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Thursday, November 30th, 2023
the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34

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Daily Bible Reading

October 1 - Old & New Testament
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Jump to: Isaiah 50,51,52 • Romans 9:16-33

Isaiah 50,51,52

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Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience

¹ This is what the Lord says:

"Where is your mother's certificate of divorce^(a)
     with which I sent her away?
Or to which of my creditors
     did I sell^(b) you?
Because of your sins^(c) you were sold;^(d)
     because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
² When I came, why was there no one?
     When I called, why was there no one to answer?^(e)
Was my arm too short^(f) to deliver you?
     Do I lack the strength^(g) to rescue you?
By a mere rebuke^(h) I dry up the sea,⁽ⁱ⁾
     I turn rivers into a desert;^(j)
their fish rot for lack of water
     and die of thirst.
³ I clothe the heavens with darkness^(k)
     and make sackcloth^(l) its covering."

⁴ The Sovereign Lord ^(m) has given me a well-instructed tongue,⁽ⁿ⁾
     to know the word that sustains the weary.^(o)
He wakens me morning by morning,^(p)
     wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.^(q)
⁵ The Sovereign Lord ^(r) has opened my ears;^(s)
     I have not been rebellious,^(t)
     I have not turned away.
⁶ I offered my back to those who beat^(u) me,
     my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;^(v)
I did not hide my face
     from mocking and spitting.^(w)
⁷ Because the Sovereign Lord ^(x) helps^(y) me,
     I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,^(z)
     and I know I will not be put to shame.^(aa)
⁸ He who vindicates^(ab) me is near.^(ac)
     Who then will bring charges against me?^(ad)
     Let us face each other!^(ae)
Who is my accuser?
     Let him confront me!
⁹ It is the Sovereign Lord ^(af) who helps^(ag) me.
     Who will condemn^(ah) me?
They will all wear out like a garment;
     the moths^(ai) will eat them up.

¹⁰ Who among you fears^(aj) the Lord
     and obeys^(ak) the word of his servant?^(al)
Let the one who walks in the dark,
     who has no light,^(am)
trust^(an) in the name of the Lord
     and rely on their God.
¹¹ But now, all you who light fires
     and provide yourselves with flaming torches,^(ao)
go, walk in the light of your fires^(ap)
     and of the torches you have set ablaze.
This is what you shall receive from my hand:^(aq)
     You will lie down in torment.^(ar)

Everlasting Salvation for Zion

¹ "Listen^(a) to me, you who pursue righteousness^(b)
     and who seek^(c) the Lord :
Look to the rock^(d) from which you were cut
     and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
² look to Abraham,^(e) your father,
     and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was only one man,
     and I blessed him and made him many.^(f)
³ The Lord will surely comfort^(g) Zion^(h)
     and will look with compassion on all her ruins;⁽ⁱ⁾
he will make her deserts like Eden,^(j)
     her wastelands^(k) like the garden of the Lord .
Joy and gladness^(l) will be found in her,
     thanksgiving^(m) and the sound of singing.

⁴ "Listen to me, my people;⁽ⁿ⁾
     hear me,^(o) my nation:
Instruction^(p) will go out from me;
     my justice^(q) will become a light to the nations.^(r)
⁵ My righteousness draws near speedily,
     my salvation^(s) is on the way,^(t)
     and my arm^(u) will bring justice to the nations.
The islands^(v) will look to me
     and wait in hope^(w) for my arm.
⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
     look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,^(x)
     the earth will wear out like a garment^(y)
     and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation^(z) will last forever,^(aa)
     my righteousness will never fail.^(ab)

⁷ "Hear me, you who know what is right,^(ac)
     you people who have taken my instruction to heart:^(ad)
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
     or be terrified by their insults.^(ae)
⁸ For the moth will eat them up like a garment;^(af)
     the worm^(ag) will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,^(ah)
     my salvation through all generations."

⁹ Awake, awake,^(ai) arm^(aj) of the Lord ,
     clothe yourself with strength!^(ak)
Awake, as in days gone by,
     as in generations of old.^(al)
Was it not you who cut Rahab^(am) to pieces,
     who pierced that monster^(an) through?
¹⁰ Was it not you who dried up the sea,^(ao)
     the waters of the great deep,^(ap)
who made a road in the depths of the sea^(aq)
     so that the redeemed^(ar) might cross over?
¹¹ Those the Lord has rescued^(as) will return.
     They will enter Zion with singing;^(at)
     everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy^(au) will overtake them,
     and sorrow and sighing will flee away.^(av)

¹² "I, even I, am he who comforts^(aw) you.
     Who are you that you fear^(ax) mere mortals,^(ay)
     human beings who are but grass,^(az)
¹³ that you forget^(ba) the Lord your Maker,^(bb)
     who stretches out the heavens^(bc)
     and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror^(bd) every day
     because of the wrath of the oppressor,
     who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?^(be)
¹⁴      The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;^(bf)
they will not die in their dungeon,
     nor will they lack bread.^(bg)
¹⁵ For I am the Lord your God,
     who stirs up the sea^(bh) so that its waves roar^(bi)—
     the Lord Almighty^(bj) is his name.
¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth^(bk)
     and covered you with the shadow of my hand^(bl)—
I who set the heavens in place,
     who laid the foundations of the earth,^(bm)
     and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.^(bn)'"

The Cup of the Lord's Wrath

¹⁷ Awake, awake!^(bo)
     Rise up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
     the cup^(bp) of his wrath,^(bq)
you who have drained to its dregs^(br)
     the goblet that makes people stagger.^(bs)
¹⁸ Among all the children^(bt) she bore
     there was none to guide her;^(bu)
among all the children she reared
     there was none to take her by the hand.^(bv)
¹⁹ These double calamities^(bw) have come upon you—
     who can comfort you?^(bx)—
ruin and destruction,^(by) famine^(bz) and sword^(ca)—
     who can^[a] console you?
²⁰ Your children have fainted;
     they lie at every street corner,^(cb)
     like antelope caught in a net.^(cc)
They are filled with the wrath^(cd) of the Lord ,
     with the rebuke^(ce) of your God.

²¹ Therefore hear this, you afflicted^(cf) one,
     made drunk,^(cg) but not with wine.
²² This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
     your God, who defends^(ch) his people:
"See, I have taken out of your hand
     the cup^(ci) that made you stagger;
from that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
     you will never drink again.
²³ I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,^(cj)
     who said to you,
     ‘Fall prostrate^(ck) that we may walk^(cl) on you.'
And you made your back like the ground,
     like a street to be walked on."^(cm)

¹ Awake, awake,^(a) Zion,
     clothe yourself with strength!^(b)
Put on your garments of splendor,^(c)
     Jerusalem, the holy city.^(d)
The uncircumcised^(e) and defiled^(f)
     will not enter you again.^(g)
² Shake off your dust;^(h)
     rise up,⁽ⁱ⁾ sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,^(j)
     Daughter Zion,^(k) now a captive.

³ For this is what the Lord says:

"You were sold for nothing,^(l)
and without money^(m) you will be redeemed.⁽ⁿ⁾"

⁴ For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

"At first my people went down to Egypt^(o) to live;
lately, Assyria^(p) has oppressed them.

⁵ "And now what do I have here?" declares the Lord .

"For my people have been taken away for nothing,
     and those who rule them mock,^[a]"
declares the Lord .
"And all day long
     my name is constantly blasphemed.^(q)
⁶ Therefore my people will know^(r) my name;^(s)
     therefore in that day^(t) they will know
that it is I who foretold^(u) it.
     Yes, it is I."

⁷ How beautiful on the mountains^(v)
     are the feet of those who bring good news,^(w)
who proclaim peace,^(x)
     who bring good tidings,
     who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
     "Your God reigns!"^(y)
⁸ Listen! Your watchmen^(z) lift up their voices;^(aa)
     together they shout for joy.^(ab)
When the Lord returns^(ac) to Zion,^(ad)
     they will see it with their own eyes.
⁹ Burst into songs of joy^(ae) together,
     you ruins^(af) of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted^(ag) his people,
     he has redeemed Jerusalem.^(ah)
¹⁰ The Lord will lay bare his holy arm^(ai)
     in the sight of all the nations,^(aj)
and all the ends of the earth^(ak) will see
     the salvation^(al) of our God.

¹¹ Depart,^(am) depart, go out from there!
     Touch no unclean thing!^(an)
Come out from it and be pure,^(ao)
     you who carry the articles^(ap) of the Lord 's house.
¹² But you will not leave in haste^(aq)
     or go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you,^(ar)
     the God of Israel will be your rear guard.^(as)

The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

¹³ See, my servant^(at) will act wisely^[b];
     he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.^(au)
¹⁴ Just as there were many who were appalled^(av) at him^[c]—
     his appearance was so disfigured^(aw) beyond that of any human being
     and his form marred beyond human likeness^(ax)—
¹⁵ so he will sprinkle^(ay) many nations,^[d]
     and kings^(az) will shut their mouths^(ba) because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
     and what they have not heard, they will understand.^(bb)

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Romans 9:16-33

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Chapter 9

¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy.^(af) ¹⁷ For Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."^[g]^(ag) ¹⁸ Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.^(ah)

¹⁹ One of you will say to me:^(ai) "Then why does God still blame us?^(aj) For who is able to resist his will?"^(ak) ²⁰ But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?^(al) "Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,^(am) ‘Why did you make me like this?'"^[h]^(an) ²¹ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?^(ao)

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience^(ap) the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?^(aq) ²³ What if he did this to make the riches of his glory^(ar) known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory^(as)— ²⁴ even us, whom he also called,^(at) not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?^(au) ²⁵ As he says in Hosea:

"I will call them ‘my people' who are not my people;
and I will call her ‘my loved one' who is not my loved one,"^[i]^(av)

²⁶ and,

"In the very place where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,'
there they will be called ‘children of the living God.'"^[j]^(aw)

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

"Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,^(ax)
only the remnant will be saved.^(ay)
²⁸ For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality."^[k]^(az)

²⁹ It is just as Isaiah said previously:

"Unless the Lord Almighty^(ba)
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah."^[l]^(bb)

Israel's Unbelief

³⁰ What then shall we say?^(bc) That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;^(bd) ³¹ but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness,^(be) have not attained their goal.^(bf) ³² Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.^(bg) ³³ As it is written:

"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame."^[m]^(bh)