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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
September 26 - Old & New Testament
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Isaiah 39,40
Hezekiah's Folly
1 At that time(a) Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries.(b) There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.(c)
3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, "Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?"
Hezekiah replied, "They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon."
4 Isaiah asked, "What have they seen in your palace?"
Hezekiah answered, "They have seen everything in my palace. There isn't anything in my treasuries that I didn't show them."
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the Lord of Hosts:(d) 6 ‘The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,' says the Lord .(e) 7 ‘Some of your descendants who come from you will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"
8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good," for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.(f)
God's People Comforted
1 "Comfort, comfort My people,"(a)
says your God.
2 "Speak tenderly to[a] Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of forced labor is over,
her iniquity(b) has been pardoned,(c)
and she has received from the
Lord
's hand
double for all her sins."(d)
3 A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the
Lord
in the wilderness;(e)
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.(f)
4 Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.(g)
5 And the glory of the
Lord
will appear,(h)
and all humanity[b] together will see it,(i)
for the mouth of the
Lord
has spoken.(j)
6 A voice was saying, "Cry out!"
Another[c] said, "What should I cry out?"
"All humanity is grass,(k)
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.(l)
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath[d] of the
Lord
blows on them;[e]
indeed, the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flowers fade,(m)
but the word of our God remains forever."(n)
9 Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain.(o)
Jerusalem, herald of good news,(p)
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
"Here is your God!"(q)
10 See, the Lord
God
comes with strength,
and His power establishes His rule.(r)
His reward is with Him,(s)
and His gifts accompany Him.
11 He protects His flock like a shepherd;(t)
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them in the fold of His garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?(u)
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains in a balance
and the hills in the scales?
13 Who has directed[f] the Spirit of the
Lord
,
or who gave Him His counsel?(v)
14 Who did He consult with?
Who gave Him understanding(w)
and taught Him the paths of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge
and showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales;
He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.(x)
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him;
they are considered by Him
as nothingness and emptiness.(y)
18 Who will you compare God with?
What likeness will you compare Him to?(z)
19 To an idol?—something that a smelter casts,
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver welds for it?(aa)
20 To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot?[g]
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.(ab)
21 Do you not know?(ac)
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?(ad)
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.(ae)
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth(af)
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.(ag)
23 He reduces princes to nothing(ah)
and makes judges of the earth irrational.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.(ai)
25 "Who will you compare Me to,(aj)
or who is My equal?" asks the Holy One.
26 Look up[h] and see:
who created(ak) these?
He brings out the starry host by number;
He calls all of them by name.(al)
Because of His great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert:
"My way is hidden from the
Lord
,
and my claim is ignored by my God"?(am)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Yahweh is the everlasting God,(an)
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never grows faint or weary;
there is no limit to His understanding.(ao)
29 He gives strength to the weary
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Youths may faint and grow weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31 but those who trust in the
Lord
will renew their strength;(ap)
they will soar on wings like eagles;(aq)
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not faint.
Romans 6
Chapter 6
The New Life in Christ
1 What should we say then?(a) Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply?(b) 2 Absolutely not!(c) How can we who died to sin(d) still live in it? 3 Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized(e) into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?(f) 4 Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death,(g) in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead(h) by the glory of the Father,(i) so we too may walk in a new way[a] of life.(j) 5 For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death,(k) we will certainly also be[b] in the likeness of His resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self[c](l) was crucified with Him(m) in order that sin's dominion over the body[d] may be abolished,(n) so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died(o) is freed[e] from sin's claims.[f] 8 Now if we died with Christ,(p) we believe that we will also live with Him, 9 because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead,(q) will not die again. Death no longer rules over Him.(r) 10 For in light of the fact that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in light of the fact that He lives, He lives to God. 11 So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin(s) but alive to God in Christ Jesus.[g]
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey[h] its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts[i] of it to sin(t) as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God,(u) and all the parts[j] of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law(v) but under grace.(w)
From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God
15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace?(x) Absolutely not!(y) 16 Don't you know that if you offer yourselves to someone[k] as obedient slaves,(z) you are slaves of that one you obey(aa)—either of sin leading to death(ab) or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin,(ac) you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred[l] to,(ad) 18 and having been liberated from sin,(ae) you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 I am using a human analogy[m](af) because of the weakness of your flesh.[n] For just as you offered the parts[o] of yourselves as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness.[p](ag) 21 So what fruit was produced[q] then from the things you are now ashamed of?(ah) For the end of those things is death.(ai) 22 But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God,(aj) you have your fruit, which results in sanctification[r](ak)—and the end is eternal life!(al) 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.(am)
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