Bible Readings for September 14, 2013

Today our passages are Isaiah 15:1–18:7; Galatians 1:1-24; Psalm 58:1-11; and Proverbs 23:12. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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Isaiah 15-18:7 (Contemporary English Version)

Isaiah 15

Moab Will Be Punished

 ¹This is a message about Moab:    The towns of Ar and Kir
   were destroyed in a night.
   Moab is left in ruins!
    ²Everyone in Dibon has gone up
   to the temple ^[a] and the shrines to cry and weep.
   All of Moab is crying.
   Heads and beards are shaved ^[b] because of what happened
   at Nebo and Medeba.
    ³In the towns and at home,
   everyone wears sackcloth
   and cries loud and long.
    ⁴From Heshbon and Elealeh,
   weeping is heard in Jahaz;
   Moab's warriors scream
   while trembling with fear.
   

Pity Moab

 ⁵I pity Moab!    Its people are running to Zoar
   and to Eglath-Shelishiyah.
   They cry on their way up
   to the town of Luhith;
   on the road to Horonaim
   they tell of disasters.
    ⁶The streams of Nimrim
   and the grasslands
   have dried up.
   Every plant is parched.
    ⁷The people of Moab are leaving,
   crossing over Willow Creek,
   taking everything they own
   and have worked for.
    ⁸In the towns of Eglaim
   and of Beerelim
   and everywhere else in Moab
   mournful cries are heard.
    ⁹The streams near Dimon
   are flowing with blood.
   But the Lord will bring
   even worse trouble to Dimon, ^[c] because all in Moab who escape
   will be attacked by lions.
   

Isaiah 16

More Troubles for Moab

 ¹Send lambs ^[d] as gifts to the ruler of the land.    Send them across the desert
   from Sela ^[e] to Mount Zion. ²The women of Moab
   crossing the Arnon River
   are like a flock of birds
   scattered from their nests.
    ³Moab's messengers say
   to the people of Judah,
   "Be kind and help us!
   Shade us from the heat
   of the noonday sun.
   Hide our refugees!
   Don't turn them away.
    ⁴Let our people live
   in your country
   and find safety here."
   Moab, your cruel enemies
   will disappear;
   they will no longer attack
   and destroy your land.
    ⁵Then a kingdom of love
   will be set up,
   and someone from David's family
   will rule with fairness.
   He will do what is right
   and quickly bring justice.
   

Moab's Pride Is Destroyed

 ⁶We have heard of Moab's pride.    Its people strut and boast,
   but without reason.
    ⁷Tell everyone in Moab
   to mourn for their nation.
   Tell them to cry and weep
   for those fancy raisins ^[f] of Kir-Hareseth.
    ⁸Vineyards near Heshbon
   and Sibmah
   have turned brown.
   The rulers of nations
   used to get drunk
   on wine
   from those vineyards ^[g] that spread to Jazer,
   then across the desert
   and beyond the sea.
    ⁹Now I mourn like Jazer
   for the vineyards
   of Sibmah.
   I shed tears for Heshbon
   and for Elealeh.
   There will be no more
   harvest celebrations
    ¹⁰or joyful and happy times,
   while bringing in the crops.
   Singing and shouting are gone
   from the vineyards.
   There are no joyful shouts
   where grapes were pressed.
   God has silenced them all.
    ¹¹Deep in my heart I hurt
   for Moab and Kir-Heres.
    ¹²It's useless for Moab's people
   to wear themselves out
   by going to their altars
   to worship and pray.
    ¹³The LORD has already said all of this about Moab. ¹⁴Now he says, "The contract of a hired worker is good for three years, but Moab's glory and greatness won't last any longer than that. Only a few of its people will survive, and they will be left helpless."
   

Isaiah 17

Damascus Will Be Punished

 ¹This is a message about Damascus:    Damascus is doomed!
   It will end up in ruins.
    ²The villages around Aroer ^[h] will be deserted,
   with only sheep living there
   and no one to bother them.
    ³Israel ^[i] will lose its fortresses. The kingdom of Damascus
   will be destroyed;
   its survivors will suffer
   the same fate as Israel.
   The LORD All-Powerful
   has promised this.
   

Sin and Suffering

 ⁴When that time comes,    the glorious nation of Israel
   will be brought down;
   its prosperous people
   will be skin and bones.
    ⁵Israel will be like wheat fields
   in Rephaim Valley
   picked clean of grain.
    ⁶It will be like an olive tree
   beaten with a stick,
   leaving two or three olives
   or maybe four or five
   on the highest
   or most fruitful branches.
   The LORD God of Israel
   has promised this.
    ⁷At that time the people will turn and trust their Creator, the holy God of Israel. ⁸They have built altars and places for burning incense to their goddess Asherah, and they have set up sacred poles ^[j] for her. But they will stop worshiping at these places. ⁹Israel captured powerful cities and chased out the people who lived there. But these cities will lie in ruins, covered over with weeds and underbrush. ^{[k] 10}Israel, you have forgotten
   the God who saves you,
   the one who is the mighty rock ^[l] where you find protection.
   You plant the finest flowers
   to honor a foreign god.
    ¹¹The plants may sprout
   and blossom
   that very same morning,
   but it will do you no good,
   because you will suffer
   endless agony.
   

God Defends His People

 ¹²The nations are a noisy,    thunderous sea.
    ¹³But even if they roar
   like a fearsome flood,
   God will give the command
   to turn them back.
   They will be like dust,
   or like a tumbleweed
   blowing across the hills
   in a windstorm.
    ¹⁴In the evening
   their attack is fierce,
   but by morning
   they are destroyed.
   This is what happens to those
   who raid and rob us.
   

Isaiah 18

Ethiopia Will Be Punished

 ¹Downstream from Ethiopia ^[m] lies the country of Egypt,    swarming with insects. ^{[n] 2}Egypt sends messengers
   up the Nile River
   on ships made of reeds. ^[o] Send them fast to Ethiopia,
   whose people are tall
   and have smooth skin.
   Their land is divided by rivers;
   they are strong and brutal,
   feared all over the world. ^{[p] 3}Everyone on this earth,
   listen with care!
   A signal will be given
   on the mountains,
   and you will hear a trumpet.
    ⁴The LORD said to me,
   "I will calmly look down
   from my home above--
   as calmly as the sun at noon
   or clouds in the heat
   of harvest season."
    ⁵Before the blossoms
   can turn into grapes,
   God will cut off the sprouts
   and hack off the branches.
    ⁶Ethiopians will be food
   for mountain buzzards
   during the summer
   and for wild animals
   during the winter.
    ⁷Those Ethiopians are tall and their skin is smooth. They are feared all over the world, because they are strong and brutal. But at that time they will come from their land divided by rivers, and they will bring gifts to the LORD All-Powerful, who is worshiped on Mount Zion.
   

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 15:2 Everyone. . . temple: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
2. Isaiah 15:2 Heads. . . shaved: As a sign of sorrow and mourning.
3. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon. . . Dimon: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation have Dibon. . . Dibon.
4. Isaiah 16:1 lambs: The main product of Moab.
5. Isaiah 16:1 Sela: A town in Edom.
6. Isaiah 16:7 fancy raisins: The Hebrew text has "raisin-cakes," which could mean either the rich produce or the prosperous farmers.
7. Isaiah 16:8 The rulers. . . vineyards: Or "The rulers of nations have destroyed those vineyards."
8. Isaiah 17:2 Aroer: Either a city near Damascus with the same name as the Moabite city or the Moabite city itself, here used as an example of what will happen to Damascus.
9. Isaiah 17:3 Israel: The Hebrew text has "Ephraim," another name for the northern kingdom.
10. Isaiah 17:8 sacred poles: Or "trees," used as symbols of Asherah, the goddess of fertility.
11. Isaiah 17:9 covered. . . underbrush: Hebrew; one ancient translation "like the cities of the Hivites and the Amorites."
12. Isaiah 17:10 mighty rock: The Hebrew text has "rock," which is sometimes used in poetry to compare the Lord to a mountain where his people can run for protection from their enemies.
13. Isaiah 18:1 Ethiopia: See the note at 11.11.
14. Isaiah 18:1 insects: Or "sailing ships."
15. Isaiah 18:2 reeds: Ancient Egypt was famous for the papyrus reeds that grew in the Nile Delta.
16. Isaiah 18:2 world: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 2.

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Galatians 1:1-24 (Contemporary English Version)

Galatians 1

 ^1-2From the apostle Paul and from all the Lord's followers with me.    I was chosen to be an apostle by Jesus Christ and by God the Father, who raised him from death. No mere human chose or appointed me to this work.
   To the churches in Galatia.
    ³I pray that God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace! ⁴Christ obeyed God our Father and gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins to rescue us from this evil world. ⁵God will be given glory forever and ever. Amen.
   

The Only True Message

 ⁶I am shocked that you have so quickly turned from God, who chose you because of his wonderful kindness. ^[a] You have believed another message, ⁷when there is really only one true message. But some people are causing you trouble and want to make you turn away from the good news about Christ. ⁸I pray that God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from our message to you! It doesn't matter if that person is one of us or an angel from heaven. ⁹I have said it before, and I will say it again. I hope God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from what you have already believed. ¹⁰I am not trying to please people. I want to please God. Do you think I am trying to please people? If I were doing that, I would not be a servant of Christ.    

How Paul Became an Apostle

 ¹¹My friends, I want you to know that no one made up the message I preach. ¹²It wasn't given or taught to me by some mere human. My message came directly from Jesus Christ when he appeared to me.     ¹³You know how I used to live as a Jew. I was cruel to God's church and even tried to destroy it. ¹⁴I was a much better Jew than anyone else my own age, and I obeyed every law that our ancestors had given us. ¹⁵But even before I was born, God had chosen me. He was kind and had decided ¹⁶to show me his Son, so that I would announce his message to the Gentiles. I didn't talk this over with anyone. ¹⁷I didn't say a word, not even to the men in Jerusalem who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went at once to Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.
    ¹⁸Three years later I went to visit Peter ^[b] in Jerusalem and stayed with him for fifteen days. ¹⁹The only other apostle I saw was James, the Lord's brother. ²⁰And in the presence of God I swear I am telling the truth. ²¹Later, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²²But no one who belonged to Christ's churches in Judea had ever seen me in person. ²³They had only heard that the one who had been cruel to them was now preaching the message that he had once tried to destroy. ²⁴And because of me, they praised God.
   

Footnotes:

1. Galatians 1:6 his wonderful kindness: Some manuscripts have " the wonderful kindness of Christ."
2. Galatians 1:18 Peter: The Greek text has " Cephas," which is an Aramaic name meaning " rock." Peter is the Greek name with the same meaning.

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Psalm 58:1-11 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 58

(A special psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune "Don't Destroy." (Psalm 57; 58 Don't Destroy: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.) )

A Prayer When All Goes Wrong

 ¹Do you mighty people ^[a] talk only to oppose justice? ^[b] Don't you ever judge fairly?     ²You are always planning evil,
   and you are brutal.
    ³You have done wrong and lied
   from the day you were born.
    ⁴Your words spread poison
   like the bite of a cobra
    ⁵that refuses to listen
   to the snake charmer.
    ⁶My enemies are fierce
   as lions, LORD God!
   Shatter their teeth.
   Snatch out their fangs.
    ⁷Make them disappear
   like leaking water,
   and make their arrows miss.
    ⁸Let them dry up like snails
   or be like a child that dies
   before seeing the sun.
    ⁹Wipe them out quicker
   than a pot can be heated
   by setting thorns on fire. ^{[c] 10}Good people will be glad
   when they see the wicked
   getting what they deserve,
   and they will wash their feet
   in their enemies' blood.
    ¹¹Everyone will say, "It's true!
   Good people are rewarded.
   God does rule the earth
   with justice."
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 58:1 mighty people: Or " mighty rulers" or " mighty gods."
2. Psalm 58:1 Do. . . justice: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
3. Psalm 58:9 Wipe. . . fire: See the note at Psalm 57.

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Proverbs 23:12 (Contemporary English Version)

-11-

 ¹² Listen to instruction    and do your best to learn.

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Verse of the Day

“[True Humility]Christ encourages you, and his love comforts you. God's Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others. Now make me completely happy! Live in harmony by showing love for each other. Be united in what you think, as if you were only one person.” - Philippians 2:1-2

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Mary Wortley Montagu, English aristocrat and writer, wrote, “Civility costs nothing, and buys everything.”