Nancy: Welcome to immerse: the daily bible reading experience.
Day 200 and 57
Wake up.
Oh Lord.
Clothe yourself with strength.
Flex your mighty right arm.
Rouse yourself as in the days of old when you slew Egypt.
The dragon of the Nile.
Are you not the same today?
The one who dried up the sea, making a path of escape through the depths
so that your people could cross over.
Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem singing crowned with everlasting joy, sorrow
and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.
I, yes, I am the one who comforts you.
So why are you afraid of mere humans who wither like the grass and disappear, yet
you have forgotten the Lord your creator.
The one who stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid
the foundations of the earth.
Will you remain in constant dread of human oppressors?
Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies?
Where is their fury and anger?
Now it is gone.
Soon, all you captives will be released.
Imprisonment, starvation and death will not be your fate.
For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea causing its waves to roar.
My name is the Lord of Heaven's armies, and I have put my words in your mouth
and hidden you safely in my hand.
I stretched out the sky like a canopy and laid the foundations of the earth.
I am the one who says to Israel, you are my people.
Wake up.
Wake up O Jerusalem.
You have drunk the cup of the Lord's fury.
You have drunk the cup of terror tipping out its last drops.
Not one of your children is left alive to take your hand and guide you.
These two calamities have fallen on you, desolation and destruction, famine
and war, and who is left to sympathize with you, who is left to comfort you.
For your children have fainted and lie in the streets, helpless
as antelopes caught in a net.
The Lord has poured out his fury.
God has rebuked them.
But now listen to this.
You afflicted ones who sit in a drunken stupor, though not from drinking wine.
This is what the sovereign Lord your God and defender says.
See.
I have taken the terrible cup From your hands, you will drink no more of my fury.
Instead, I will hand that cup to your tormentors.
Those who said, we will trample you into the dust and walk on your backs.
Wake up.
Oh Zion.
Clothe yourself with strength.
Put on your beautiful clothes.
Oh, holy city of Jerusalem.
For unclean and godless, people will enter your gates.
No longer rise from the dust.
O Jerusalem.
Sit in a place of honor.
Remove the chains of slavery from your neck.
O Captive daughter of Zion for this is what the Lord says.
When I sold you into exile, I received no payment.
Now I can redeem you without having to pay for you.
This is what the sovereign Lord says.
Long ago my people chose to live in Egypt.
Now they are oppressed by Assyria.
What is this?
Asks the Lord, why are my people enslaved again, those who rule
them, shout in exaltation.
My name is blasphemed all day long, but I will reveal my name to my people
and they will come to know its power.
Then at last, they will recognize that I am the one who speaks to them.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger?
Who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation?
The news that the God of Israel reigns, the watchmen shout and sing with
joy for before their very eyes, they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem.
Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song for the
Lord has comforted his people.
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has demonstrated his holy power before the eyes of all the nations.
All the ends of the earth will see the victory of our God.
Get out.
Get out and leave your captivity where everything you touch is unclean.
Get out of there and purify yourselves.
You who carry home the sacred objects of the Lord.
You will not leave in a hurry.
Running for your lives for the Lord will go ahead of you.
Yes, the God of Israel will protect you from behind.
See, my servant will prosper.
He will be highly exalted.
But many were amazed when they saw him.
His face was so disfigured, he seemed hardly human.
And from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.
He will startle.
Many nations kings will stand speechless in his presence for they
will see what they had not been told.
They will understand what they had not heard about.
Who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the Lord's presence, like a tender green
shoot, like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance.
Nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised and we did not care yet.
It was our weaknesses.
He carried.
It was our sorrows that weighed him down, and we thought his
troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins.
He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep have strayed away.
We have left God's paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep is silent
Before the shearers, he did not open his mouth unjustly condemned.
He was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut
short in midstream, but he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone, but he
was buried like a criminal.
He was put in a rich man's grave, but it was the Lord's good plan
to crush him and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord's good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied
and because of his experience.
My righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous for.
He will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier because
he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
Sing O childless woman, you who have never given birth.
Break into loud and joyful song O Jerusalem.
You who have never been in labor for the desolate woman now has more
children than the woman who lives with her husband, says the Lord.
Enlarge your house.
Build an addition.
Spread out your home and spare no expense for you will soon
be bursting at the seams.
Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities.
Fear not.
You will no longer live in shame.
Don't be afraid.
There is no more disgrace for you.
You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood.
For your creator will be your husband.
The Lord of heaven's armies is his name.
He is your redeemer, the holy one of Israel.
The God of all the earth for the Lord has called you back from your grief as
though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband, says, your God.
For a brief moment, I abandoned you, but with great compassion, I will
take you back in a burst of anger.
I turned my face away for a little while, but with everlasting love,
I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your redeemer.
Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again
let a flood cover the earth.
So now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you.
For the mountains may move and the hills disappear.
But even then, my faithful love for you will remain.
My covenant of blessing will never be broken, says the
Lord who has mercy on you.
Storm battered city, troubled and desolate.
I will rebuild you with precious jewels and make your foundations from lapis lly.
I will make your towers of sparkling rubies, your gates of shining gems
and your walls of precious stones.
I will teach all your children and they will enjoy great peace.
You will be secure under a government that is just and fair.
Your enemies will stay far away.
You will live in peace and terror will not come near if
any nation comes to fight you.
It is not because I sent them.
Whoever attacks you will go down in defeat.
I have created the blacksmith who fans the coals beneath the forge and makes
the weapons of destruction, and I have created the armies that destroy.
In that coming day, no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you.
These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord.
Their vindication will come from me.
I the Lord have spoken.
Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink even if you have no money.
Come take your choice of wine or milk.
It's all free.
Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
Come to me with your ears wide open.
Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
See how I used him to display my power among the peoples.
I made him a leader Among the nations, you also will command nations you do
not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey because
I the Lord your God, the holy one of Israel have made you glorious.
Seek the Lord while you can find him.
Call on him now while he is near.
Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God for he will forgive generously.
My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, says the Lord and my
ways are far beyond anything you could imagine for just as the
heavens are higher than the earth.
So my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on
the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
It is the same with my word.
I send it out and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song and the trees of the field
will clap their hands, where once there were thorns, Cyprus trees will grow.
Where Nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord's name.
They will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.
This is what the Lord says, be just and fair to all.
Do what is right and good for I am coming soon to rescue you and to
display my righteousness among you.
Blessed are all those who are careful to do this.
Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep
themselves from doing wrong.
Don't let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say, the Lord
will never let me be part of his people.
And don't let the eunuchs say, I'm a dried up tree with no children and no
future for this is what the Lord says.
I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and
who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me.
I will give them within the walls of my house.
A memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give for the
name I give them is an everlasting one.
It will never disappear.
I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve
him and love his name, who worship him, and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of
rest and who hold fast to my covenant.
I will bring them to my Holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them
with joy in my house of prayer.
I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices because my temple will be
called a house of prayer for all nations.
For the sovereign Lord who brings back the outcasts of Israel
says, I will bring others too.
Besides my people, Israel come wild animals of the field.
Come wild animals of the forest come and devour my people.
For the leaders of my people, the Lord's watchmen, his
shepherds are blind and ignorant.
They're like silent watchdogs that give no warning when danger comes.
They love to lie around sleeping and dreaming like greedy dogs.
They are never satisfied.
They are ignorant Shepherds.
All following their own path and intent on personal gain come.
They say, let's get some wine and have a party.
Let's all get drunk.
Then tomorrow we'll do it again and have an even bigger party.
Good people pass away.
The godly often die before their time, but no one seems to care or wonder why.
No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.
For those who follow Godly paths will rest in peace when they die.
But you come hear you witches children, you offspring of adulterers and
prostitutes, whom do you mock making faces and sticking out your tongues?
You, children of sinners and liars, you worship your idols
with great passion beneath the oaks and under every green tree.
You sacrifice your children down in the valleys, among the
jagged rocks in the cliffs.
Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys.
You worship them with liquid offerings and grain offerings.
They not.
I are your inheritance.
Do you think All this makes me happy?
You have committed adultery on every high mountain there.
You have worshiped idols and have been unfaithful to me.
You have put pagan symbols on your doorposts and behind your doors.
You have left me and climbed into bed with these detestable gods, you
have committed yourselves to them.
You love to look at their naked bodies.
You have gone to Molech with olive oil and many perfumes sending your agents far
and wide, even to the world of the dead.
You grew weary in your search, but you never gave up.
Desire gave you renewed strength and you did not grow weary.
Are you afraid of these idols?
Do they terrify you?
Is that why you have lied to me and forgotten me and my words?
Is it because of my long silence that you no longer fear me?
Now I will expose your so-called good deeds.
None of them will help you.
Let's see if your idols can save you when you cry to them for help.
Why a puff of wind can knock them down.
If you just breathe on them, they fall over.
But whoever trusts in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.
God says, rebuild the road.
Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity.
The high end lofty one who lives in eternity.
The holy one says this.
I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits
are contrite and humble.
I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of
those with repentant hearts for I will not fight against you forever.
I will not always be angry if I were all people would pass
away all the souls I have made.
I was angry, so I punished these greedy people.
I withdrew from them, but they kept going on their own stubborn way.
I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway.
I will lead them.
I will comfort those who mourn, bringing words of praise to their lips.
May they have abundant peace, both near and far, says the Lord who heals them.
But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never, still,
but continually churns up mud and dirt.
There is no peace for the wicked says, my God.
Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.
Shout aloud.
Don't be timid.
Tell my people Israel of their sins.
Yet they act so pious.
They come to the temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf pretending they want to be near me.
We have fasted before you.
They say, why aren't you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves and you don't even notice it.
I will tell you why I respond.
It's because you are fasting to please yourselves even while you fast.
You keep oppressing your workers.
What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.
You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your
heads like reeds, bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?
No.
This is the kind of fasting I want.
Free.
Those who are wrongly imprisoned.
Lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free and remove the chains that bind people.
Share your food with the hungry and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them and do not hide from
relatives who need your help.
Then your salvation will come like the dawn and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the
Lord will protect you from behind.
Then when you call, the Lord will answer, yes, I am here.
He will quickly reply.
Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors.
Feed the hungry and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness and the darkness around
you will be as bright as noon.
The Lord will guide you, continually giving you water.
When you are dry and restoring your strength, you will be like a well watered
garden like an ever flowing spring.
Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.
Keep the Sabbath day holy.
Don't pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath
and speak of it with delight.
As the Lord's holy day, honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day and
don't follow your own desires or talk idly, then the Lord will be your delight.
I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance
I promised to your ancestor Jacob.
I The Lord have spoken.
Listen, the Lord's arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his
ear too deaf to hear you call.
It's your sins that have cut you off from God because of your sins.
He has turned away and will not listen anymore.
Your hands are the hands of murderers and your fingers are filthy with sin.
Your lips are full of lies and your mouth spews corruption.
No one cares about being fair and honest.
The people's lawsuits are based on lies.
They conceive evil deeds and then give birth to sin.
They hatch deadly snakes and weave spider's, webs, whoever
eats their eggs will die.
Whoever cracks them will hatch a viper.
Their webs can't be made into clothing and nothing they do is productive.
All their activity is filled with sin and violence is their trademark.
Their feet run to do evil and they rush to commit murder.
They think only about sinning, misery and destruction.
Always follow them.
They don't know where to find peace or what it means to be just and good.
They have mapped out crooked roads and no one who follows
them knows a moment's peace.
So there is no justice among us and we know nothing about right living.
We look for light, but find only darkness.
We look for bright skies, but walk in gloom.
We grope like the blind along a wall feeling our way, like people without eyes.
Even at brightest noontime, we stumble as though it were dark.
Among the living, we are like the dead.
We growl like hungry bears.
We moan like mournful, doves.
We look for justice, but it never comes.
We look for rescue, but it is far away from us for our sins are piled
up before God and testify against us.
Yes, we know what sinners we are.
We know we have rebelled and have denied the Lord.
We have turned our backs on our God.
We know how unfair and oppressive we have been.
Carefully planning our deceitful lies.
Our courts oppose the righteous and justice is nowhere to be found.
Truth stumbles in the streets and honesty has been outlawed.
Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.
The Lord looked and was displeased to find.
There was no justice.
He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed, so he
himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm and his justice sustained them.
He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the
helmet of salvation on his head.
He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself
in a cloak of divine passion.
He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds.
His fury will fall on his foes.
He will pay them back even to the ends of the earth.
In the West, people will respect the name of the Lord.
In the east, they will glorify him for he will come like a raging flood tide driven
by the breath of the Lord, the redeemer will come to Jerusalem to buy back.
Those in Israel who have turned from their sins says the Lord.
This is my covenant with them, says the Lord.
My spirit will not leave them and neither will these words I have given you.
They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and
your children's children forever.
I, the Lord have spoken.
This concludes today's immerse reading experience.
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