9“For this is like the days of Noah to Me,

When I swore that the waters of Noah

Would not flood the earth again;

So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you

Nor will I rebuke you.

10For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,

But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,

And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”

Says the Lord who has compassion on you.

11“O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,

Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,

And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.

12Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,

And your gates of crystal,

And your entire wall of precious stones.

13All your sons will be taught of the Lord;

And the well-being of your sons will be great.

14In righteousness you will be established;

You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;

And from terror, for it will not come near you.

15If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.

Whoever assails you will fall because of you.

16Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals

And brings out a weapon for its work;

And I have created the destroyer to ruin.

17No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;

And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,

And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.

20It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home. 21And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son. 22Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.

1) How does Isaiah use the image of the barren one to describe multiplication?

2) How does Stephen summarize Israel’s growth and Pharaoh’s oppression?

3) What does this show about יהוה’s promises even in exile?

Cornelius’s Vision

1Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, 2a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually. 3About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” 4And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; 6he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.” 7When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, 8and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

God’s Covenant with David

1And it came about, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains.” 2Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”

3It came about the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4“Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in; 5for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. 6In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’ 7Now, therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel. 8I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. 9I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and not be moved again; and the wicked will not waste them anymore as formerly, 10even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies.

Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you. 11When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. 14But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.” ’ ” 15According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer in Response

16Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? 17This was a small thing in Your eyes, O God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the standard of a man of high degree, O Lord God. 18What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant? For You know Your servant. 19O Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have wrought all this greatness, to make known all these great things. 20O Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21And what one nation in the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make You a name by great and terrible things, in driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed out of Egypt? 22For Your people Israel You made Your own people forever, and You, O Lord, became their God.

23“Now, O Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as You have spoken. 24Let Your name be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel; and the house of David Your servant is established before You.’ 25For You, O my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build for him a house; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You. 26Now, O Lord, You are God, and have promised this good thing to Your servant. 27And now it has pleased You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, O Lord, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”

Punishment for Wickedness Foretold

1Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2“And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel, ‘An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. 3Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. 4For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will know that I am the Lord!’

5“Thus says the Lord God, ‘A disaster, unique disaster, behold it is coming! 6An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it has come! 7Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come, the day is near—tumult rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. 8Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you; judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. 9My eye will show no pity nor will I spare. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, do the smiting.

10‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth; the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. 11Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them. 12The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for wrath is against all their multitude. 13Indeed, the seller will not regain what he sold as long as they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his iniquity.

14‘They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude. 15The sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within. He who is in the field will die by the sword; famine and the plague will also consume those in the city. 16Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity. 17All hands will hang limp and all knees will become like water. 18They will gird themselves with sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces and baldness on all their heads. 19They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling.

The Temple Profaned

20They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. 21I will give it into the hands of the foreigners as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they will profane it. 22I will also turn My face from them, and they will profane My secret place; then robbers will enter and profane it.

23‘Make the chain, for the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24Therefore, I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will possess their houses. I will also make the pride of the strong ones cease, and their holy places will be profaned. 25When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none. 26Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders. 27The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with horror, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their conduct I will deal with them, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”