Today's Readings and Stuff -- Monday, 24 September 2018

We are officially into Autumn 😝   .  That's based upon the sun angle.  Technically, our "day" today is 12 hours 5 minutes, losing 2 minutes 43 seconds by tomorrow.  So we won't have a precise 12/12 this year or most others.  But Autumn is here.  And the weather will begin to reflect that sad reality.  Over the next 10 days, our highest "high" is expected to be 74° and several "highs" in the low 60's.  With lows as low as 49°.  Now, in a couple months, that 49° will seem downright tropical.  Yes, I hate this.


====================================================
====================================================

Isaiah 49

1Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

2And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;

3And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

4Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.

5And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.

6And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

7Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

8Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

9That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

10They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

11And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

12Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

13Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

14But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

15Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

16Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

17Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

18Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

19For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

20The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

21Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

22Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

23And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

24Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

25But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

26And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Isaiah 50

1Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

2Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

3I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

4The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

5The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

6I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

7For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

8He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

10Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

11Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

======================================================
======================================================

Proverbs 20

1Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

2The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.

3It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

4The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.

5Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

6Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

7The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.

8A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

9Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

10Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.

11Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

12The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.

13Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

14It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

15There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

16Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

17Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

18Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.

19He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.

20Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

21An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.

22Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.

23Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good.

24Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?

25It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.

26A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.

27The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

28Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.

29The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.

30The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.

====================================================
====================================================

2nd Thessalonians 3

1Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:

2And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

3But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

4And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.

5And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

6Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

7For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;

8Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:

9Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.

10For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

11For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

12Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.

13But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.

14And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

15Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

16Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

17The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.

18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.