Thanksgiving Expressed

1Then you will say on that day,

“I will give thanks to You, O Lord;

For although You were angry with me,

Your anger is turned away,

And You comfort me.

2Behold, God is my salvation,

I will trust and not be afraid;

For the Lord God is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation.”

3Therefore you will joyously draw water

From the springs of salvation.

4And in that day you will say,

“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name.

Make known His deeds among the peoples;

Make them remember that His name is exalted.”

5Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things;

Let this be known throughout the earth.

6Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Prophecies about Babylon

1The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

2Lift up a standard on the bare hill,

Raise your voice to them,

Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles.

3I have commanded My consecrated ones,

I have even called My mighty warriors,

My proudly exulting ones,

To execute My anger.

4A sound of tumult on the mountains,

Like that of many people!

A sound of the uproar of kingdoms,

Of nations gathered together!

The Lord of hosts is mustering the army for battle.

5They are coming from a far country,

From the farthest horizons,

The Lord and His instruments of indignation,

To destroy the whole land.

Judgment on the Day of the Lord

6Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!

It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

7Therefore all hands will fall limp,

And every man’s heart will melt.

8They will be terrified,

Pains and anguish will take hold of them;

They will writhe like a woman in labor,

They will look at one another in astonishment,

Their faces aflame.

9Behold, the day of the Lord is coming,

Cruel, with fury and burning anger,

To make the land a desolation;

And He will exterminate its sinners from it.

10For the stars of heaven and their constellations

Will not flash forth their light;

The sun will be dark when it rises

And the moon will not shed its light.

11Thus I will punish the world for its evil

And the wicked for their iniquity;

I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud

And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.

12I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold

And mankind than the gold of Ophir.

13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,

And the earth will be shaken from its place

At the fury of the Lord of hosts

In the day of His burning anger.

14And it will be that like a hunted gazelle,

Or like sheep with none to gather them,

They will each turn to his own people,

And each one flee to his own land.

15Anyone who is found will be thrust through,

And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.

16Their little ones also will be dashed to pieces

Before their eyes;

Their houses will be plundered

And their wives ravished.

Babylon Will Fall to the Medes

17Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them,

Who will not value silver or take pleasure in gold.

18And their bows will mow down the young men,

They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,

Nor will their eye pity children.

19And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride,

Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

20It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;

Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there,

Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.

21But desert creatures will lie down there,

And their houses will be full of owls;

Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there.

22Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers

And jackals in their luxurious palaces.

Her fateful time also will soon come

And her days will not be prolonged.

Israel’s Taunt

1When the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel, and settle them in their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. 2The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord as male servants and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors.

3And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved, 4that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,

“How the oppressor has ceased,

And how fury has ceased!

5The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,

The scepter of rulers

6Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes,

Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution.

7The whole earth is at rest and is quiet;

They break forth into shouts of joy.

8Even the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying,

‘Since you were laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.’

9Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come;

It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth;

It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.

10They will all respond and say to you,

‘Even you have been made weak as we,

You have become like us.

11Your pomp and the music of your harps

Have been brought down to Sheol;

Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you

And worms are your covering.’

12How you have fallen from heaven,

O star of the morning, son of the dawn!

You have been cut down to the earth,

You who have weakened the nations!

13But you said in your heart,

‘I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God,

And I will sit on the mount of assembly

In the recesses of the north.

14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’

15Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol,

To the recesses of the pit.

16Those who see you will gaze at you,

They will ponder over you, saying,

‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

Who shook kingdoms,

17Who made the world like a wilderness

And overthrew its cities,

Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?’

18All the kings of the nations lie in glory,

Each in his own tomb.

19But you have been cast out of your tomb

Like a rejected branch,

Clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword,

Who go down to the stones of the pit

Like a trampled corpse.

20You will not be united with them in burial,

Because you have ruined your country,

You have slain your people.

May the offspring of evildoers not be mentioned forever.

21Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter

Because of the iniquity of their fathers.

They must not arise and take possession of the earth

And fill the face of the world with cities.”

22“I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, offspring and posterity,” declares the Lord. 23“I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

Judgment on Assyria

24The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, 25to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder. 26This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. 27For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”

28In the year that King Ahaz died this oracle came:

Judgment on Philistia

29“Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you,

Because the rod that struck you is broken;

For from the serpent’s root a viper will come out,

And its fruit will be a flying serpent.

30Those who are most helpless will eat,

And the needy will lie down in security;

I will destroy your root with famine,

And it will kill off your survivors.

31Wail, O gate; cry, O city;

Melt away, O Philistia, all of you;

For smoke comes from the north,

And there is no straggler in his ranks.

32How then will one answer the messengers of the nation?

That the Lord has founded Zion,

And the afflicted of His people will seek refuge in it.”

Examine Yourselves

1This is the third time I am coming to you. Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 2I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I will not spare anyone, 3since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you. 4For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

5Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? 6But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test. 7Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved. 8For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth. 9For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made complete. 10For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

11Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13All the saints greet you.

PSALM 57

Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.

For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.

1Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,

For my soul takes refuge in You;

And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge

Until destruction passes by.

2I will cry to God Most High,

To God who accomplishes all things for me.

3He will send from heaven and save me;

He reproaches him who tramples upon me. Selah.

God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.

4My soul is among lions;

I must lie among those who breathe forth fire,

Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows

And their tongue a sharp sword.

5Be exalted above the heavens, O God;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

6They have prepared a net for my steps;

My soul is bowed down;

They dug a pit before me;

They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. Selah.

7My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!

8Awake, my glory!

Awake, harp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

9I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to You among the nations.

10For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens

And Your truth to the clouds.

11Be exalted above the heavens, O God;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,

For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

10Do not move the ancient boundary

Or go into the fields of the fatherless,

11For their Redeemer is strong;

He will plead their case against you.