5Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,

And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.

6But you will be called the priests of the Lord;

You will be spoken of as ministers of our God.

You will eat the wealth of nations,

And in their riches you will boast.

7Instead of your shame you will have a double portion,

And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion.

Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,

Everlasting joy will be theirs.

8For I, the Lord, love justice,

I hate robbery in the burnt offering;

And I will faithfully give them their recompense

And make an everlasting covenant with them.

Sonship in Christ

1Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, 2but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. 4But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

8However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. 9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? 10You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

12I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; 13but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; 14and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. 15Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. 16So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them. 18But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you. 19My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you— 20but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

1) How does the breastpiece symbolize the priest’s shared burden for all Israel?

2) What does Isaiah reveal about יהוה’s justice and the restoration of His people’s honor?

3) How does the Spirit confirm our sonship?

Prayer for Mercy and Help

1Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down,

That the mountains might quake at Your presence—

2As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—

To make Your name known to Your adversaries,

That the nations may tremble at Your presence!

3When You did awesome things which we did not expect,

You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

4For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,

Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,

Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

5You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,

Who remembers You in Your ways.

Behold, You were angry, for we sinned,

We continued in them a long time;

And shall we be saved?

6For all of us have become like one who is unclean,

And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;

And all of us wither like a leaf,

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

7There is no one who calls on Your name,

Who arouses himself to take hold of You;

For You have hidden Your face from us

And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

8But now, O Lord, You are our Father,

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all of us are the work of Your hand.

9Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord,

Nor remember iniquity forever;

Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.

10Your holy cities have become a wilderness,

Zion has become a wilderness,

Jerusalem a desolation.

11Our holy and beautiful house,

Where our fathers praised You,

Has been burned by fire;

And all our precious things have become a ruin.

12Will You restrain Yourself at these things, O Lord?

Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

Jerusalem’s Godlessness

1“Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,

And look now and take note.

And seek in her open squares,

If you can find a man,

If there is one who does justice, who seeks truth,

Then I will pardon her.

2And although they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’

Surely they swear falsely.”

3O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth?

You have smitten them,

But they did not weaken;

You have consumed them,

But they refused to take correction.

They have made their faces harder than rock;

They have refused to repent.

4Then I said, “They are only the poor,

They are foolish;

For they do not know the way of the Lord

Or the ordinance of their God.

5I will go to the great

And will speak to them,

For they know the way of the Lord

And the ordinance of their God.”

But they too, with one accord, have broken the yoke

And burst the bonds.

6Therefore a lion from the forest will slay them,

A wolf of the deserts will destroy them,

A leopard is watching their cities.

Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces,

Because their transgressions are many,

Their apostasies are numerous.

7“Why should I pardon you?

Your sons have forsaken Me

And sworn by those who are not gods.

When I had fed them to the full,

They committed adultery

And trooped to the harlot’s house.

8They were well-fed lusty horses,

Each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

9Shall I not punish these people,” declares the Lord,

“And on a nation such as this

Shall I not avenge Myself?

10“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,

But do not execute a complete destruction;

Strip away her branches,

For they are not the Lord’s.

11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah

Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares the Lord.

12They have lied about the Lord

And said, “Not He;

Misfortune will not come on us,

And we will not see sword or famine.

13The prophets are as wind,

And the word is not in them.

Thus it will be done to them!”

Judgment Proclaimed

14Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts,

“Because you have spoken this word,

Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire

And this people wood, and it will consume them.

15Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord.

“It is an enduring nation,

It is an ancient nation,

A nation whose language you do not know,

Nor can you understand what they say.

16Their quiver is like an open grave,

All of them are mighty men.

17They will devour your harvest and your food;

They will devour your sons and your daughters;

They will devour your flocks and your herds;

They will devour your vines and your fig trees;

They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.

18“Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not make you a complete destruction. 19It shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

20“Declare this in the house of Jacob

And proclaim it in Judah, saying,

21‘Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people,

Who have eyes but do not see;

Who have ears but do not hear.

22Do you not fear Me?’ declares the Lord.

‘Do you not tremble in My presence?

For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,

An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it.

Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail;

Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.

23But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;

They have turned aside and departed.

24They do not say in their heart,

“Let us now fear the Lord our God,

Who gives rain in its season,

Both the autumn rain and the spring rain,

Who keeps for us

The appointed weeks of the harvest.”

25Your iniquities have turned these away,

And your sins have withheld good from you.

26For wicked men are found among My people,

They watch like fowlers lying in wait;

They set a trap,

They catch men.

27Like a cage full of birds,

So their houses are full of deceit;

Therefore they have become great and rich.

28They are fat, they are sleek,

They also excel in deeds of wickedness;

They do not plead the cause,

The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper;

And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

29Shall I not punish these people?’ declares the Lord,

‘On a nation such as this

Shall I not avenge Myself?’

30“An appalling and horrible thing

Has happened in the land:

31The prophets prophesy falsely,

And the priests rule on their own authority;

And My people love it so!

But what will you do at the end of it?