Today's Reading

¹The Spirit of the Lord God is on me; because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;

²to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;

³to appoint to those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

⁴They shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

⁵Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

⁶But you shall be named the priests of the Lord; men will call you the ministers of our God: you will eat the wealth of the nations, and you will boast in their glory.

⁷Instead of your shame you shall have double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be to them.

⁸"For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

⁹Their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord has blessed."

¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹¹For as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

¹For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.

²The nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.

³You shall also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

⁴You shall no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall your land any more be termed Desolate: but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.

⁵For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons shall marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

⁶I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: you who call on the Lord, take no rest,

⁷and give him no rest, until he establishes, and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

⁸The Lord has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, "Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies; and foreigners shall not drink your new wine, for which you have labored:

⁹but those who have garnered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; and those who have gathered it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary."

¹⁰Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way of the people! Cast up, cast up the highway! Gather out the stones! Lift up a banner for the peoples.

¹¹Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your salvation comes. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.'"

¹²They shall call them The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and you shall be called Sought out, A city not forsaken.

¹Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? "It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save."

²Why are you red in your clothing, and your garments like him who treads in the wine vat?

³"I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yes, I trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I have stained all my clothing.

⁴For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come.

⁵I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore my own arm brought salvation to me; and my wrath, it upheld me.

⁶I trod down the peoples in my anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."

⁷I will make mention of the loving kindnesses of the Lord and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.

⁸For he said, "Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely:" so he was their Savior.

⁹In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old.

¹⁰But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he himself fought against them.

¹¹Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his holy Spirit in their midst?

¹²who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?

¹³who led them through the depths, as a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble?

¹⁴As the livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused them to rest; so you led your people, to make yourself a glorious name.

¹⁵Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory: where are your zeal and your mighty acts? the yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me.

¹⁶For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn't know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us: you, Lord, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.

¹⁷O Lord, why do you make us to stray from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants' sake, the tribes of your inheritance.

¹⁸Your holy people possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.

¹⁹We have become as they over whom you never bear rule, as those who were not called by your name.

¹But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you.

²For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.

³For when they are saying, "Peace and safety," then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.

⁴But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.

⁵You are all children of light, and children of the day. We do not belong to the night, nor to darkness,

⁶so then let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us watch and be sober.

⁷For those who sleep, sleep in the night, and those who are drunk are drunk in the night.

⁸But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.

⁹For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁰who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

¹¹Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.

¹²But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you,

¹³and to respect and honor them in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves.

¹⁴We exhort you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient toward all.

¹⁵See that no one returns evil for evil to anyone, but always follow after that which is good, for one another, and for all.

¹⁶Rejoice always.

¹⁷Pray without ceasing.

¹⁸In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.

¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit.

²⁰Do not despise prophesies.

²¹Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good.

²²Abstain from every form of evil.

²³May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.

²⁵Brothers, pray for us.

²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.

²⁷I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers.

²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

¹The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:

²to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

³to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man:

⁵that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:

⁶to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, listen to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching:

⁹for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

¹¹If they say, "Come with us, Let's lie in wait for blood; let's lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²let's swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit.

¹³We'll find all valuable wealth. We'll fill our houses with spoil.

¹⁴You shall cast your lot among us. We'll all have one purse."

¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:

¹⁸but these lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.

²¹She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words:

²²"How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?

²³Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.

²⁴Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;

²⁵but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof;

²⁶I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you;

²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come on you.

²⁸Then will they call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;

²⁹because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.

³⁰They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.

³¹Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.

³²For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm."