who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, 'She will be inhabited;' and of the cities of Judah, 'They will be built,' and 'I will raise up its waste places;'
Isa 44:27 who says to the deep, 'Be dry,' and 'I will dry up your rivers;'
Isa 44:28 Who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,' even saying of Jerusalem, 'She will be built;' and of the temple, 'Your foundation will be laid.' "

Nov. 7
Isaiah 45-48

Isa 45:1 Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and strip kings of their armor; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:
Isa 45:2 "I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of brass in pieces, and cut apart the bars of iron.
Isa 45:3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who call you by your name, even the God of Israel.
Isa 45:4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name. I have surnamed you, though you have not known me.
Isa 45:5 I am Yahweh, and there is none else. Besides me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not known me;
Isa 45:6 that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I am Yahweh, and there is no one else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things.
Isa 45:8 Distil, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it.
Isa 45:9 Woe to him who strives with his Maker-- a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, 'What are you making?' or your work, 'He has no hands?'
Isa 45:10 Woe to him who says to a father, 'What have you become the father of?' or to a mother, 'To what have you given birth?' "
Isa 45:11 Thus says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: "You ask me about the things that are to come, concerning my sons, and you command me concerning the work of my hands!
Isa 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and I have commanded all their army.
Isa 45:13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways. He shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward," says Yahweh of Armies.
Isa 45:14 Thus says Yahweh: "The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours. They will go after you. They shall come over in chains; and they will bow down to you. They will make supplication to you: 'Surely God is in you; and there is none else. There is no other god.
Isa 45:15 Most certainly you are a God who hid yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.' "
Isa 45:16 They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.
Isa 45:17 Israel will be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation. You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting.
Isa 45:18 For thus says Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn't create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited: "I am Yahweh; and there is no other.
Isa 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn't say to the seed of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I, Yahweh, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
Isa 45:20 "Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can't save.
Isa 45:21 Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven't I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior; There is no one besides me.
Isa 45:22 "Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
Isa 45:23 By myself have I sworn, the word has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness, and will not return, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
Isa 45:24 They will say of me, 'There is righteousness and strength only in Yahweh.' " Even to him shall men come; and all those who were incensed against him shall be disappointed.
Isa 45:25 In Yahweh shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

Isa 46:1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the livestock: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary animal.
Isa 46:2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
Isa 46:3 "Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne by me from their birth, that have been carried from the womb;
Isa 46:4 and even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry, and will deliver.
Isa 46:5 "To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
Isa 46:6 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down--yes, they worship.
Isa 46:7 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
Isa 46:8 "Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, you transgressors.
Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me;
Isa 46:10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;
Isa 46:11 calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country; yes, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it.
Isa 46:12 Listen to me, you stout-hearted, who are far from righteousness:
Isa 46:13 I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not wait; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

Isa 47:1 "Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate.
Isa 47:2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.
Isa 47:3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man."
Isa 47:4 Our Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 47:5 "Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.
Isa 47:6 I was angry with my people, I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you did show them no mercy; on the aged have you very heavily laid your yoke.
Isa 47:7 You said, I shall be mistress forever; so that you did not lay these things to your heart, neither did remember the latter end of it.
Isa 47:8 "Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
Isa 47:9 but these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come on you, in the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments.
Isa 47:10 For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, None sees me; your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you, and you have said in your heart, I am, and there is none else besides me.
Isa 47:11 Therefore evil will come on you; you won't know when it dawns: and mischief wil fall on you; you will not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come on you suddenly, which you don't know.
Isa 47:12 "Stand now with your enchantments, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth; if so be you shall be able to profit, if so be you may prevail.
Isa 47:13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels: let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from the things that shall come on you.
Isa 47:14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before.
Isa 47:15 Thus shall the things be to you in which you have labored: those who have trafficked with you from your youth shall wander everyone to his quarter; there shall be none to save you.

Isa 48:1 "Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Yahweh, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness
Isa 48:2 (for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; Yahweh of Armies is his name):
Isa 48:3 I have declared the former things from of old; yes, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they happened.
Isa 48:4 Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass;
Isa 48:5 therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them.'
Isa 48:6 You have heard it; see all this; and you, will you not declare it? "I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.
Isa 48:7 They are created now, and not from of old; and before this day you didn't hear them; lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them.'
Isa 48:8 Yes, you didn't hear; yes, you didn't know; yes, from of old your ear was not opened: for I knew that you did deal very treacherously, and was called a transgressor from the womb.
Isa 48:9 For my name's sake will I defer my anger, and for my praise will I refrain for you, that I not cut you off.
Isa 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
Isa 48:11 For my own sake, for my own sake, will I do it; for how should my name be profaned? and my glory I will not give to another.
Isa 48:12 "Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
Isa 48:13 Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together.
Isa 48:14 "Assemble yourselves, all you, and hear; who among them has declared these things? He whom Yahweh loves shall perform his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
Isa 48:15 I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
Isa 48:16 "Come near to me and hear this: "From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I." Now the Lord Yahweh has sent me, with his Spirit.
Isa 48:17 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.
Isa 48:18 Oh that you had listened to my commandments! then had your peace been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea:
Isa 48:19 your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.
Isa 48:20 Go you forth from Babylon, flee you from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare you, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say you, Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob.
Isa 48:21 They didn't thirst when he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he split the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
Isa 48:22 "There is no peace," says Yahweh, "for the wicked."

Nov. 8
Isaiah 49-52

Isa 49:1 Listen, islands, to me; and listen, you peoples, from far: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name:
Isa 49:2 and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand has he hid me: and he has made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has he kept me close:
Isa 49:3 and he said to me, "You are my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified."
Isa 49:4 But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God."
Isa 49:5 Now says Yahweh who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered to him (for I am honorable in the eyes of Yahweh, and my God is become my strength);
Isa 49:6 yes, he says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth."
Isa 49:7 Thus says Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall worship; because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
Isa 49:8 Thus says Yahweh, "In an acceptable time have I answered you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you; and I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritage:
Isa 49:9 saying to those who are bound, 'Come out!'; to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves!' "They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture.
Isa 49:10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water he will guide them.
Isa 49:11 I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
Isa 49:12 Behold, these shall come from far; and behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim."
Isa 49:13 Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth; and break forth into singing, mountains: for Yahweh has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.
Isa 49:14 But Zion said, "Yahweh has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me."
Isa 49:15 "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!
Isa 49:16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
Isa 49:17 Your children make haste; your destroyers and those who made you waste shall go forth from you.
Isa 49:18 Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live," says Yahweh, "you shall surely clothe you with them all as with an ornament, and gird yourself with them, like a bride.
Isa 49:19 "For, as for your waste and your desolate places, and your land that has been destroyed, surely now you shall be too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up shall be far away.
Isa 49:20 The children of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, The place is too small for me; give place to me that I may dwell.
Isa 49:21 Then you will say in your heart, 'Who has conceived these for me, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth? Who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?' "
Isa 49:22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my banner to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
Isa 49:23 Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed."
Isa 49:24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?
Isa 49:25 But thus says Yahweh, "Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.
Isa 49:26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

Isa 50:1 Thus says Yahweh, "Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, with which I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.
Isa 50:2 Why, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can't redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.
Isa 50:3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering."
Isa 50:4 The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
Isa 50:5 The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward.
Isa 50:6 I gave my back to the strikers, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I didn't hide my face from shame and spitting.
Isa 50:7 For the Lord Yahweh will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed.
Isa 50:8 He is near who justifies me; who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together: who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.
Isa 50:9 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me; who is he who shall condemn me? Behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.
Isa 50:10 Who is among you who fears Yahweh, who obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in the name of Yahweh, and rely on his God.
Isa 50:11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk you in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that you have kindled. You shall have this of my hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.

Isa 51:1 "Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Yahweh: look to the rock whence you were cut, and to the hold of the pit whence you were dug.
Isa 51:2 Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.
Isa 51:3 For Yahweh has comforted Zion; he has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
Isa 51:4 "Attend to me, my people; and give ear to me, my nation: for a law shall go forth from me, and I will establish my justice for a light of the peoples.
Isa 51:5 My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the peoples; the islands shall wait for me, and on my arm shall they trust.
Isa 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and those who dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
Isa 51:7 "Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; don't you fear the reproach of men, neither be you dismayed at their insults.
Isa 51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation to all generations."
Isa 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn't it you who did cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster?
Isa 51:10 Isn't it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
Isa 51:11 The ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isa 51:12 "I, even I, am he who comforts you: who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who shall be made as grass;
Isa 51:13 and have forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fear continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
Isa 51:14 The captive exile shall speedily be freed; and he shall not die and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail.
Isa 51:15 For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
Isa 51:16 I have put my words in your mouth, and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, 'You are my people.' "
Isa 51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, Jerusalem, that have drunk at the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath; you have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
Isa 51:18 There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth; neither is there any who takes her by the hand among all the sons who she has brought up.
Isa 51:19 These two things have happened to you. Who will bemoan you? Desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort you?
Isa 51:20 Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of Yahweh, the rebuke of your God.
Isa 51:21 Therefore hear now this, you afflicted, and drunken, but now with wine:
Isa 51:22 Thus says your Lord Yahweh, and your God who pleads the cause of his people, "Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath; you shall no more drink it again:
Isa 51:23 and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, 'Bow down, that we may walk over you;' and you have laid your back as the ground, and as the street, to those who walk over."

Isa 52:1 Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion; put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Isa 52:2 Shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit on your throne, Jerusalem: loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion.
Isa 52:3 For thus says Yahweh, "You were sold for nothing; and you shall be redeemed without money."
Isa 52:4 For thus says the Lord Yahweh, "My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there: and the Assyrian has oppressed them without cause.
Isa 52:5 "Now therefore, what do I here," says Yahweh, "seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? those who rule over them mock," says Yahweh, "and my name continually all the day is blasphemed.
Isa 52:6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he who does speak; behold, it is I."
Isa 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Isa 52:8 The voice of your watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when Yahweh returns to Zion.
Isa 52:9 Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
Isa 52:10 Yahweh has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Isa 52:11 Depart you, depart you, go you out from there, touch no unclean thing; go you out of the midst of her; cleanse yourselves, you who bear the vessels of Yahweh.
Isa 52:12 For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight: for Yahweh will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward.
Isa 52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.
Isa 52:14 Like as many were astonished at you (his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men),
Isa 52:15 so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand.


Nov. 5
1 Timothy 5

1Ti 5:1 Don't rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brothers;
1Ti 5:2 the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity.
1Ti 5:3 Honor widows who are widows indeed.
1Ti 5:4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety towards their own family, and to repay their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God.
1Ti 5:5 Now she who is a widow indeed, and desolate, has her hope set on God, and continues in petitions and prayers night and day.
1Ti 5:6 But she who gives herself to pleasure is dead while she lives.
1Ti 5:7 Also command these things, that they may be without reproach.
1Ti 5:8 But if anyone doesn't provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.
1Ti 5:9 Let no one be enrolled as a widow under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,
1Ti 5:10 being approved by good works, if she has brought up children, if she has been hospitable to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, and if she has diligently followed every good work.
1Ti 5:11 But refuse younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry;
1Ti 5:12 having condemnation, because they have rejected their first pledge.
1Ti 5:13 Besides, they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. Not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.
1Ti 5:14 I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for reviling.
1Ti 5:15 For already some have turned aside after Satan.
1Ti 5:16 If any man or woman who believes has widows, let them relieve them, and don't let the assembly be burdened; that it might relieve those who are widows indeed.
1Ti 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.
1Ti 5:18 For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain." And, "The laborer is worthy of his wages."
1Ti 5:19 Don't receive an accusation against an elder, except at the word of two or three witnesses.
1Ti 5:20 Those who sin, reprove in the sight of all, that the rest also may be in fear.
1Ti 5:21 I command you in the sight of God, and Christ Jesus, and the chosen angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality.
1Ti 5:22 Lay hands hastily on no one, neither be a participant in other men's sins. Keep yourself pure.
1Ti 5:23 Be no longer a drinker of water only, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities.
1Ti 5:24 Some men's sins are evident, preceding them to judgment, and some also follow later.
1Ti 5:25 In the same way also there are good works that are obvious, and those that are otherwise can't be hidden.

Nov. 6
1 Timothy 6

1Ti 6:1 Let as many as are bondservants under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and the doctrine not be blasphemed.
1Ti 6:2 Those who have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brothers, but rather let them serve them, because those who partake of the benefit are believing and beloved. Teach and exhort these things.
1Ti 6:3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine, and doesn't consent to sound words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness,
1Ti 6:4 he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions,
1Ti 6:5 constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such.
1Ti 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1Ti 6:7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can't carry anything out.
1Ti 6:8 But having food and clothing, we will be content with that.
1Ti 6:9 But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction.
1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
1Ti 6:11 But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.
1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.
1Ti 6:13 I command you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession,
1Ti 6:14 that you keep the commandment without spot, blameless, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ;
1Ti 6:15 which in its own times he will show, who is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
1Ti 6:16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.
1Ti 6:17 Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;
1Ti 6:18 that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
1Ti 6:19 laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.
1Ti 6:20 Timothy, guard that which is committed to you, turning away from the empty chatter and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called;
1Ti 6:21 which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

Nov. 7
2 Timothy 1

2Ti 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,
2Ti 1:2 to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
2Ti 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. How unceasing is my memory of you in my petitions, night and day
2Ti 1:4 longing to see you, remembering your tears, that I may be filled with joy;
2Ti 1:5 having been reminded of the unfeigned faith that is in you; which lived first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and, I am persuaded, in you also.
2Ti 1:6 For this cause, I remind you that you should stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
2Ti 1:7 For God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
2Ti 1:8 Therefore don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship for the Good News according to the power of God,
2Ti 1:9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
2Ti 1:10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Good News.
2Ti 1:11 For this, I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
2Ti 1:12 For this cause I also suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.
2Ti 1:13 Hold the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 1:14 That good thing which was committed to you, guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
2Ti 1:15 This you know, that all who are in Asia turned away from me; of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.
2Ti 1:16 May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain,
2Ti 1:17 but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me
2Ti 1:18 (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord's mercy in that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.

Nov. 8
2 Timothy 2

2Ti 2:1 You therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 2:2 The things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
2Ti 2:3 You therefore must endure hardship, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
2Ti 2:4 No soldier on duty entangles himself in the affairs of life, that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier.
2Ti 2:5 Also, if anyone competes in athletics, he isn't crowned unless he has competed by the rules.
2Ti 2:6 The farmers who labor must be the first to get a share of the crops.
2Ti 2:7 Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things.
2Ti 2:8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my Good News,
2Ti 2:9 in which I suffer hardship to the point of chains as a criminal. But God's word isn't chained.
2Ti 2:10 Therefore I endure all things for the chosen ones' sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
2Ti 2:11 This saying is faithful: "For if we died with him, we will also live with him.
2Ti 2:12 If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us.
2Ti 2:13 If we are faithless, he remains faithful. He can't deny himself."
2Ti 2:14 Remind them of these things, charging them in the sight of the Lord, that they don't argue about words, to no profit, to the subverting of those who hear.
2Ti 2:15 Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.
2Ti 2:16 But shun empty chatter, for they will proceed further in ungodliness,
2Ti 2:17 and their word will consume like gangrene, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18 men who have erred concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past, and overthrowing the faith of some.
2Ti 2:19 However God's firm foundation stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness."
2Ti 2:20 Now in a large house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of clay. Some are for honor, and some for dishonor.
2Ti 2:21 If anyone therefore purges himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and suitable for the master's use, prepared for every good work.
2Ti 2:22 Flee from youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2Ti 2:23 But refuse foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing that they generate strife.
2Ti 2:24 The Lord's servant must not quarrel, but be gentle towards all, able to teach, patient,
2Ti 2:25 in gentleness correcting those who oppose him: perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth,
2Ti 2:26 and they may recover themselves out of the devil's snare, having been taken captive by him to his will.