the Week of Proper 18 / Ordinary 23
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
September 21 - Old & New Testament
csb
Isaiah 28,29
Woe to Samaria
1 Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim's drunkards,(a)
and to the fading flower of its beautiful splendor,
which is on the summit above the rich valley.
Woe to those overcome with wine.
2 Look, the Lord has a strong and mighty one(b)—
like a devastating hail storm,
like a storm with strong flooding waters.
He will bring it across the land with His hand.
3 The majestic crown of Ephraim's drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
4 The fading flower of his beautiful splendor,
which is on the summit above the rich valley,
will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest.(c)
Whoever sees it will swallow it
while it is still in his hand.
5 On that day
the
Lord
of Hosts will become a crown of beauty
and a diadem of splendor(d)
to the remnant of His people,
6 a spirit of justice
to the one who sits in judgment,(e)
and strength
to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 These also stagger because of wine
and stumble under the influence of beer:
priest and prophet stagger because of beer,
they are confused by wine.(f)
They stumble because of beer,
they are muddled in their visions,
they stumble in their judgments.
8 Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit;
there is no place without a stench.
9 Who is he[a] trying to teach?
Who is he[b] trying to instruct?
Infants[c] just weaned from milk?
Babies[d] removed from the breast?
10 For he says: "Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there."[e][f]
11 So He will speak to this people
with stammering speech
and in a foreign language.(g)
12 He had said to them:
"This is the place of rest,
let the weary rest;(h)
this is the place of repose."
But they would not listen.
13 Then the word of the
Lord
came to them:
"Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there,"[g][h]
so they go stumbling backward,
to be broken, trapped, and captured.(i)
A Deal with Death
14 Therefore hear the word of the
Lord
,(j) you mockers(k)
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 For you said, "We have cut a deal with Death,
and we have made an agreement with Sheol;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,(l)
it will not touch us,
because we have made falsehood our refuge
and have hidden behind treachery."
16 Therefore the Lord
God
said:
"Look, I have laid a stone(m) in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;(n)
the one who believes will be unshakable.[i](o)
17 And I will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the mason's level."(p)
Hail will sweep away the false refuge,
and water will flood your hiding place.
18 Your deal with Death will be dissolved,
and your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be trampled.
19 Every time it passes through,
it will carry you away;
it will pass through every morning—
every day and every night.
Only terror(q) will cause you
to understand the message.[j]
20 Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and its cover too small to wrap up in.
21 For the
Lord
will rise up as He did at Mount Perazim.(r)
He will rise in wrath, as at the Valley of Gibeon,(s)
to do His work, His strange work,
and to perform His task, His disturbing task.
22 So now, do not mock,
or your shackles will become stronger.
Indeed, I have heard from the Lord
God
of Hosts
a decree of destruction for the whole land.(t)
God's Wonderful Advice
23 Listen and hear my voice.
Pay attention and hear what I say.
24 Does the plowman plow every day to plant seed?
Does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
does he not then scatter black cumin and sow cumin?
He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots,
with spelt as their border.
26 His God teaches him order;
He instructs him.
27 Certainly black cumin is not threshed
with a threshing board,
and a cart wheel is not rolled over the cumin.
But black cumin is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Bread grain is crushed,
but is not threshed endlessly.
Though the wheel of the farmer's cart rumbles,
his horses do not crush it.
29 This also comes from the
Lord
of Hosts.
He gives wonderful advice;
He gives great wisdom.(u)
Woe to Jerusalem
1 Woe to Ariel,[a] Ariel,
the city where David camped!(a)
Continue year after year;
let the festivals recur.
2 I will oppress Ariel,
and there will be mourning and crying,
and she will be to Me like an Ariel.[b]
3 I will camp in a circle around you;
I will besiege you with earth ramps,
and I will set up my siege towers against you.
4 You will be brought down;
you will speak from the ground,
and your words will come from low in the dust.
Your voice will be like that of a spirit from the ground;(b)
your speech will whisper from the dust.
5 Your many foes[c] will be like fine dust,(c)
and many of the ruthless, like blowing chaff.
Then suddenly, in an instant,(d)
6 you will be visited by the
Lord
of Hosts
with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise,
storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire.(e)
7 All the many nations(f)
going out to battle against Ariel—
all the attackers, the siege works against her,
and those who oppress her—
will then be like a dream, a vision in the night.(g)
8 It will be like a hungry one who dreams he is eating,
then wakes and is still hungry;
and like a thirsty one who dreams he is drinking,
then wakes and is still thirsty, longing for water.
So it will be for all the many nations
who go to battle against Mount Zion.
9 Stop and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
They are drunk,[d] but not with wine;
they stagger,[e] but not with beer.(h)
10 For the
Lord
has poured out on you
an overwhelming urge to[f] sleep;(i)
He has shut your eyes—the prophets,
and covered your heads—the seers.(j)
11 For you the entire vision will be like the words of a sealed document.(k) If it is given to one who can read and he is asked to read it,[g] he will say, "I can't read it, because it is sealed." 12 And if the document is given to one who cannot read and he is asked to read it,[h] he will say, "I can't read."
13 The Lord said:
Because these people approach Me with their mouths(l)
to honor Me with lip-service[i]—
yet their hearts are far from Me,
and their worship consists of man-made rules
learned by rote—
14 therefore I will again confound these people
with wonder after wonder.(m)
The wisdom of their wise men will vanish,(n)
and the understanding of the perceptive will be hidden.
15 Woe to those who go to great lengths
to hide their plans from the
Lord
.(o)
They do their works in darkness,
and say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?"(p)
16 You have turned things around,
as if the potter were the same as the clay.
How can what is made say about its maker,
"He didn't make me"?(q)
How can what is formed
say about the one who formed it,
"He doesn't understand what he's doing"?
17 Isn't it true that in just a little while
Lebanon will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest?(r)
18 On that day the deaf will hear(s)
the words of a document,
and out of a deep darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The humble will have joy
after joy in the
Lord
,
and the poor people will rejoice(t)
in the Holy One of Israel.(u)
20 For the ruthless one will vanish,
the scorner will disappear,(v)
and all those who lie in wait with evil intent
will be killed—
21 those who, with their speech,
accuse a person of wrongdoing,
who set a trap at the gate for the mediator,
and without cause deprive the righteous of justice.(w)
22 Therefore, the Lord who redeemed Abraham(x) says this about the house of Jacob:
Jacob will no longer be ashamed
and his face will no longer be pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
the work of My hands within his nation,
they will honor My name,
they will honor the Holy One of Jacob(y)
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.(z)
24 Those who are confused will gain understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.
Romans 1
Chapter 1
God's Good News for Rome
1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle[a](a) and singled out(b) for God's good news(c)— 2 which He promised long ago(d) through His prophets(e) in the Holy Scriptures— 3 concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David[b](f) according to the flesh(g) 4 and who has been declared to be the powerful(h) Son of God(i) by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness.[c] 5 We have received grace and apostleship(j) through Him to bring about[d] the obedience(k) of faith[e] among all the nations,[f](l) on behalf of His name, 6 including yourselves who also belong to Jesus Christ by calling:(m)
7 To all who are in Rome, loved by God,(n) called(o) as saints.(p)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul's Desire to Visit Rome
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith[g] is being reported in all the world.(q) 9 For God, whom I serve with my spirit(r) in telling the good news about His Son, is my witness(s) that I constantly mention you,(t) 10 always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.(u) 11 For I want very much to see you,(v) so I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, 12 that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.
13 Now I want you to know,[h](w) brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now(x)) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry[i] among you,(y) just as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians,[j](z) both to the wise and the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the good news(aa) to you also who are in Rome.
The Righteous Will Live by Faith
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,[k](ab) because it is God's power for salvation(ac) to everyone who believes, first to the Jew,(ad) and also to the Greek.(ae) 17 For in it God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith,[l](af) just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. [m](ag)[n]
The Guilt of the Gentile World
18 For God's wrath(ah) is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,(ai) 19 since what can be known[o] about God is evident among them,(aj) because God has shown it to them. 20 For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world,(ak) being understood through what He has made.(al) As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.(am) 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools(an) 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.(ao)
24 Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts(ap) to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,(aq) and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever.(ar) Amen.
From Idolatry to Depravity
26 This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions.(as) For even their females exchanged natural sexual relations[p] for unnatural ones. 27 The males in the same way also left natural relations[q] with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males(at) and received in their own persons[r] the appropriate penalty of their error.
28 And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. 29 They are filled with all unrighteousness,[s] evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,(au) 30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful,(av) inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,(aw) 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving,[t](ax) and unmerciful. 32 Although they know full well God's just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die[u](ay)—they not only do them, but even applaud[v](az) others who practice them.
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