13Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens. 14He has raised up a horn for His people, the praise of all His saints, of Israel, a people near to Him. Hallelujah!
149Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song— His praise in the assembly of the godly. 2Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. 3Let them praise His name with dancing, and make music to Him with tambourine and harp. 4For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation. 5Let the saints exult in glory; let them shout for joy upon their beds. 6May the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a double-edged sword in their hands, 7to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with shackles of iron, 9to execute the judgment written against them. This honor is for all His saints. Hallelujah!
New Testament·2 Corinthians 6–7
1As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation! 3We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no one can discredit our ministry. 4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities; 5in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in labor, sleepless nights, and hunger; 6in purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8through glory and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet genuine; 9as unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed; 10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 11We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians. Our hearts are open wide. 12It is not our affection, but yours, that is restrained. 13As a fair exchange, I ask you as my children: Open wide your hearts also. 14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
7Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. 3I do not say this to condemn you. I have said before that you so occupy our hearts that we live and die together with you. 4Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows. 5For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction—conflicts on the outside, fears within. 6But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus, 7and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more. 8Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it, I now see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time. 9And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 12So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong or the one who was harmed, but rather that your earnestness on our behalf would be made clear to you in the sight of God. 13On account of this, we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were even more delighted by the joy of Titus. For his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. 14Indeed, I was not embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved to be true as well. 15And his affection for you is even greater when he remembers that you were all obedient as you welcomed him with fear and trembling. 16I rejoice that I can have complete confidence in you.
Old Testament·Isaiah 2–3
1This is the message that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3And many peoples will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4Then He will judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation, nor train anymore for war. 5Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. 6For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners. 7Their land is full of silver and gold, with no limit to their treasures; their land is full of horses, with no limit to their chariots. 8Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. 9So mankind is brought low, and man is humbled— do not forgive them! 10Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty. 11The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. 12For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted— it will be humbled— 13against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, 14against all the tall mountains, against all the high hills, 15against every high tower, against every fortified wall, 16against every ship of Tarshish, and against every stately vessel. 17So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, 18and the idols will vanish completely. 19Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth. 20In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold— the idols they made to worship. 21They will flee to caverns in the rocks and crevices in the cliffs, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth. 22Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
3For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water, 2the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the elder, 3the commander of fifty and the dignitary, the counselor, the cunning magician, and the clever enchanter. 4“I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them.” 5The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable. 6A man will seize his brother within his father’s house: “You have a cloak—you be our leader! Take charge of this heap of rubble.” 7On that day he will cry aloud: “I am not a healer. I have no food or clothing in my house. Do not make me leader of the people!” 8For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because they spoke and acted against the LORD, defying His glorious presence. 9The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves. 10Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor. 11Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done. 12Youths oppress My people, and women rule over them. O My people, your guides mislead you; they turn you from your paths. 13The LORD arises to contend; He stands to judge the people. 14The LORD brings this charge against the elders and leaders of His people: “You have devoured the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses. 15Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts. 16The LORD also says: “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty— walking with heads held high and wanton eyes, prancing and skipping as they go, jingling the bracelets on their ankles— 17the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will make their foreheads bare.” 18In that day the Lord will take away their finery: their anklets and headbands and crescents; 19their pendants, bracelets, and veils; 20their headdresses, ankle chains, and sashes; their perfume bottles and charms; 21their signet rings and nose rings; 22their festive robes, capes, cloaks, and purses; 23and their mirrors, linen garments, tiaras, and shawls. 24Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame. 25Your men will fall by the sword, and your warriors in battle. 26And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
Reflect
How is God calling you to be generous with what you have?