Bible Readings for September 28, 2012

Today our passages are Isaiah 54:1–57:13; Ephesians 6:1-24; Psalm 70:1-5; and Proverbs 24:8. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.

 

Isaiah 54-57:13 (The Message)

Isaiah 54

Spread Out! Think Big!

 ^1-6 "Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby.
   Fill the air with song, you who've never experienced childbirth!
You're ending up with far more children
   than all those childbearing women." God says so!
"Clear lots of ground for your tents!
   Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!
Use plenty of rope,
   drive the tent pegs deep.
You're going to need lots of elbow room
   for your growing family.
You're going to take over whole nations;
   you're going to resettle abandoned cities.
Don't be afraid—you're not going to be embarrassed.
   Don't hold back—you're not going to come up short.
You'll forget all about the humiliations of your youth,
   and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory.
For your Maker is your bridegroom,
   his name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
Your Redeemer is The Holy of Israel,
   known as God of the whole earth.
You were like an abandoned wife, devastated with grief,
   and God welcomed you back,
Like a woman married young
   and then left," says your God.

 ^7-8Your Redeemer God says:    "I left you, but only for a moment.
   Now, with enormous compassion, I'm bringing you back.
In an outburst of anger I turned my back on you—
   but only for a moment.
It's with lasting love
   that I'm tenderly caring for you.
 ^9-10"This exile is just like the days of Noah for me:
   I promised then that the waters of Noah
   would never again flood the earth.
I'm promising now no more anger,
   no more dressing you down.
For even if the mountains walk away
   and the hills fall to pieces,
My love won't walk away from you,
   my covenant commitment of peace won't fall apart."
   The God who has compassion on you says so.
 ^11-17"Afflicted city, storm-battered, unpitied:
   I'm about to rebuild you with stones of turquoise,
Lay your foundations with sapphires,
   construct your towers with rubies,
Your gates with jewels,
   and all your walls with precious stones.
All your children will have God for their teacher—
   what a mentor for your children!
You'll be built solid, grounded in righteousness,
   far from any trouble—nothing to fear!
   far from terror—it won't even come close!
If anyone attacks you,
   don't for a moment suppose that I sent them,
And if any should attack,
   nothing will come of it.
I create the blacksmith
   who fires up his forge
   and makes a weapon designed to kill.
I also create the destroyer—
   but no weapon that can hurt you has ever been forged.
Any accuser who takes you to court
   will be dismissed as a liar.
This is what God's servants can expect.
   I'll see to it that everything works out for the best."
         God's Decree.

Isaiah 55

Buy Without Money

 ^1-5 "Hey there! All who are thirsty,
   come to the water!
Are you penniless?
   Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
   Buy without money—everything's free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food,
   your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
   fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
   listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
I'm making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
   the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
   made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I'm doing it to you:
   You'll summon nations you've never heard of,
and nations who've never heard of you
   will come running to you
Because of me, your God,
   because The Holy of Israel has honored you."  ^6-7Seek God while he's here to be found,
   pray to him while he's close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
   and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
   come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.
 ^8-11"I don't think the way you think.
   The way you work isn't the way I work."
         God's Decree.
"For as the sky soars high above earth,
   so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
   and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
   and don't go back until they've watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
   producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So will the words that come out of my mouth
   not come back empty-handed.
They'll do the work I sent them to do,
   they'll complete the assignment I gave them.
 ^12-13"So you'll go out in joy,
   you'll be led into a whole and complete life.
The mountains and hills will lead the parade,
   bursting with song.
All the trees of the forest will join the procession,
   exuberant with applause.
No more thistles, but giant sequoias,
   no more thornbushes, but stately pines—
Monuments to me, to God,
   living and lasting evidence of God."

Isaiah 56

Messages of Hope

Salvation Is Just Around the Corner

 ^1-3 God's Message: "Guard my common good:
   Do what's right and do it in the right way,
For salvation is just around the corner,
   my setting-things-right is about to go into action.
How blessed are you who enter into these things,
   you men and women who embrace them,
Who keep Sabbath and don't defile it,
   who watch your step and don't do anything evil!
Make sure no outsider who now follows God
   ever has occasion to say, 'God put me in second-class.
   I don't really belong.'
And make sure no physically mutilated person
   is ever made to think, 'I'm damaged goods.
   I don't really belong.'"

 ^4-5For God says:    "To the mutilated who keep my Sabbaths
   and choose what delights me
   and keep a firm grip on my covenant,
I'll provide them an honored place
   in my family and within my city,
   even more honored than that of sons and daughters.
I'll confer permanent honors on them
   that will never be revoked.
 ^6-8"And as for the outsiders who now follow me,
   working for me, loving my name,
   and wanting to be my servants—
All who keep Sabbath and don't defile it,
   holding fast to my covenant—
I'll bring them to my holy mountain
   and give them joy in my house of prayer.
They'll be welcome to worship the same as the 'insiders,'
   to bring burnt offerings and sacrifices to my altar.
Oh yes, my house of worship
   will be known as a house of prayer for all people."
The Decree of the Master, God himself,
   who gathers in the exiles of Israel:
"I will gather others also,
   gather them in with those already gathered."
 ^9-12A call to the savage beasts: Come on the run.
   Come, devour, beast barbarians!
For Israel's watchmen are blind, the whole lot of them.
   They have no idea what's going on.
They're dogs without sense enough to bark,
   lazy dogs, dreaming in the sun—
But hungry dogs, they do know how to eat,
   voracious dogs, with never enough.
And these are Israel's shepherds!
   They know nothing, understand nothing.
They all look after themselves,
   grabbing whatever's not nailed down.
"Come," they say, "let's have a party.
   Let's go out and get drunk!"
And tomorrow, more of the same:
   "Let's live it up!"

Isaiah 57

Never Tired of Trying New Religions

 ^1-2 Meanwhile, right-living people die and no one gives them a thought.
God-fearing people are carted off
   and no one even notices.
The right-living people are out of their misery,
   they're finally at rest.
They lived well and with dignity
   and now they're finally at peace.  ^3-10"But you, children of a witch, come here!
   Sons of a slut, daughters of a whore.
What business do you have taunting,
   sneering, and sticking out your tongue?
Do you have any idea what wretches you've turned out to be?
   A race of rebels, a generation of liars.
You satisfy your lust any place you find some shade
   and fornicate at whim.
You kill your children at any convenient spot—
   any cave or crevasse will do.
You take stones from the creek
   and set up your sex-and-religion shrines.
You've chosen your fate.
   Your worship will be your doom.
You've climbed a high mountain
   to practice your foul sex-and-death religion.
Behind closed doors
   you assemble your precious gods and goddesses.
Deserting me, you've gone all out, stripped down
   and made your bed your place of worship.
You've climbed into bed with the 'sacred' whores
   and loved every minute of it,
   adoring every curve of their naked bodies.
You anoint your king-god with ointments
   and lavish perfumes on yourselves.
You send scouts to search out the latest in religion,
   send them all the way to hell and back.
You wear yourselves out trying the new and the different,
   and never see what a waste it all is.
You've always found strength for the latest fad,
   never got tired of trying new religions.
 ^11-13"Who talked you into the pursuit of this nonsense,
   leaving me high and dry,
   forgetting you ever knew me?
Because I don't yell and make a scene
   do you think I don't exist?
I'll go over, detail by detail, all your 'righteous' attempts at religion,
   and expose the absurdity of it all.
Go ahead, cry for help to your collection of no-gods:
   A good wind will blow them away.
   They're smoke, nothing but smoke.
   "But anyone who runs to me for help
   will inherit the land,
   will end up owning my holy mountain!"

Ephesians 6:1-24 (The Message)

Ephesians 6

 ^1-3 Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. "Honor your father and mother" is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, "so you will live well and have a long life." ⁴Fathers, don't exasperate your children by coming down hard on them. Take them by the hand and lead them in the way of the Master.  ^5-8Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don't just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ's servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you're really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free.
 ⁹Masters, it's the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same Master in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them.

A Fight to the Finish

 ^10-12And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.  ^13-18Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
 ^19-20And don't forget to pray for me. Pray that I'll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am, am responsible for getting out.
 ^21-22Tychicus, my good friend here, will tell you what I'm doing and how things are going with me. He is certainly a dependable servant of the Master! I've sent him not only to tell you about us but to cheer you on in your faith.
 ^23-24Good-bye, friends. Love mixed with faith be yours from God the Father and from the Master, Jesus Christ. Pure grace and nothing but grace be with all who love our Master, Jesus Christ.

Psalm 70:1-5 (The Message)

Psalm 70

A David Prayer

 ^1-3 God! Please hurry to my rescue! God, come quickly to my side!
   Those who are out to get me—
      let them fall all over themselves.
   Those who relish my downfall—
      send them down a blind alley.
   Give them a taste of their own medicine,
      those gossips off clucking their tongues.

 ⁴ Let those on the hunt for you
      sing and celebrate.
   Let all who love your saving way
      say over and over, "God is mighty!"

 ⁵ But I've lost it. I'm wasted.
      God—quickly, quickly!
   Quick to my side, quick to my rescue!
      God, don't lose a minute.

 

Proverbs 24:8 (The Message)

23

 ^8-9 The person who's always cooking up some evil
   soon gets a reputation as prince of rogues.
Fools incubate sin;
   cynics desecrate beauty.

 

Verse of the Day

 

“That's why only someone who has God's Spirit can understand spiritual blessings. Anyone who doesn't have God's Spirit thinks these blessings are foolish.” - 1 Corinthians 2:14

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

Thought for the Day

Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history Confucius wrote, “To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle.”