the First Week of Advent
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
September 25 - Old & New Testament
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Isaiah 37,38
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Counsel
1 When King Hezekiah heard their report,(a) he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth,(b) and went to the Lord 's temple. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, who were wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, "This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace,(c) for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.(d) 4 Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God,(e) and will rebuke him for the words that Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.'"(f)
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, 6 who said to them, "Tell your master this, ‘The Lord says: Don't be afraid(g) because of the words you have heard, which the king of Assyria's attendants have blasphemed Me with.(h) 7 I am about to put a spirit(i) in him and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.'"(j)
Sennacherib's Letter
8 When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(k) he returned and found him fighting against Libnah.(l) 9 The king had heard this about Tirhakah king of Cush:(m) "He has set out to fight against you." So when he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 "Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Don't let your God, whom you trust, deceive you(n) by promising that Jerusalem won't be handed over to the king of Assyria. 11 Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: they completely destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations(o) that my predecessors destroyed rescue them—Gozan,(p) Haran,(q) Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?'"
Hezekiah's Prayer
14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers, read it, then went up to the Lord 's temple and spread it out before the Lord .(r) 15 Then Hezekiah prayed(s) to the Lord :
16 Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim,(t) You are God(u)—You alone(v)—of all the kingdoms of the earth.(w) You made the heavens and the earth.(x) 17 Listen closely, Lord , and hear;(y) open Your eyes, Lord , and see.(z) Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.(aa) 18 Lord , it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated all these countries and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods(ab) but made by human hands(ac)—wood and stone.(ad) So they have destroyed them. 20 Now, Lord our God, save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord (ae)—You alone.(af)
God's Answer through Hezekiah
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "The Lord , the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
Virgin Daughter Zion(ag)
despises you and scorns you:
Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head(ah)
behind your back.[a]
23 Who is it you have mocked(ai) and blasphemed?
Who have you raised your voice against
and lifted your eyes in pride?(aj)
Against the Holy One of Israel!(ak)
24 You have mocked the
Lord
through[b] your servants.
You have said, "With my many chariots(al)
I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
its choice cypress trees.
I came to its distant heights,
its densest forest.
25 I dug wells[c] and drank water.
I dried up all the streams of Egypt
with the soles of my feet."(am)
26 Have you not heard?(an)
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.(ao)
I have now brought it to pass,
and you have crushed fortified cities(ap)
into piles of rubble.
27 Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,
blasted by the east wind.[d]
28 But I know[e] your sitting down,
your going out and your coming in,(aq)
and your raging against Me.
29 Because your raging against Me
and your arrogance have reached My ears,(ar)
I will put My hook in your nose(as)
and My bit in your mouth;(at)
I will make you go back
the way you came.
30 "‘This will be the sign for you:(au) This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root(av) downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For a remnant(aw) will go out from Jerusalem and survivors, from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.'(ax)
33 "Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow there
or come before it with a shield
or build up an assault ramp against it.
34 He will go back
the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.
This is the
Lord
's declaration.
35 I will defend this city and rescue it
because of Me(ay)
and because of My servant David."(az)
Defeat and Death of Sennacherib
36 Then(ba) the angel of the Lord (bb) went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.(bc)
38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat.(bd) Then his son Esar-haddon(be) became king in his place.
Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
1 In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill.(a) The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, "This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your affairs in order,[a](b) for you are about to die; you will not recover.'"[b]
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord . 3 He said, "Please, Lord , remember how I have walked before You faithfully and wholeheartedly,(c) and have done what pleases You."[c](d) And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 "Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add 15 years to your life.[d](e) 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city.(f) 7 This is the sign to you(g) from the Lord that He will do what[e] He has promised:[f] 8 I am going to make the sun's shadow that goes down on Ahaz's stairway go back by 10 steps."(h) So the sun's shadow[g] went back the 10 steps it had descended.
9 A poem by Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
10 I said: In the prime[h] of my life[i](i)
I must go to the gates of Sheol;(j)
I am deprived of the rest of my years.
11 I said: I will never see the
Lord
,
the
Lord
in the land of the living;(k)
I will not look on humanity any longer
with the inhabitants of what is passing away.[j]
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd's tent.(l)
I have rolled up my life like a weaver;(m)
He cuts me off from the loom.[k](n)
You make an end of me from day until night.(o)
13 I thought until the morning:
He will break all my bones like a lion;
You make an end of me day and night.
14 I chirp like a swallow or a crane;
I moan like a dove.(p)
My eyes grow weak looking upward.
Lord, I am oppressed; support me.(q)
15 What can I say?
He has spoken to me,
and He Himself has done it.
I walk along slowly all my years(r)
because of the bitterness of my soul,(s)
16 Lord, because of these promises people live,(t)
and in all of them is the life of my spirit as well;
You have restored me to health(u)
and let me live.(v)
17 Indeed, it was for my own welfare
that I had such great bitterness;(w)
but Your love has delivered me
from the Pit of destruction,(x)
for You have thrown all my sins behind Your back.(y)
18 For Sheol cannot thank You;
Death cannot praise You.(z)
Those who go down to the Pit
cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19 The living, only the living can thank You,
as I do today;
a father will make Your faithfulness known to children.(aa)
20 The
Lord
will[l] save me;
we will play stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
at the house of the
Lord
.(ab)
21 Now Isaiah(ac) had said, "Let them take a lump of pressed figs and apply it to his infected skin, so that he may recover." 22 And Hezekiah had asked, "What is the sign that I will go up to the Lord 's temple?"
Romans 5
Chapter 5
Faith Triumphs
1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith,(a) we have peace[a] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.(b) 2 We have also obtained access through Him(c) by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand,(d) and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that,(e) but we also rejoice in our afflictions,(f) because we know that affliction produces endurance,(g) 4 endurance produces proven character,(h) and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us,(i) because God's love has been poured out in our hearts(j) through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Those Declared Righteous Are Reconciled
6 For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment,(k) Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves(l) His own love for us(m) in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! 9 Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood,(n) we will be saved through Him from wrath.(o) 10 For if, while we were enemies,(p) we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life!(q) 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have now received this reconciliation through Him.(r)
Death through Adam and Life through Christ
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,(s) and death through sin,(t) in this way death spread to all men,(u) because all sinned.[c] 13 In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person's account when there is no law.(v) 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression.(w) He is a prototype[d] of the Coming One.(x)
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift overflowed to the many by the grace of the one man,(y) Jesus Christ. 16 And the gift is not like the one man's sin, because from one sin came the judgment,(z) resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification.[e] 17 Since by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life(aa) through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification[f](ab) for everyone. 19 For just as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners,(ac) so also through the one man's obedience(ad) the many will be made righteous. 20 The law came along to multiply the trespass.(ae) But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more(af) 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death,(ag) so also grace will reign(ah) through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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