Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 19 September 2019

Happy Thursday wishes for all who stop by.  Even if it's not Thursday that day.
"Fun" day.  "Watching" the Little Guy, the Great-Nephew from next door as dad sleeps and mom is at work.  Well, that was fun.  He's recovering from that eyelid bee sting the other day.  The doctor was concerned about a possible infection in a very dangerous region of the body, the "triangle of death" as EMT's and ER nurses term it.  Hence the antibiotics.  Seem to be having the desired effect.  So that is good.
And Niece, his mom, came home to tell us that she'd just quit her job, and rather abruptly at that.  Just had had more than she could stand, so it had been coming for a while.  Without getting specific, they'd pretty well messed things up for her, and her husband before her, who left there a year ago.  She'd been offered a job already that could largely be done at home, with a net income not far from what she'd been getting, and without all the drama and rancor that's been going on for as long as we've been living here, if not before.  So there'll be some rearrangement of things as the things emerge.  We might be watching the Little Guy more than the couple days a week (she's been working only 2 or 3 days) or some other combination. We shall see.
The morning will have us heading across the county to see the Primary Care doc, part of our every-6-month Medicare check.  Fun, fun, fun.
So there's been all sorts of "stuff" going on.  Then I looked up the street, saw some excavation going on at nephew's parents house.  Without getting specific, their one daughter got mad at her husband, and moved back in with them, bringing two young daughters.  Things are a bit cramped, so they're adding onto the house to accommodate it.  The original plan had been to set up a double-wide trailer in the empty lot between the houses but apparently that fell through for some reason.  So that's more stuff going on. 

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Isaiah 39

1At that time Merodach–baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.

2And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

3Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.

4Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.

5Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts:

6Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.

7And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

8Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.

Isaiah 40

1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

2Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

3The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

5And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

6The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

9O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

10Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

11He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

13Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

14With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?

15Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.

17All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

18To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

19The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.

20He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

21Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

23That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

24Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.

26Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

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Proverbs 17

1Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.

2A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.

3The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.

4A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.

5Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.

6Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.

7Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.

8A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.

9He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.

10A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.

11An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.

12Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.

13Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.

14The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.

15He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.

16Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?

17A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

18A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.

19He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.

20He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.

21He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.

22A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

23A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

24Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.

25A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.

26Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.

27He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

28Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

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2nd Thessalonians 1

1Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

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

3We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

4So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

5Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

6Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

9Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

10When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

11Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:

12That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.