Isaiah 20 - 21, Luke 12, Psalms 46 - 47

A Prophecy About Egypt and Ethiopia

20In the year that the ¹^,^acommander came to ^bAshdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it, ²at that time Yahweh spoke by the hand of ^aIsaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go and loosen the ^bsackcloth from your hips and take your ^cshoes off your feet.” And he did so, going ^dnaked and barefoot. ³And Yahweh said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a ^asign and wonder against Egypt and ¹^,^bEthiopia, ⁴so the ^aking of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, ^byoung and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the ¹shame of Egypt. ⁵“Then they will be ^adismayed and ashamed because of Ethiopia their hope and Egypt their ^bboast. ⁶“So the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, such is our hope, where we fled ^afor help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and we, ^bhow shall we escape?’”

Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon

21The ¹^,^aoracle concerning the ²^,^bwilderness of the sea. As ^cwhirlwinds in the ³Negev sweep on,It comes from the wilderness, from a fearsome land.

²A ^aharsh vision has been declared to me;The ^btreacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys.Go up, ^cElam, lay siege, Media;I have made an end of all ¹the groaning she has caused.³For this reason my ^aloins are full of anguish;Pains have seized me like the pains of a ^bwoman in labor.I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.⁴My heart ¹reels; ²horror terrorizes me;The twilight I longed for has been ^aturned for me into trembling.⁵They ^aset the table, they ¹spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink;“Rise up, commanders, oil the shields,”

⁶For thus the Lord says to me, “Go, station the lookout, let him ^adeclare what he sees.

⁷“Indeed, he shall see ^ariders, horsemen in pairs,Riders of donkeys, riders of camels,So let him pay close attention, very close attention.”

⁸Then ¹the lookout called, “^aO Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower,And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

⁹“Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”And one answered and said, “^aFallen, fallen is Babylon;And all the ^bgraven images of her gods ¹are shattered on the ground.”¹⁰O my ^atrampled people and my ¹afflicted of the threshing floor!What I have heard from Yahweh of hosts,The God of Israel, I have declared to you.

Oracles Concerning Dumah and Arabia

¹¹The ¹oracle concerning ²^,^aDumah. One keeps calling to me from ^bSeir,“Watchman, ³how far gone is the night?Watchman, ⁴how far gone is the night?”

¹²The watchman says,“Morning comes but also night.If you would inquire, inquire;Come back again.”

¹³The ¹oracle about ²^,^aArabia. In the thickets of ³Arabia you ⁴must spend the night,O caravans of ^bDedanites.

¹⁴Bring water to meet the thirsty,O inhabitants of the land of ^aTema,Meet with bread the one who has fled.¹⁵For they have ^afled from the swords,From the drawn sword, and from the bent bowAnd from the heaviness of battle.

¹⁶For thus the Lord said to me, “In a ^ayear, as ¹a hired man would count it, all the glory of ^bKedar will end; ¹⁷and the ^aremainder of the number of bowmen, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^bhas spoken.”

Fear Only God

12At this time, after ¹so many thousands of the crowd had gathered together that they were trampling on one another, He began saying to His disciples first, “^aBe on your guard for the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ²“^aBut there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. ³“Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have ¹whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon ^athe housetops.

⁴“But I say to you, ^aMy friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵“But I will show you whom to fear: ^afear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into ¹^,^bhell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! ⁶“Are not ^afive sparrows sold for two ¹assaria? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷“^aIndeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

⁸“And I say to you, everyone who ^aconfesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God, ⁹but ^ahe who denies Me before men will be denied ^bbefore the angels of God. ¹⁰“^aAnd everyone who ¹speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. ¹¹“Now when they bring you before ^athe synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not ^bworry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say, ¹²for ^athe Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³And someone from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But He said to him, “^aMan, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵Then He said to them, “^aWatch out and be on your guard against every form of greed, for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷“And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸“Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, ^ayou have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰“But God said to him, ‘^aYou fool! This very night ¹^,^byour soul is required of you; and ^cnow who will own what you prepared?’ ²¹“So is the one who ^astores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Worry

²²And He said to His disciples, “^aFor this reason I say to you, ¹do not worry about your ²life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. ²³“For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴“Consider the ^aravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor ^bbarn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵“And which of you by worrying can add a single ¹^,^acubit to his ²life span? ²⁶“Therefore, if you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? ²⁷“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, but I tell you, not even ^aSolomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸“But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? ^aYou of little faith! ²⁹“And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not ^akeep worrying. ³⁰“For ¹all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek, but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹“But seek His kingdom, and ^athese things will be added to you. ³²“^aDo not fear, ^blittle flock, for ^cyour Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom.

³³“^aSell your possessions and give it as charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, ^ban unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. ³⁴“For ^awhere your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be Ready for His Coming

³⁵“^aGird up ^byour loins, and keep your lamps lit. ³⁶“And be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷“Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ^aawake when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^bhe will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. ³⁸“^aWhether he comes in the ¹second watch, or even in the ²third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹“^aBut ¹be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ²^,^bbroken into. ⁴⁰“^aYou too, be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not ¹expect.”

⁴¹Now Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ^ato everyone else as well?” ⁴²And ^athe Lord said, “^bWho then is the faithful and prudent ^csteward, whom his master will put in charge of his ¹servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³“Blessed is that ^aslave whom his ¹master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴“Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵“But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master ¹will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷“And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will ^areceive many beatings, ⁴⁸but the one who did not ^aknow it, and committed deeds worthy of a beating, will receive but a few. ^bFrom everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Not Peace, but Division

⁴⁹“I ¹have come to cast fire upon the earth, and ²how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰“But I have a ^abaptism to ¹undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished! ⁵¹“^aDo you think that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; ⁵²for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³“They will be divided, ^afather against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴And He was also saying to the crowds, “^aWhen you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it happens. ⁵⁵“And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ^ahot day,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶“You hypocrites! ^aYou know how to examine the appearance of the earth and the sky, but ¹why do you not examine this present time?

⁵⁷“And ^awhy do you not even judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸“For ^awhile you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to ¹settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹“I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the last ¹^,^alepton.”

God Is Our Refuge and Strength

For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. ¹According to Alamoth. A Song.

God is our ^arefuge and strength,²A very ^bpresent help ^cin ³trouble.²Therefore we will ^anot fear, though ^bthe earth should changeAnd though ^cthe mountains shake into the heart of the ¹sea;³Though its ^awaters roar and foam,Though the mountains quake at its lofty pride. ¹ Selah.⁴There is a ^ariver whose streams make glad the ^bcity of God,The holy ^cdwelling places of the Most High.⁵God is ^ain the midst of her, she will not be shaken;God will ^bhelp her ¹when morning dawns.⁶The ¹nations ^aroar, the kingdoms shake;He ^bgives His voice, the earth ^cmelts.⁷Yahweh of hosts ^ais with us;The God of Jacob is ^bour stronghold. Selah.⁸Come, ^abehold the works of Yahweh,¹Who has appointed ^bdesolations in the earth.⁹He ^amakes wars to cease to the end of the earth;He ^bbreaks the bow and cuts up the spear;He ^cburns the chariots with fire.¹⁰“¹Cease striving and ^aknow that I am God;I will be ^bexalted among the ²nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”¹¹Yahweh of hosts is with us;The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

God Is King of All the Earth

For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.

O ^aclap your hands, all peoples;^bMake a loud shout to God with the sound of a shout of ¹joy.²For Yahweh Most High is ¹^,^afearsome,A ^bgreat King over all the earth.³He ^asubdues peoples under usAnd nations under our feet.⁴He chooses our ^ainheritance for us,The ^bpride of Jacob whom He loves. ¹ Selah.⁵God has ^aascended ¹with a loud shout,Yahweh, ²with the ^bsound of a trumpet.⁶^aSing praises to God, sing praises;Sing praises to ^bour King, sing praises.⁷For God is the ^aKing of all the earth;Sing praises ^bwith a ¹skillful psalm.⁸God ^areigns over the nations,God ¹sits on ^bHis holy throne.⁹The ^anobles of the peoples have assembled themselves with the ^bpeople of the God of Abraham,For the ^cshields of the earth belong to God;He ¹is ^dhighly exalted.