Along The Way (September 1st - 7th)

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  • Isaiah 62 & 63

    The Vindication and Salvation of Zion

    For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

    and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,

    until her vindication shines out like the dawn

    and her salvation like a burning torch.

    The nations shall see your vindication

    and all the kings your glory,

    and you shall be called by a new name

    that the mouth of the Lord will give.

    You shall be a beautiful crown in the hand of the Lord

    and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

    You shall no more be termed Forsaken,

    and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,

    but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her

    and your land Married,

    for the Lord delights in you,

    and your land shall be married.

    For as a young man marries a young woman,

    so shall your builder marry you,

    and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

    so shall your God rejoice over you.

    Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,

    I have posted sentinels;

    all day and all night

    they shall never be silent.

    You who remind the Lord,

    take no rest,

    and give him no rest

    until he establishes Jerusalem

    and makes it renowned throughout the earth.

    The Lord has sworn by his right hand

    and by his mighty arm:

    I will not again give your grain

    to be food for your enemies,

    and foreigners shall not drink the wine

    for which you have labored,

    but those who harvest it shall eat it

    and praise the Lord,

    and those who gather it shall drink it

    in my holy courts.

    Go through, go through the gates;

    prepare the way for the people;

    build up, build up the highway;

    clear it of stones;

    lift up an ensign over the peoples.

    The Lord has proclaimed

    to the end of the earth:

    Say to daughter Zion,

    “Look, your savior comes;

    his reward is with him

    and his recompense before him.”

    They shall be called, “The Holy People,

    The Redeemed of the Lord,”

    and you shall be called, “Sought Out,

    A City Not Forsaken.”

    Vengeance on Edom

    “Who is this coming from Edom,

    from Bozrah in garments stained crimson?

    Who is this so splendidly robed,

    marching in his great might?”

    “It is I, announcing vindication,

    mighty to save.”

    “Why are your robes red

    and your garments like theirs who tread the winepress?”

    “I have trodden the winepress alone,

    and from the peoples no one was with me;

    I trod them in my anger

    and trampled them in my wrath;

    their juice spattered on my garments,

    and I stained all my robes.

    For the day of vengeance was in my mind,

    and the year for my redeeming work had come.

    I looked, but there was no helper;

    I was abandoned, and there was no one to sustain me,

    so my own arm brought me victory,

    and my wrath sustained me.

    I trampled down peoples in my anger;

    I crushed them in my wrath,

    and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

    God’s Mercy Remembered

    I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,

    the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,

    because of all that the Lord has done for us

    and the great favor to the house of Israel

    that he has shown them according to his mercy,

    according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

    For he said, “Surely they are my people,

    children who will not act deceitfully,”

    and he became their savior

    in all their distress.

    It was no messenger or angel

    but his presence that saved them;

    in his love and pity it was he who redeemed them;

    he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

    But they rebelled

    and grieved his holy spirit;

    therefore he became their enemy;

    he himself fought against them.

    Then they remembered the days of old,

    of Moses his servant.

    Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea

    with the shepherds of his flock?

    Where is the one who put within them

    his holy spirit,

    who caused his glorious arm

    to march at the right hand of Moses,

    who divided the waters before them

    to make for himself an everlasting name,

    who led them through the depths?

    Like a horse in the desert,

    they did not stumble.

    Like cattle that go down into the valley,

    the spirit of the Lord gave them rest.

    Thus you led your people,

    to make for yourself a glorious name.

    A Prayer of Penitence

    Look down from heaven and see,

    from your holy and glorious habitation.

    Where are your zeal and your might?

    Your great pity and your compassion are withheld from me.

    For you are our father,

    though Abraham does not know us

    and Israel does not acknowledge us;

    you, O Lord, are our father;

    our Redeemer from of old is your name.

    Why, O Lord, do you let us stray from your ways

    and let our heart harden, so that we do not fear you?

    Turn back for the sake of your servants,

    the tribes that are your heritage.

    Your holy people took possession for a little while,

    but now our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.

    We have long been like those whom you do not rule,

    like those not called by your name.

  • Isaiah 64 & 65

    O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,

    so that the mountains would quake at your presence —

    as when fire kindles brushwood

    and the fire causes water to boil —

    to make your name known to your adversaries,

    so that the nations might tremble at your presence!

    When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,

    you came down; the mountains quaked at your presence.

    From ages past no one has heard,

    no ear has perceived,

    no eye has seen any God besides you,

    who works for those who wait for him.

    You meet those who gladly do right,

    those who remember you in your ways.

    But you were angry, and we sinned;

    because you hid yourself we transgressed.

    We have all become like one who is unclean,

    and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.

    We all fade like a leaf,

    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

    There is no one who calls on your name

    or attempts to take hold of you,

    for you have hidden your face from us

    and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.

    Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;

    we are the clay, and you are our potter;

    we are all the work of your hand.

    Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,

    and do not remember iniquity forever.

    Now consider, we are all your people.

    Your holy cities have become a wilderness;

    Zion has become a wilderness,

    Jerusalem a desolation.

    Our holy and beautiful house,

    where our ancestors praised you,

    has been burned by fire,

    and all our pleasant places have become ruins.

    After all this, will you restrain yourself, O Lord?

    Will you keep silent and punish us so severely?

    The Righteousness of God’s Judgment

    I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,

    to be found by those who did not seek me.

    I said, “Here I am, here I am,”

    to a nation that did not call on my name.

    I held out my hands all day long

    to a rebellious people,

    who walk in a way that is not good,

    following their own devices;

    a people who provoke me

    to my face continually,

    sacrificing in gardens

    and offering incense on bricks;

    who sit inside tombs

    and spend the night in secret places;

    who eat the flesh of pigs,

    with broth of abominable things in their vessels;

    who say, “Keep to yourself;

    do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”

    These are a smoke in my nostrils,

    a fire that burns all day long.

    See, it is written before me:

    I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

    I will indeed repay into their laps

    their iniquities and their ancestors’ iniquities together,

    says the Lord;

    because they offered incense on the mountains

    and reviled me on the hills,

    I will measure into their laps

    full payment for their actions.

    Thus says the Lord:

    As the wine is found in the cluster,

    and they say, “Do not destroy it,

    for there is a blessing in it,”

    so I will do for my servants’ sake

    and not destroy them all.

    I will bring forth descendants from Jacob

    and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;

    my chosen shall inherit it,

    and my servants shall settle there.

    Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks

    and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,

    for my people who have sought me.

    But you who forsake the Lord,

    who forget my holy mountain,

    who set a table for Fortune

    and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,

    I will destine you to the sword,

    and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter;

    because, when I called, you did not answer,

    when I spoke, you did not listen,

    but you did what was evil in my sight

    and chose what I did not delight in.

    Therefore thus says the Lord God:

    My servants shall eat,

    but you shall be hungry;

    my servants shall drink,

    but you shall be thirsty;

    my servants shall rejoice,

    but you shall be put to shame;

    my servants shall sing with gladness of heart,

    but you shall cry out in pain of heart

    and shall wail in anguish of spirit.

    You shall leave your name to my chosen to use as a curse,

    and the Lord God will put you to death,

    but to his servants he will give a different name.

    Then whoever invokes a blessing in the land

    shall bless by the God of faithfulness,

    and whoever takes an oath in the land

    shall swear by the God of faithfulness,

    because the former troubles are forgotten

    and are hidden from my sight.

    The Glorious New Creation

    For I am about to create new heavens

    and a new earth;

    the former things shall not be remembered

    or come to mind.

    But be glad and rejoice forever

    in what I am creating,

    for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy

    and its people as a delight.

    I will rejoice in Jerusalem

    and delight in my people;

    no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it

    or the cry of distress.

    No more shall there be in it

    an infant who lives but a few days

    or an old person who does not live out a lifetime,

    for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,

    and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.

    They shall build houses and inhabit them;

    they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

    They shall not build and another inhabit;

    they shall not plant and another eat,

    for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

    and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

    They shall not labor in vain

    or bear children for calamity,

    for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord —

    and their descendants as well.

    Before they call I will answer,

    while they are yet speaking I will hear.

    The wolf and the lamb shall feed together;

    the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

    but the serpent — its food shall be dust!

    They shall not hurt or destroy

    on all my holy mountain,

    says the Lord.

  • Isaiah 66

    The Worship God Demands

    Thus says the Lord:

    Heaven is my throne,

    and the earth is my footstool;

    so what kind of house could you build for me,

    what sort of place for me to rest?

    All these things my hand has made,

    so all these things are mine,

    says the Lord.

    But this is the one to whom I will look,

    to the humble and contrite in spirit

    who trembles at my word.

    Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who kills a human,

    whoever sacrifices a lamb like one who breaks a dog’s neck,

    whoever presents a grain offering like one who offers pig’s blood,

    whoever makes a memorial offering of frankincense like one who blesses an idol.

    Just as these have chosen their own ways

    and in their abominations they take delight,

    so I will choose their punishments

    and bring upon them what they fear,

    because, when I called, no one answered,

    when I spoke, they did not listen,

    but they did what was evil in my sight

    and chose what did not please me.

    The Lord Vindicates Zion

    Hear the word of the Lord,

    you who tremble at his word:

    Your own people who hate you

    and reject you for my name’s sake

    have said, “Let the Lord be glorified,

    so that we may see your joy,”

    but it is they who shall be put to shame.

    Listen, a roar from the city!

    A voice from the temple!

    The voice of the Lord,

    dealing retribution to his enemies!

    Before she was in labor

    she gave birth;

    before her pain came upon her

    she delivered a son.

    Who has heard of such a thing?

    Who has seen such things?

    Shall a land be born in one day?

    Shall a nation be delivered in one moment?

    Yet as soon as Zion was in labor

    she delivered her children.

    Shall I open the womb and not deliver?

    says the Lord;

    shall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb?

    says your God.

    Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,

    all you who love her;

    rejoice with her in joy,

    all you who mourn over her —

    that you may nurse and be satisfied

    from her consoling breast,

    that you may drink deeply with delight

    from her glorious bosom.

    For thus says the Lord:

    I will extend prosperity to her like a river

    and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream,

    and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm

    and bounced on her knees.

    As a mother comforts her child,

    so I will comfort you;

    you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

    The Reign and Indignation of God

    You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;

    your bodies shall flourish like the grass,

    and it shall be known that the power of the Lord is with his servants,

    and his indignation is against his enemies.

    For the Lord will come in fire

    and his chariots in a whirlwind,

    to vent his anger in fury

    and his rebuke in flames of fire.

    For by fire will the Lord execute judgment,

    and by his sword on all flesh;

    and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

    Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the center, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rodents, shall come to an end together, says the Lord, for I know their works and their thoughts.

    I am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. From them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put, and Lud, to Meshech, Tubal, and Javan, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory, and they shall declare my glory among the nations. They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites, says the Lord.

    For as the new heavens and the new earth,

    which I will make,

    shall remain before me, says the Lord,

    so shall your descendants and your name remain.

    From new moon to new moon

    and from Sabbath to Sabbath,

    all flesh shall come to worship before me,

    says the Lord.

    And they shall go out and look at the dead bodies of the people who have rebelled against me, for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.

  • Jeremiah 1

    The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah son of Josiah of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

    Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

    Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

    “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

    and before you were born I consecrated you;

    I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

    Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the Lord said to me,

    “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy,’

    for you shall go to all to whom I send you,

    and you shall speak whatever I command you.

    Do not be afraid of them,

    for I am with you to deliver you,

    says the Lord.”

    Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,

    “Now I have put my words in your mouth.

    See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,

    to pluck up and to pull down,

    to destroy and to overthrow,

    to build and to plant.”

    The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.” Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilted away from the north.”

    Then the Lord said to me: “Out of the north disaster shall break out on all the inhabitants of the land. For now I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord, and they shall come, and all of them shall set their thrones at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its surrounding walls and against all the cities of Judah. And I will utter my judgments against them for all their wickedness in forsaking me; they have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. But you, gird up your loins; stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them. And I for my part have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.”

  • Jeremiah 2

    God Pleads with Israel to Repent

    The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord:

    I remember the devotion of your youth,

    your love as a bride,

    how you followed me in the wilderness,

    in a land not sown.

    Israel was holy to the Lord,

    the first fruits of his harvest.

    All who ate of it were held guilty;

    disaster came upon them,

    says the Lord.

    Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord:

    What wrong did your ancestors find in me

    that they went far from me

    and went after worthless things and became worthless themselves?

    They did not say, “Where is the Lord,

    who brought us up from the land of Egypt,

    who led us in the wilderness,

    in a land of deserts and pits,

    in a land of drought and deep darkness,

    in a land that no one passes through,

    where no one lives?”

    I brought you into a plentiful land

    to eat its fruits and its good things.

    But when you entered you defiled my land

    and made my heritage an abomination.

    The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?”

    Those who handle the law did not know me;

    the rulers transgressed against me;

    the prophets prophesied by Baal

    and went after things that do not profit.

    Therefore once more I accuse you,

    says the Lord,

    and I accuse your children’s children.

    Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look;

    send to Kedar and examine with care;

    see if there has ever been such a thing.

    Has a nation changed its gods,

    even though they are no gods?

    But my people have changed their glory

    for something that does not profit.

    Be appalled, O heavens, at this;

    be shocked; be utterly desolate,

    says the Lord,

    for my people have committed two evils:

    they have forsaken me,

    the fountain of living water,

    and dug out cisterns for themselves,

    cracked cisterns

    that can hold no water.

    Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?

    Why then has he become plunder?

    The lions have roared against him;

    they have roared loudly.

    They have made his land a waste;

    his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.

    Moreover, the people of Memphis and Tahpanhes

    have broken the crown of your head.

    Have you not brought this upon yourself

    by forsaking the Lord your God,

    while he led you in the way?

    What then do you gain by going to Egypt,

    to drink the waters of the Nile?

    Or what do you gain by going to Assyria,

    to drink the waters of the Euphrates?

    Your wickedness will punish you,

    and your faithlessness will convict you.

    Know and see that it is evil and bitter

    for you to forsake the Lord your God;

    the fear of me is not in you,

    says the Lord God of hosts.

    For long ago you broke your yoke

    and burst your bonds,

    and you said, “I will not serve!”

    On every high hill

    and under every green tree

    you sprawled and prostituted yourself.

    Yet I planted you as a choice vine

    from the purest stock.

    How then did you turn degenerate

    and become a wild vine?

    Though you wash yourself with lye

    and use much soap,

    the stain of your guilt is still before me,

    says the Lord God.

    How can you say, “I am not defiled;

    I have not gone after the Baals”?

    Look at your way in the valley;

    know what you have done:

    a restive young camel interlacing her tracks,

    a wild ass at home in the wilderness

    in her heat sniffing the wind!

    Who can restrain her lust?

    None who seek her need weary themselves;

    in her month they will find her.

    Keep your feet from going bare

    and your throat from thirst.

    But you said, “It is no use,

    for I have loved strangers,

    and after them I will go.”

    As a thief is shamed when caught,

    so the house of Israel shall be shamed:

    they, their kings, their officials,

    their priests, and their prophets,

    who say to a tree, “You are my father,”

    and to a stone, “You gave me birth.”

    For they have turned their backs to me

    and not their faces.

    But in the time of their trouble they say,

    “Come and save us!”

    But where are your gods

    that you made for yourself?

    Let them come, if they can save you,

    in your time of trouble,

    for you have as many gods

    as you have towns, O Judah.

    Why do you complain against me?

    You have all rebelled against me,

    says the Lord.

    In vain I have struck down your children;

    they accepted no correction.

    Your own sword devoured your prophets

    like a ravening lion.

    And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord!

    Have I been a wilderness to Israel

    or a land of thick darkness?

    Why then do my people say, “We are free;

    we will come to you no more”?

    Can a young woman forget her ornaments

    or a bride her attire?

    Yet my people have forgotten me,

    days without number.

    How well you direct your course

    to seek lovers!

    So that even to wicked women

    you have taught your ways.

    Also on your skirts is found

    the lifeblood of the innocent poor,

    though you did not catch them breaking in.

    Yet in spite of all these things

    you say, “I am innocent;

    surely his anger has turned from me.”

    Now I am bringing you to judgment

    for saying, “I have not sinned.”

    Why do you go about so much

    to change your way?

    You shall be put to shame by Egypt

    as you were put to shame by Assyria.

    From there also you will come away

    with your hands on your head,

    for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust,

    and you will not prosper through them.

  • Jeremiah 3

    Unfaithful Israel

    If a man divorces his wife

    and she goes from him

    and becomes another man’s wife,

    will he return to her?

    Would not such a land be greatly polluted?

    You have prostituted yourself with many lovers,

    and would you return to me?

    says the Lord.

    Look up to the bare heights and see!

    Where have you not been lain with?

    By the waysides you sat waiting for lovers,

    like a nomad in the wilderness.

    You have polluted the land

    with your prostitutions and wickedness.

    Therefore the showers have been withheld,

    and the spring rain has not come,

    yet you have the forehead of a prostitute;

    you refuse to be ashamed.

    Have you not just now called to me,

    “My Father, you are the friend of my youth —

    will he be angry forever,

    will he be indignant to the end?”

    This is how you have spoken,

    but you have done all the evil that you could.

    A Call to Repentance

    The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree and prostituted herself there? And I thought, “After she has done all this she will return to me,” but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce, yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and prostituted herself. Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart but only in pretense, says the Lord.

    Then the Lord said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:

    Return, faithless Israel,

    says the Lord.

    I will not look on you in anger,

    for I am merciful,

    says the Lord;

    I will not be angry forever.

    Only acknowledge your guilt,

    that you have rebelled against the Lord your God

    and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree

    and have not obeyed my voice,

    says the Lord.

    Return, O faithless children,

    says the Lord,

    for I am your husband;

    I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,

    and I will bring you to Zion.

    I will give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed, nor shall another one be made. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will. In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors for a heritage.

    I thought

    how I would set you among my children

    and give you a pleasant land,

    the most beautiful heritage of all the nations.

    And I thought you would call to me, “My Father,”

    and would not turn from following me.

    Instead, as a faithless wife leaves her husband,

    so you have been faithless to me, O house of Israel,

    says the Lord.

    A voice on the bare heights is heard,

    the plaintive weeping of Israel’s children,

    because they have perverted their way;

    they have forgotten the Lord their God:

    Return, O faithless children,

    I will heal your faithlessness.

    “Here we come to you,

    for you are the Lord our God.

    Truly the hills are a delusion,

    a tumult on the mountains.

    Truly in the Lord our God

    is the salvation of Israel.

    “But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our ancestors had labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our ancestors, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”

  • Jeremiah 4

    If you return, O Israel,

    says the Lord,

    if you return to me,

    if you remove your abominations from my presence

    and do not waver,

    and if you swear, “As the Lord lives!”

    in truth, in justice, and in uprightness,

    then nations shall be blessed by you,

    and by you they shall boast.

    For thus says the Lord to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem:

    Break up your fallow ground,

    and do not sow among thorns.

    Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;

    remove the foreskin of your hearts,

    O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,

    or else my wrath will go forth like fire

    and burn with no one to quench it,

    because of the evil of your doings.

    Invasion and Desolation of Judah Threatened

    Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:

    Blow the trumpet through the land;

    shout aloud and say,

    “Gather together, and let us go

    into the fortified cities!”

    Raise a standard toward Zion;

    flee for safety; do not delay,

    for I am bringing evil from the north

    and a great destruction.

    A lion has gone up from its thicket;

    a destroyer of nations has set out;

    he has gone out from his place

    to make your land a waste;

    your cities will be ruins

    without inhabitant.

    Because of this put on sackcloth,

    lament and wail:

    “The fierce anger of the Lord

    has not turned away from us.”

    On that day, says the Lord, courage shall fail the king and the officials; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded. Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, how utterly you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ even while the sword is at the throat!”

    At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them.

    Look! He comes up like clouds,

    his chariots like the whirlwind;

    his horses are swifter than eagles —

    woe to us, for we are ruined!

    O Jerusalem, wash your heart clean of wickedness

    so that you may be saved.

    How long shall your evil schemes

    lodge within you?

    For a voice declares from Dan

    and proclaims disaster from Mount Ephraim.

    Tell the nations, “Here they are!”

    Proclaim against Jerusalem,

    “Besiegers come from a distant land;

    they shout against the cities of Judah.

    They have closed in around her like watchers of a field

    because she has rebelled against me,

    says the Lord.

    Your ways and your doings

    have brought this upon you.

    This is your doom; how bitter it is!

    It has reached your very heart.”

    Sorrow for a Doomed Nation

    My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!

    Oh, the walls of my heart!

    My heart is beating wildly;

    I cannot keep silent,

    for I hear the sound of the trumpet,

    the alarm of war.

    Disaster overtakes disaster;

    the whole land is laid waste.

    Suddenly my tents are destroyed,

    my curtains in a moment.

    How long must I see the standard

    and hear the sound of the trumpet?

    “For my people are foolish;

    they do not know me;

    they are stupid children;

    they have no understanding.

    They are skilled in doing evil

    but do not know how to do good.”

    I looked on the earth, and it was complete chaos,

    and to the heavens, and they had no light.

    I looked on the mountains, and they were quaking,

    and all the hills moved to and fro.

    I looked, and there was no one at all,

    and all the birds of the air had fled.

    I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert,

    and all its cities were laid in ruins

    before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

    For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation, yet I will not make a full end.

    Because of this the earth shall mourn

    and the heavens above grow black,

    for I have spoken; I have purposed;

    I have not relented, nor will I turn back.

    At the noise of horseman and archer

    every town takes to flight;

    they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;

    all the towns are forsaken,

    and no one lives in them.

    And you, O desolate one,

    what do you mean that you dress in crimson,

    that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold,

    that you enlarge your eyes with paint?

    In vain you beautify yourself.

    Your lovers despise you;

    they seek your life.

    For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,

    anguish as of one bringing forth her first child,

    the cry of daughter Zion gasping for breath,

    stretching out her hands,

    “Woe is me! I am fainting before killers!”

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Weekly Greeting - September 1st, 2023

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Bethlehem News - September 1st, 2023