Today's Readings and Stuff -- Monday, 03 September 2018 marked in the U.S. as "Labor Day"

so, in "honor" of Labor Day, I once again forgot to hit the "publish" button.  Some days I feel pretty stupid,  Sometimes, it's a week or longer.  Hope it's just a day this time.


Today is the day marked on the calendars as "Labor Day", meaning it's a legal holiday, one in which people put in extraordinary efforts to avoid any labor.  Make sense of that if you can.

Jesus Calls Us Oer The Tumult   this is one that is just stuck in my head.  Could be worse, right?

Greater Is He who is inside of me than he who is living in the world    Not one of the great hymns of the history of the church.  But a good reminder of the victory that we have in Jesus, no matter the circumstances.

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Isaiah 7

1And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.

2And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.is confederate…: Heb. resteth on

3Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear–jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;Shear–jashub: that is, The remnant shall returnhighway: or, causeway

4And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.neither…: Heb. let not thy heart be tender

5Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,

6Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:vex: or, waken

7Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.

8For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.that…: Heb. from a people

9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.If…: or, Do ye not believe? it is because ye are not stable

10Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,Moreover…: Heb. And the Lord added to speak

11Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.ask it…: or, make thy petition deep

12But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

13And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.shall call: or, thou, O virgin, shalt call

15Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

16For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

17The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

18And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

19And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.bushes: or, commendable trees

20In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

21And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;

22And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.the land: Heb. the midst of the land

23And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.

24With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.

25And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

Isaiah 8

1Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Maher–shalal–hash–baz.Maher–shalal–hash–baz: Heb. In making speed to the spoil he hasteneth the prey, or, Make speed, etc.

2And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.

3And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Maher–shalal–hash–baz.went: Heb. approached

4For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.the riches…: or, he that is before the king of Assyria shall take away the riches, etc.

5The Lord spake also unto me again, saying,

6Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;

7Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

8And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.stretching…: Heb. fulness of the breadth of thy land shall be the stretchings out of his wings

9Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.people, and: or, people, yet

10Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

11For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,with…: Heb. in strength of hand

12Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

13Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

14And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

15And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

16Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

17And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

18Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

19And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?

20To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.no…: Heb. no morning

21And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.

22And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

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Proverbs 5

1My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

2That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

3For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:mouth: Heb. palate

4But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

5Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

6Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

7Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

8Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

9Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

10Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;thy wealth: Heb. thy strength

11And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

12And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

13And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

14I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

15Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

16Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

17Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

18Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

19Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.satisfy…: Heb. water theebe thou…: Heb. err thou always in her love

20And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

21For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

22His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.sins: Heb. sin

23He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

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Phillipians 1

1Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

2Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

3I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

4Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,

5For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

7Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.

8For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

9And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;

10That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

11Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

12But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

13So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;

14And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

15Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

16The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:

17But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

18What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

19For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

20According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

22But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.

23For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

24Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

25And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

26That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

27Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

28And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.

29For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

30Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.