Bible Readings for October 2, 2019

Today our passages are  Isaiah 66:1-24; Philippians 3:4b-21; Psalm 74:1-23; and Proverbs 24:15-16. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

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Isaiah 66:1-24 (Contemporary English Version)

Isaiah 66

True Worship

 ¹The LORD said:   Heaven is my throne;
   the earth is my footstool.
   What kind of house
   could you build for me?
   In what place will I rest?
    ²I have made everything;
   that's how it all came to be. ^a] I, the LORD, have spoken.
   The people I treasure most
   are the humble--
   they depend only on me
   and tremble when I speak.
    ³You sacrifice oxen to me,
   and you commit murder;
   you sacrifice lambs to me
   and dogs to other gods;
   you offer grain to me
   and pigs' blood to idols;
   you burn incense to me
   and praise your idols. ^b] You have made your own choice
   to do these disgusting things
   that you enjoy so much.
    ⁴You refused to answer
   when I called out;
   you paid no attention
   to my instructions.
   Instead, you did what I hated,
   knowing it was wrong.
   Now I will punish ^c] you in a way you dread the most.   

The LORD Will Help Jerusalem

 ⁵If you tremble   when the LORD speaks,
   listen to what he says:
   "Some of your own people hate
   and reject you because of me.
   They make fun and say,
   `Let the LORD show his power!
   Let us see him
   make you truly happy.' ^d] But those who say these things
   will be terribly ashamed."
    ⁶Do you hear that noise
   in the city and those shouts
   coming from the temple?
   It is the LORD shouting
   as he punishes his enemies.
    ⁷Have you ever heard of a woman
   who gave birth to a child
   before having labor pains?
    ⁸Who ever heard of such a thing
   or imagined it could happen?
   Can a nation be born in a day
   or come to life in a second?
   Jerusalem is like a mother
   who gave birth to her children
   as soon as she was in labor.
    ⁹The LORD is the one
   who makes birth possible.
   And he will see that Zion
   has many more children.
   The LORD has spoken.
    ¹⁰If you love Jerusalem,
   celebrate and shout!
   If you were in sorrow
   because of the city,
   you can now be glad.
    ¹¹She will nurse and comfort you,
   just like your own mother,
   until you are satisfied.
   You will fully enjoy
   her wonderful glory.
    ¹²The LORD has promised:
   "I will flood Jerusalem
   with the wealth of nations
   and make the city prosper.
   Zion will nurse you at her breast,
   carry you in her arms,
   and hold you in her lap.
    ¹³I will comfort you there
   like a mother
   comforting her child."
    ¹⁴When you see this happen,
   you will celebrate;
   your strength will return
   faster than grass can sprout.
   Then everyone will know
   that the LORD is present
   with his servants,
   but he is angry
   with his enemies.
    ¹⁵The LORD will come down
   like a whirlwind
   with his flaming chariots.
   He will be terribly furious
   and punish his enemies
   with fire.
    ¹⁶The LORD's fiery sword
   will bring justice
   everywhere on this earth
   and execute many people.   

A Threat and a Promise

 ¹⁷Some of you get yourselves ready and go to a garden to worship a foreign goddess. ^e] You eat the meat of pigs, lizards, and mice. But I, the LORD, will destroy you for this. ¹⁸I know everything you do and think! The time has now come ^f] to bring together the people of every language and nation and to show them my glory ¹⁹by proving what I can do. ^g] I will send the survivors to Tarshish, Pul, ^h] Lud, Meshech, ^i] Tubal, Javan, ^j] and to the distant islands. I will send them to announce my wonderful glory to nations that have never heard about me. ²⁰They will bring your relatives from the nations as an offering to me, the LORD. They will come on horses, chariots, wagons, mules, and camels ^k] to Jerusalem, my holy mountain. It will be like the people of Israel bringing the right offering to my temple. ²¹I promise that some of them will be priests and others will be helpers in my temple. I, the LORD, have spoken. ²²I also promise that you will always have descendants and will never be forgotten, just as the new heavens and the new earth that I create will last forever. ²³On the first day of each month and on each Sabbath, everyone will worship me. I, the LORD, have spoken.    ²⁴My people will go out and look at the dead bodies of those who turned against me. The worms there never die, the fire never stops burning, and the sight of those bodies will be disgusting to everyone. 

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 66:2 that's. . . be: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
2. Isaiah 66:3 You sacrifice oxen. . . idols: Or "Sacrificing oxen to me is the same as murder; sacrificing lambs to me is the same as sacrificing dogs to other gods; offering grain to me is the same as offering pigs' blood to idols; and burning incense to me is the same as praising idols."
3. Isaiah 66:4 punish: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
4. Isaiah 66:5 Some. . . happy: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
5. Isaiah 66:17 Some. . . goddess: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
6. Isaiah 66:18 I. . . come: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
7. Isaiah 66:19 by. . . do: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
8. Isaiah 66:19 Pul: Hebrew; one ancient translation "Put," a country in Africa, but neither the location of Pul or Put is known for certain.
9. Isaiah 66:19 Meshech: One ancient translation; Hebrew "those who use bows and arrows."
10. Isaiah 66:19 Tarshish. . . Javan: Tarshish may have been a Phoenician city in Spain; Put (see note on Pul) and Lud were African people; Meshech and Tubal were regions south or southeast of the Black Sea; the Javan were people of Asia Minor and the Greek islands.
11. Isaiah 66:20 camels: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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Philippians 3:4-21 (Contemporary English Version)

⁴although I could. Others may brag about themselves, but I have more reason to brag than anyone else. ⁵I was circumcised when I was eight days old, ^a] and I am from the nation of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a true Hebrew. As a Pharisee, I strictly obeyed the Law of Moses. ⁶And I was so eager that I even made trouble for the church. I did everything the Law demands in order to please God. ⁷But Christ has shown me that what I once thought was valuable is worthless. ⁸Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ ⁹and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. ¹⁰All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, ¹¹so that somehow I also may be raised to life.   

Running toward the Goal

 ¹²I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. ¹³My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. ¹⁴I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done. ¹⁵All of us who are mature should think in this same way. And if any of you think differently, God will make it clear to you. ¹⁶But we must keep going in the direction that we are now headed.    ¹⁷My friends, I want you to follow my example and learn from others who closely follow the example we set for you. ¹⁸I often warned you that many people are living as enemies of the cross of Christ. And now with tears in my eyes, I warn you again ¹⁹that they are headed for hell! They worship their stomachs and brag about the disgusting things they do. All they can think about are the things of this world.
    ²⁰But we are citizens of heaven and are eagerly waiting for our Savior to come from there. Our Lord Jesus Christ ²¹has power over everything, and he will make these poor bodies of ours like his own glorious body. 

Footnotes:

1. Philippians 3:5 when I was eight days old: Jewish boys are circumcised eight days after birth.

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Psalm 74:1-23 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 74

(A special psalm by Asaph.)

A Prayer for the Nation in Times of Trouble

 ¹Our God, why have you   completely rejected us?
   Why are you so angry
   with the ones you care for?
    ²Remember the people
   you rescued long ago,
   the tribe you chose
   to be your very own.
   Think of Mount Zion,
   your home;
    ³walk over to the temple
   left in ruins forever
   by those who hate us.
    ⁴Your enemies roared like lions
   in your holy temple,
   and they have placed
   their banners there.
    ⁵It looks like a forest
   chopped to pieces. ^a] 6They used axes and hatchets
   to smash the carvings.
    ⁷They burned down your temple
   and badly disgraced it.
    ⁸They said to themselves,
   "We'll crush them!"
   Then they burned every one
   of your meeting places
   all over the country.
    ⁹There are no more miracles
   and no more prophets.
   Who knows how long
   it will be like this?
    ¹⁰Our God, how much longer
   will our enemies sneer?
   Won't they ever stop
   insulting you?
    ¹¹Why don't you punish them?
   Why are you holding back?
    ¹²Our God and King,
   you have ruled
   since ancient times;
   you have won victories
   everywhere on this earth.
    ¹³By your power you made a path
   through the sea,
   and you smashed the heads
   of sea monsters.
    ¹⁴You crushed the heads
   of the monster Leviathan, ^b] then fed him to wild creatures
   in the desert.
    ¹⁵You opened the ground
   for streams and springs
   and dried up mighty rivers.
    ¹⁶You rule the day and the night,
   and you put the moon
   and the sun in place.
    ¹⁷You made summer and winter
   and gave them to the earth. ^c] 18Remember your enemies, LORD!
   They foolishly sneer
   and won't respect you.
    ¹⁹You treat us like pet doves,
   but they mistreat us.
   Don't keep forgetting us
   and letting us be fed
   to those wild animals.
    ²⁰Remember the agreement
   you made with us.
   Violent enemies are hiding
   in every dark corner
   of the earth.
    ²¹Don't disappoint those in need
   or make them turn from you,
   but help the poor and homeless
   to shout your praises.
    ²²Do something, God!
   Defend yourself.
   Remember how those fools
   sneer at you all day long.
    ²³Don't forget the loud shouts
   of your enemies. 

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 74:5 pieces: One meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 5.
2. Psalm 74:14 Leviathan: God's victory over this monster sometimes stands for his power over all creation and sometimes for his defeat of Egypt.
3. Psalm 74:17 gave. . . earth: Or " made boundaries for the earth."

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Proverbs 24:15-16 (Contemporary English Version)

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 ¹⁵ Don't be a cruel person   who attacks good people
   and hurts their families.
    ¹⁶Even if good people
   fall seven times,
   they will get back up.
   But when trouble strikes
   the wicked,
   that's the end of them.

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Verse of the Day

“Don't fall into the trap of being a coward-- trust the LORD, and you will be safe.” - Proverbs 29:25

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

English novelist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century, Graham Greene wrote, “God created a number of possibilities in case some of his prototypes failed - that is the meaning of evolution.”

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A Joke for Today

On a rural road a state trooper pulled this farmer over and said: "Sir, do you realize your wife fell out of the car several miles back?" 

To which the farmer replied: "Thank God, I thought I had gone deaf!"