Bible Readings for September 12, 2013

Today our passages are Isaiah 10:1–11:16; 2 Corinthians 12:11-21; Psalm 56:1-13; and Proverbs 23:6-8. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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Isaiah 10-11:16 (Contemporary English Version)

Isaiah 10

 ¹You people are in for trouble! You have made cruel and unfair laws ²that let you cheat the poor and needy and rob widows and orphans. ³But what will you do when you are fiercely attacked and punished by foreigners? Where will you run for help? Where will you hide your valuables? ⁴How will you escape being captured ^[a] or killed? The Lord is still angry, and he isn't through with you yet! ^[b]

The Lord's Purpose and the King of Assyria

 ⁵The Lord says:    I am furious! And I will use the king of Assyria ^[c] as a club ⁶to beat down you godless people. I am angry with you, and I will send him to attack you. He will take what he wants and walk on you like mud in the streets. ⁷He has even bigger plans in mind, because he wants to destroy many nations. ⁸The king of Assyria says:
   My army commanders are kings! ⁹They have already captured ^[d] the cities of Calno, Carchemish, Hamath, Arpad, Samaria, and Damascus. ^10-11The gods of Jerusalem and Samaria are weaker than the gods of those powerful nations. And I will destroy Jerusalem, together with its gods and idols, just as I did Samaria. ¹²The Lord will do what he has planned against Jerusalem and Mount Zion. Then he will punish the proud and boastful king of Assyria, ¹³who says:
   I did these things by my own power because I am smart and clever. I attacked kings like a wild bull, and I took the land and the treasures of their nations. ¹⁴I have conquered the whole world! And it was easier than taking eggs from an unguarded nest. No one even flapped a wing or made a peep.
    ¹⁵King of Assyria, can an ax or a saw overpower the one who uses it? Can a wooden pole lift whoever holds it? ¹⁶The mighty LORD All-Powerful will send a terrible disease to strike down your army, and you will burn with fever under your royal robes. ¹⁷The holy God, who is the light of Israel, will turn into a fire, and in one day you will go up in flames, just like a thornbush. ¹⁸The Lord will make your beautiful forests and fertile fields slowly rot. ¹⁹There will be so few trees that even a young child can count them.
   

Only a Few Will Come Back

 ²⁰A time is coming when the survivors from Israel and Judah will completely depend on the holy LORD of Israel, instead of the nation ^[e] that defeated them. ^21-22There were as many people as there are grains of sand along the seashore, but only a few will survive to come back to Israel's mighty God. This is because he has threatened to destroy their nation, just as they deserve. ²³The LORD All-Powerful has promised that everyone on this earth ^[f] will be punished. ²⁴Now the LORD God All-Powerful says to his people in Jerusalem:    The Assyrians will beat you with sticks and abuse you, just as the Egyptians did. But don't be afraid of them. ²⁵Soon I will stop being angry with you, and I will punish them for their crimes. ^{[g] 26}I will beat the Assyrians with a whip, as I did the people of Midian near the rock at Oreb. And I will show the same mighty power that I used when I made a path through the sea in Egypt. ²⁷Then they will no longer rule your nation. All will go well for you, ^[h] and your burden will be lifted. ²⁸Enemy troops have reached the town of Aiath. ^[i] They have gone through Migron, and they stored their supplies at Michmash, ²⁹before crossing the valley and spending the night at Geba. ^[j] The people of Ramah are terrified; everyone in Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, has run away. ³⁰Loud crying can be heard in the towns of Gallim, Laishah, and sorrowful Anathoth. ³¹No one is left in Madmenah or Gebim. ³²Today the enemy will camp at Nob ^[k] and shake a threatening fist at Mount Zion in Jerusalem. ³³But the LORD All-Powerful
   will use his fearsome might
   to bring down the tallest trees
   and chop off every branch.
    ³⁴With an ax, the glorious Lord
   will destroy every tree
   in the forests of Lebanon. ^[l]

Isaiah 11

Peace at Last

 ¹Like a branch that sprouts    from a stump,
   someone from David's family ^[m] will someday be king.
    ²The Spirit of the LORD
   will be with him
   to give him understanding,
   wisdom, and insight.
   He will be powerful,
   and he will know
   and honor the LORD.
    ³His greatest joy will be
   to obey the LORD.
   This king won't judge
   by appearances
   or listen to rumors.
    ⁴The poor and the needy
   will be treated with fairness
   and with justice.
   His word will be law
   everywhere in the land,
   and criminals
   will be put to death.
    ⁵Honesty and fairness
   will be his royal robes.
    ⁶Leopards will lie down
   with young goats,
   and wolves will rest
   with lambs.
   Calves and lions
   will eat together
   and be cared for
   by little children.
    ⁷Cows and bears will share
   the same pasture;
   their young will rest
   side by side.
   Lions and oxen
   will both eat straw.
    ⁸Little children will play
   near snake holes.
   They will stick their hands
   into dens of poisonous snakes
   and never be hurt.
    ⁹Nothing harmful will take place
   on the LORD's holy mountain.
   Just as water fills the sea,
   the land will be filled
   with people
   who know
   and honor the LORD.
   

God's People Will Come Back Home

 ¹⁰The time is coming when one of David's descendants ^[n] will be the signal for the people of all nations to come together. They will follow his advice, and his own nation will become famous. ¹¹When that day comes, the Lord will again reach out his mighty arm and bring home his people who have survived in Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Ethiopia, ^[o] Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the land along the coast. ^{[p] 12}He will give a signal to the nations, and he will bring together the refugees from Judah and Israel, who have been scattered all over the earth. ¹³Israel will stop being jealous of Judah, and Judah will no longer be the enemy of Israel. ¹⁴Instead, they will get together and attack the Philistines in the west. Then they will defeat the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites in the east. They will rule those people and take from them whatever they want. ¹⁵The Lord will dry up the arm of the Red Sea near Egypt, ^[q] and he will send a scorching wind to divide the Euphrates River into seven streams that anyone can step across. ¹⁶Then for his people who survive, there will be a good road from Assyria, just as there was a good road for their ancestors when they left Egypt.

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 10:4 escape being captured: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
2. Isaiah 10:4 and he. . . yet: Or "but he hasn't given up on you yet!"
3. Isaiah 10:5 king of Assyria: Probably King Sennacherib who invaded Israel in 701 B.C.
4. Isaiah 10:9 already captured: Calno (in northern Syria), Carchemish (on the Euphrates River), Hamath (on the Orontes River), Arpad (near Aleppo in northern Syria), Samaria, and Damascus had already been captured by Assyrian kings (738-717 B.C.).
5. Isaiah 10:20 nation: That is, Assyria.
6. Isaiah 10:23 on this earth: Or "in this land."
7. Isaiah 10:25 punish. . . crimes: Or "completely destroy them."
8. Isaiah 10:27 All. . . you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
9. Isaiah 10:28 Aiath: Probably Ai (Joshua 7.2).
10. Isaiah 10:29 Geba: Only six miles from Jerusalem.
11. Isaiah 10:32 Nob: Perhaps within two miles of Jerusalem.
12. Isaiah 10:34 Lebanon: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 34.
13. Isaiah 11:1 David's family: Hebrew "Jesse's family." Jesse was the father of King David.
14. Isaiah 11:10 David's descendants: Hebrew "Jesse's descendants" (see the note at 11.1).
15. Isaiah 11:11 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has "Cush," which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.
16. Isaiah 11:11 land along the coast: Or "islands."
17. Isaiah 11:15 arm of the Red Sea near Egypt: Gulf of Suez.

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2 Corinthians 12:11-21 (Contemporary English Version)

Paul's Concern for the Lord's Followers at Corinth

 ¹¹I have been making a fool of myself. But you forced me to do it, when you should have been speaking up for me. I may be nothing at all, but I am as good as those super apostles. ¹²When I was with you, I was patient and worked all the powerful miracles and signs and wonders of a true apostle. ¹³You missed out on only one blessing that the other churches received. That is, you didn't have to support me. Forgive me for doing you wrong.     ¹⁴I am planning to visit you for the third time. But I still won't make a burden of myself. What I really want is you, and not what you have. Children are not supposed to save up for their parents, but parents are supposed to take care of their children. ¹⁵So I will gladly give all that I have and all that I am. Will you love me less for loving you too much? ¹⁶You agree that I wasn't a burden to you. Maybe that's because I was trying to catch you off guard and trick you. ¹⁷Were you cheated by any of those I sent to you? ¹⁸I urged Titus to visit you, and I sent another follower with him. But Titus didn't cheat you, and we felt and behaved the same way he did.
    ¹⁹Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? Actually, we have been speaking to God as followers of Christ. But, my friends, we did it all for your good.
    ²⁰I am afraid that when I come, we won't be pleased with each other. I fear that some of you may be arguing or jealous or angry or selfish or gossiping or insulting each other. I even fear that you may be proud and acting like a mob. ²¹I am afraid God will make me ashamed when I visit you again. I will feel like crying because many of you have never given up your old sins. You are still doing things that are immoral, indecent, and shameful.

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Psalm 56:1-13 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 56

(For the music leader. To the tune "A Silent Dove in the Distance." (Psalm 56 A Silent. . . Distance: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.) A special psalm by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.)

A Prayer of Trust in God

 ¹Have pity, God Most High!    My enemies chase me all day.
    ²Many of them are pursuing
   and attacking me,
    ³but even when I am afraid,
   I keep on trusting you.
    ⁴I praise your promises!
   I trust you and am not afraid.
   No one can harm me.
    ⁵Enemies spend the whole day
   finding fault with me;
   all they think about
   is how to do me harm.
    ⁶They attack from ambush,
   watching my every step
   and hoping to kill me.
    ⁷They won't get away ^[a] with these crimes, God,
   because when you get angry,
   you destroy people.
    ⁸You have kept record
   of my days of wandering.
   You have stored my tears
   in your bottle
   and counted each of them.
    ⁹When I pray, LORD God,
   my enemies will retreat,
   because I know for certain
   that you are with me.
    ¹⁰I praise your promises!
    ¹¹I trust you and am not afraid.
   No one can harm me.
    ¹²I will keep my promises
   to you, my God,
   and bring you gifts.
    ¹³You protected me from death
   and kept me from stumbling,
   so that I would please you
   and follow the light
   that leads to life.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 56:7 They. . . away: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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Proverbs 23:6-8 (Contemporary English Version)

-8-

 ⁶ Don't accept an invitation    to eat a selfish person's food,
   no matter how good it is.
    ⁷People like that take note
   of how much you eat. ^[a] They say, "Take all you want!"
   But they don't mean it.
    ⁸Each bite will come back up,
   and all your kind words
   will be wasted.

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Verse of the Day

“Always be glad because of the Lord! I will say it again: Be glad.” - Philippians 4:4

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Dick Cavett, former American television talk show host, “It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear.”