Bible Readings for September 14, 2016

Today our passages are Isaiah 15:1–18:7; Galatians 1:1-24; Psalm 58:1-11; and Proverbs 23:12. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. 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.

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Isaiah 15-18:7 (The Message)

Isaiah 15

Poignant Cries Reverberate Through Moab

 ^1-4 A Message concerning Moab:    Village Ar of Moab is in ruins,
   destroyed in a night raid.
Village Kir of Moab is in ruins,
   destroyed in a night raid.
Village Dibon climbs to its chapel in the hills,
   goes up to lament.
Moab weeps and wails
   over Nebo and Medba.
Every head is shaved bald,
   every beard shaved clean.
They pour into the streets wearing black,
   go up on the roofs, take to the town square,
Everyone in tears,
   everyone in grief.
Towns Heshbon and Elealeh cry long and loud.
   The sound carries as far as Jahaz.
Moab sobs, shaking in grief.
   The soul of Moab trembles.
 ^5-9Oh, how I grieve for Moab!
   Refugees stream to Zoar
   and then on to Eglath-shelishiyah.
Up the slopes of Luhith they weep;
   on the road to Horonaim they cry their loss.
The springs of Nimrim are dried up—
   grass brown, buds stunted, nothing grows.
They leave, carrying all their possessions
   on their backs, everything they own,
Making their way as best they can
   across Willow Creek to safety.
Poignant cries reverberate
   all through Moab,
Gut-wrenching sobs as far as Eglaim,
   heart-racking sobs all the way to Beer-elim.
The banks of the Dibon crest with blood,
   but God has worse in store for Dibon:
A lion—a lion to finish off the fugitives,
   to clean up whoever's left in the land.

Isaiah 16

A New Government in the David Tradition

 ^1-4 "Dispatch a gift of lambs," says Moab, "to the leaders in Jerusalem—
Lambs from Sela sent across the desert
   to buy the goodwill of Jerusalem.
The towns and people of Moab
   are at a loss,
New-hatched birds knocked from the nest,
   fluttering helplessly
At the banks of the Arnon River,
   unable to cross:
'Tell us what to do,
   help us out!
Protect us,
   hide us!
Give the refugees from Moab
   sanctuary with you.
Be a safe place for those on the run
   from the killing fields.'"  ^4-5"When this is all over," Judah answers,
   "the tyrant toppled,
The killing at an end,
   all signs of these cruelties long gone,
A new government of love will be established
   in the venerable David tradition.
A Ruler you can depend upon
   will head this government,
A Ruler passionate for justice,
   a Ruler quick to set things right."
 ^6-12We've heard—everyone's heard!—of Moab's pride,
   world-famous for pride—
Arrogant, self-important, insufferable,
   full of hot air.
So now let Moab lament for a change,
   with antiphonal mock-laments from the neighbors!
What a shame! How terrible!
   No more fine fruitcakes and Kir-hareseth candies!
All those lush Heshbon fields dried up,
   the rich Sibmah vineyards withered!
Foreign thugs have crushed and torn out
   the famous grapevines
That once reached all the way to Jazer,
   right to the edge of the desert,
Ripped out the crops in every direction
   as far as the eye can see.
I'll join the weeping. I'll weep right along with Jazer,
   weep for the Sibmah vineyards.
And yes, Heshbon and Elealeh,
   I'll mingle my tears with your tears!
The joyful shouting at harvest is gone.
   Instead of song and celebration, dead silence.
No more boisterous laughter in the orchards,
   no more hearty work songs in the vineyards.
Instead of the bustle and sound of good work in the fields,
   silence—deathly and deadening silence.
My heartstrings throb like harp strings for Moab,
   my soul in sympathy for sad Kir-heres.
When Moab trudges to the shrine to pray,
   he wastes both time and energy.
Going to the sanctuary and praying for relief
   is useless. Nothing ever happens.
 ^13-14This is God's earlier Message on Moab. God's updated Message is, "In three years, no longer than the term of an enlisted soldier, Moab's impressive presence will be gone, that splendid hot-air balloon will be punctured, and instead of a vigorous population, just a few shuffling bums cadging handouts."

Isaiah 17

Damascus: A Pile of Dust and Rubble

 ^1-3 A Message concerning Damascus: "Watch this: Damascus undone as a city,
   a pile of dust and rubble!
Her towns emptied of people.
   The sheep and goats will move in
And take over the towns
   as if they owned them—which they will!
Not a sign of a fort is left in Ephraim,
   not a trace of government left in Damascus.
What's left of Aram?
   The same as what's left of Israel—not much."
         Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

The Day Is Coming

 ^4-6"The Day is coming when Jacob's robust splendor goes pale
   and his well-fed body turns skinny.
The country will be left empty, picked clean
   as a field harvested by field hands.
She'll be like a few stalks of barley left standing
   in the lush Valley of Rephaim after harvest,
Or like the couple of ripe olives overlooked
   in the top of the olive tree,
Or the four or five apples
   that the pickers couldn't reach in the orchard."
         Decree of the God of Israel.  ^7-8Yes, the Day is coming when people will notice The One Who Made Them, take a long hard look at The Holy of Israel. They'll lose interest in all the stuff they've made—altars and monuments and rituals, their homemade, handmade religion—however impressive it is.
 ⁹And yes, the Day is coming when their fortress cities will be abandoned —the very same cities that the Hivites and Amorites abandoned when Israel invaded! And the country will be empty, desolate.

You Have Forgotten God

 ^10-11And why? Because you have forgotten God-Your-Salvation,
   not remembered your Rock-of-Refuge.
And so, even though you are very religious,
   planting all sorts of bushes and herbs and trees
   to honor and influence your fertility gods,
And even though you make them grow so well,
   bursting with buds and sprouts and blossoms,
Nothing will come of them. Instead of a harvest
   you'll get nothing but grief and pain, pain, pain.  ^12-13Oh my! Thunder! A thundering herd of people!
   Thunder like the crashing of ocean waves!
Nations roaring, roaring,
   like the roar of a massive waterfall,
Roaring like a deafening Niagara!
   But God will silence them with a word,
And then he'll blow them away like dead leaves off a tree,
   like down from a thistle.
 ¹⁴At bedtime, terror fills the air.
   By morning it's gone—not a sign of it anywhere!
This is what happens to those who would ruin us,
   this is the fate of those out to get us.

Isaiah 18

People Mighty and Merciless

 ^1-2 Doom to the land of flies and mosquitoes beyond the Ethiopian rivers,
Shipping emissaries all over the world,
   down rivers and across seas.    Go, swift messengers,
   go to this people tall and handsome,
This people held in respect everywhere,
   this people mighty and merciless,
   from the land crisscrossed with rivers.
 ³Everybody everywhere,
   all earth-dwellers:
When you see a flag flying on the mountain, look!
   When you hear the trumpet blown, listen!

 ^4-6For here's what God told me:
   "I'm not going to say anything,
   but simply look on from where I live,
Quiet as warmth that comes from the sun,
   silent as dew during harvest."
And then, just before harvest, after the blossom
   has turned into a maturing grape,
He'll step in and prune back the new shoots,
   ruthlessly hack off all the growing branches.
He'll leave them piled on the ground
   for birds and animals to feed on—
Fodder for the summering birds,
   fodder for the wintering animals.
 ⁷Then tribute will be brought to God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   brought from this people tall and handsome,
This people once held in respect everywhere,
   this people once mighty and merciless,
From the land crisscrossed with rivers,
   to Mount Zion, God's place.

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Galatians 1:1-24 (The Message)

Galatians 1

 ^1-5 I, Paul, and my companions in faith here, send greetings to the Galatian churches. My authority for writing to you does not come from any popular vote of the people, nor does it come through the appointment of some human higher-up. It comes directly from Jesus the Messiah and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. I'm God-commissioned. So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace! We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we're in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God's plan is that we all experience that rescue. Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!

The Message

 ^6-9I can't believe your fickleness—how easily you have turned traitor to him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head. Let me be blunt: If one of us—even if an angel from heaven!—were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed. I said it once; I'll say it again: If anyone, regardless of reputation or credentials, preaches something other than what you received originally, let him be cursed.  ^10-12Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn't bother being Christ's slave. Know this—I am most emphatic here, friends—this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism. I didn't receive it through the traditions, and I wasn't taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ.
 ^13-16I'm sure that you've heard the story of my earlier life when I lived in the Jewish way. In those days I went all out in persecuting God's church. I was systematically destroying it. I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career. Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my mother's womb he chose and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed his Son to me so that I might joyfully tell non-Jews about him.
 ^16-20Immediately after my calling—without consulting anyone around me and without going up to Jerusalem to confer with those who were apostles long before I was—I got away to Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus, but it was three years before I went up to Jerusalem to compare stories with Peter. I was there only fifteen days—but what days they were! Except for our Master's brother James, I saw no other apostles. (I'm telling you the absolute truth in this.)
 ^21-24Then I began my ministry in the regions of Syria and Cilicia. After all that time and activity I was still unknown by face among the Christian churches in Judea. There was only this report: "That man who once persecuted us is now preaching the very message he used to try to destroy." Their response was to recognize and worship God because of me!

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Psalm 58:1-11 (The Message)

Psalm 58

A David Psalm

 ^1-2 Is this any way to run a country? Is there an honest politician in the house?
   Behind the scenes you brew cauldrons of evil,
      behind closed doors you make deals with demons.

 ^3-5 The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle;
      their first words out of the womb are lies.
   Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison,
      drips from their forked tongues—
   Deaf to threats, deaf to charm,
      decades of wax built up in their ears.

 ^6-9 God, smash their teeth to bits,
      leave them toothless tigers.
   Let their lives be buckets of water spilled,
      all that's left, a damp stain in the sand.
   Let them be trampled grass
      worn smooth by the traffic.
   Let them dissolve into snail slime,
      be a miscarried fetus that never sees sunlight.
   Before what they cook up is half-done, God,
      throw it out with the garbage!

 ^10-11 The righteous will call up their friends
      when they see the wicked get their reward,
   Serve up their blood in goblets
      as they toast one another,
   Everyone cheering, "It's worth it to play by the rules!
      God's handing out trophies and tending the earth!"

A David Psalm, When Saul Set a Watch on

    David's House in Order to Kill Him

 

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Proverbs 23:12 (The Message)

11

 ¹² Give yourselves to disciplined instruction;
   open your ears to tested knowledge.

 

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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

American cartoonist, humorist, and journalist, Kin Hubbard wrote, “A good listener is usually thinking about something else.”

Bible Readings for September 9, 2013

Today our passages are Isaiah 3:1–5:30; 2 Corinthians 11:1-15; Psalm 53:1-6; and Proverbs 22:28-29. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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Isaiah 3-5:30 (Contemporary English Version)

Isaiah 3

Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah

 ¹The mighty LORD All-Powerful    is going to take away
   from Jerusalem and Judah
   everything you need--
   your bread and water,
    ²soldiers and heroes,
   judges and prophets,
   leaders and army officers,
    ³officials and advisors,
   fortunetellers
   and others
   who tell the future.
    ⁴He will let children and babies ^[a] become your rulers.
    ⁵You will each be cruel
   to friends and neighbors.
   Young people will insult
   their elders;
   no one will show respect
   to those who deserve it.
    ⁶Some of you will grab hold
   of a relative and say,
   "You still have a coat.
   Be our leader
   and rule
   this pile of ruins."
    ⁷But the answer will be,
   "I can't do you any good.
   Don't make me your leader.
   There's no food or clothing
   left in my house."
    ⁸Jerusalem and Judah,
   you rebelled against
   your glorious LORD--
   your words and your actions,
   made you stumble and fall.
    ⁹The look on your faces shows
   that you are sinful as Sodom,
   and you don't try to hide it.
   You are in for trouble,
   and you have brought it all
   on yourselves.
   

The Wrong Kind of Leaders

 ¹⁰Tell those who obey God,    "You're very fortunate--
   you will be rewarded
   for what you have done."
    ¹¹Tell those who disobey,
   "You're in big trouble--
   what you did to others
   will come back to you."
    ¹²Though you are God's people,
   you are ruled and abused
   by women and children.
   You are confused by leaders
   who guide you
   down the wrong path.
    ¹³The LORD is ready to accuse
   and judge all nations.
    ¹⁴He will even judge
   you rulers and leaders
   of his own nation.
   You destroyed his vineyard ^[b] and filled your houses
   by robbing the poor.
    ¹⁵The LORD All-Powerful says,
   "You have crushed my people
   and rubbed in the dirt
   the faces of the poor."
   

The Women of Jerusalem

 ¹⁶The LORD says:    The women of Jerusalem
   are proud
   and strut around,
   winking shamelessly.
   They wear anklets that jingle
   and call attention
   to the way they walk.
    ¹⁷But I, the LORD, will cover
   their heads with sores,
   and I will uncover
   their private parts.
    ^18-23When that day comes, I will take away from those women all the fine jewelry they wear on their ankles, heads, necks, ears, arms, noses, fingers, and on their clothes. I will remove their veils, their belts, their perfume, their magic charms, their royal robes, and all their fancy dresses, hats, and purses.
    ²⁴In place of perfume,
   there will be a stink;
   in place of belts,
   there will be ropes;
   in place of fancy hairdos,
   they will have bald heads.
   Instead of expensive clothes,
   they will wear sackcloth;
   instead of beauty,
   they will have ugly scars.
    ²⁵The fighting men of Jerusalem
   will be killed in battle.
    ²⁶The city will mourn
   and sit in the dirt,
   emptied of its people.
   

Isaiah 4

 ¹When this happens, seven women will grab the same man, and each of them will say, "I'll buy my own food and clothes! Just marry me and take away my disgrace." ^[c]

The LORD Will Bless His People Who Survive

 ²The time is coming when the LORD will make his land fruitful and glorious again, and the people of Israel who survive will take great pride in what the land produces. ³Everyone who is left alive in Jerusalem will be called special, ⁴after the LORD sends a fiery judgment to clean the city and its people of their violent deeds.     ⁵Then the LORD will cover the whole city and its meeting places with a thick cloud each day and with a flaming fire ^[d] each night. God's own glory will be like a huge tent that covers everything. ⁶It will provide shade from the heat of the sun and a place of shelter and protection from storms and rain.

Isaiah 5

A Song about a Vineyard

The LORD said:

 ¹I will sing a song    about my friend's vineyard
   that was on the side
   of a fertile hill.
    ²My friend dug the ground,
   removed the stones,
   and planted the best vines.
   He built a watchtower
   and dug a pit in rocky ground
   for pressing the grapes.
   He hoped they would be sweet,
   but bitter grapes
   were all it produced.
    ³Listen, people of Jerusalem
   and of Judah!
   You be the judge of me
   and my vineyard.
    ⁴What more could I have done
   for my vineyard?
   I hoped for sweet grapes,
   but bitter grapes
   were all that grew.
    ⁵Now I will let you know
   what I am going to do.
   I will cut down the hedge
   and tear down the wall.
   My vineyard will be trampled
   and left in ruins.
    ⁶It will turn into a desert,
   neither pruned nor hoed;
   it will be covered
   with thorns and briars.
   I will command the clouds
   not to send rain.
    ⁷I am the LORD All-Powerful!
   Israel is the vineyard,
   and Judah is the garden
   I tended with care.
   I had hoped for honesty
   and for justice,
   but dishonesty
   and cries for mercy
   were all I found.
   

Isaiah Condemns Social Injustice

 ⁸You are in for trouble! You take over house after house and field after field, until there is no room left for anyone else in all the land. ⁹But the LORD All-Powerful has made this promise to me:    Those large and beautiful homes will be left empty, with no one to take care of them. ¹⁰Ten acres of grapevines will produce only six gallons of juice, and five bushels of seed will produce merely a half-bushel of grain.
    ¹¹You are in for trouble! You get up early to start drinking, and you keep it up late into the night. ¹²At your drinking parties you have the music of stringed instruments, tambourines, and flutes. But you never even think about all the LORD has done, ¹³and so his people know nothing about him. That's why many of you will be dragged off to foreign lands. Your leaders will starve to death, and everyone else will suffer from thirst.
    ¹⁴The world of the dead has opened its mouth wide and is eagerly waiting for the leaders of Jerusalem and for its noisy crowds, especially for those who take pride in that city. ¹⁵Its citizens have been put down, and its proud people have been brought to shame. ¹⁶But the holy LORD God All-Powerful is praised, because he has shown who he is by bringing justice. ¹⁷His people will be like sheep grazing in their own pasture, and they will take off what was left by others. ^{[e] 18}You are in for trouble! The lies you tell are like ropes by which you drag along sin and evil. ¹⁹And you say, "Let the holy God of Israel hurry up and do what he has promised, so we can see it for ourselves." ²⁰You are headed for trouble! You say wrong is right, darkness is light, and bitter is sweet.
    ²¹You think you are clever and smart. ²²And you are great at drinking and mixing drinks. But you are in for trouble. ²³You accept bribes to let the guilty go free, and you cheat the innocent out of a fair trial.
    ²⁴You will go up in flames like straw and hay! You have rejected the teaching of the holy LORD God All-Powerful of Israel. Now your roots will rot, and your blossoms will turn to dust.
    ²⁵You are the LORD's people, but you made him terribly angry, and he struck you with his mighty arm. Mountains shook, and dead bodies covered the streets like garbage. The LORD is still angry, and he is ready to strike you again. ^[f]

Foreign Nations Will Attack

 ²⁶The LORD has signaled for the foreign nations to come and attack you. He has already whistled, and they are coming as fast as they can. ²⁷None of them are tired. They don't sleep or get drowsy, and they run without stumbling. Their belts don't come loose; their sandal straps don't break. ²⁸Their arrows are sharp, and their bows are ready. The hoofs of their horses are hard as flint; the wheels of their war chariots turn as fast as a whirlwind.     ²⁹They roar and growl like fierce young lions as they grab their victims and drag them off where no one can rescue them. ³⁰On the day they attack, they will roar like the ocean. And across the land you will see nothing but darkness and trouble, because the light of day will be covered by thick clouds.
   

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 3:4 babies: Or "worthless nobodies."
2. Isaiah 3:14 his vineyard: The nation Israel (see 5.1-7).
3. Isaiah 4:1 take away my disgrace: If a woman did not have a husband or children, it was thought that God was punishing her.
4. Isaiah 4:5 thick. . . fire: This is how the LORD led the people of Israel during the forty years they were in the desert (see Exodus 13.20-22; 40.36-38).
5. Isaiah 5:17 and they. . . others: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
6. Isaiah 5:25 is ready. . . again: Or "hasn't given up on you yet."

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2 Corinthians 11:1-15 (Contemporary English Version)

2 Corinthians 11

Paul and the False Apostles

 ¹Please put up with a little of my foolishness. ²I am as concerned about you as God is. You were like a virgin bride I had chosen only for Christ. ³But now I fear that you will be tricked, just as Eve was tricked by that lying snake. I am afraid that you might stop thinking about Christ in an honest and sincere way. ⁴We told you about Jesus, and you received the Holy Spirit and accepted our message. But you let some people tell you about another Jesus. Now you are ready to receive another spirit and accept a different message. ⁵I think I am as good as any of those super apostles. ⁶I may not speak as well as they do, but I know as much. And this has already been made perfectly clear to you.     ⁷Was it wrong for me to lower myself and honor you by preaching God's message free of charge? ⁸I robbed other churches by taking money from them to serve you. ⁹Even when I was in need, I still didn't bother you. In fact, some of the Lord's followers from Macedonia brought me what I needed. I have not been a burden to you in the past, and I will never be a burden. ¹⁰As surely as I speak the truth about Christ, no one in Achaia can stop me from bragging about this. ¹¹And it isn't because I don't love you. God himself knows how much I do love you.
    ¹²I plan to go on doing just what I have always done. Then those people won't be able to brag about doing the same things we are doing. ¹³Anyway, they are no more than false apostles and dishonest workers. They only pretend to be apostles of Christ. ¹⁴And it is no wonder. Even Satan tries to make himself look like an angel of light. ¹⁵So why does it seem strange for Satan's servants to pretend to do what is right? Someday they will get exactly what they deserve.

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Psalm 53:1-6 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 53

(A special psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune "Mahalath." (Psalm 53 Mahalath: Or " For flutes," one possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.) )

No One Can Ignore God

 ¹Only a fool would say,    "There is no God!"
   People like that are worthless!
   They are heartless and cruel
   and never do right.
    ²From heaven God
   looks down to see
   if anyone is wise enough
   to search for him.
    ³But all of them
   are crooked and corrupt.
   Not one of them does right.
    ⁴Won't you lawbreakers learn?
   You refuse to pray,
   and you gobble down
   the people of God.
    ⁵But you will be terrified
   worse than ever before.
   God will scatter the bones
   of his enemies,
   and you will be ashamed
   when God rejects you.
    ⁶I long for someone from Zion
   to come and save Israel!
   Our God, when you bless
   your people again,
   Jacob's family will be glad,
   and Israel will celebrate.

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Proverbs 22:28-29 (Contemporary English Version)

-4-

 ²⁸ Don't move a boundary marker ^[a] set up by your ancestors.    

-5-

 ²⁹ If you do your job well,    you will work for a ruler
   and never be a slave.
   

Footnotes:

1. Proverbs 22:28 marker: In ancient Israel boundary lines were sacred because all property was a gift from the Lord (see Deuteronomy 19.14).

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Verse of the Day

 

“Tell the older men to have self-control and to be serious and sensible. Their faith, love, and patience must never fail.” - Titus 2:2

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Kin Hubbard, American cartoonist, humorist, and journalist, wrote, “Some folks can look so busy doing nothing that they seem indispensable.”