1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the Israelites and say to them, ‘You shall be careful to present at its appointed time [during the year] My offering, My food for My offerings by fire as a sweet and soothing aroma to Me.’ 3 You shall say to the people, ‘This is the offering by fire which you shall present to the Lord every day: two male lambs one year old without blemish as a continual burnt offering. 4 You shall offer one lamb in the morning and you shall offer the other lamb at twilight, 5 also a tenth of an ephah of finely-milled flour as a grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of pressed oil. 6 It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained on Mount Sinai as a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. 7 Its drink offering shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the holy place you shall pour out a strong drink offering to the Lord. 8 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord.
9 ‘Then on the Sabbath day two male lambs one year old without blemish, and two-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering. 10 This is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.
11 ‘Then at the beginning of [each of] your months you shall present a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old without blemish; 12 and three-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, for each bull; and two-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, for the one ram; 13 and a tenth [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering of a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. 14 Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, and a third of a hin for a ram, and a fourth of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. 15 And one male goat as a sin offering to the Lord; it shall be offered with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering.
16 ‘The Lord’s Passover shall be on the fourteenth day of the first month [of each year]. 17 There shall be a feast on the fifteenth day of this month; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. 18 On the first day there shall be a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work that day. 19 But you shall present an offering by fire, a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old, without blemish. 20 For their grain offering you shall offer fine flour mixed with oil; three-tenths [of an ephah] for the bull, and two-tenths for the ram; 21 you shall offer a tenth [of an ephah] for each of the seven male lambs; 22 and one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. 23 You shall present these in addition to the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. 24 In this way you shall present daily, for seven days, the food of the offering by fire, a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord; it shall be presented with its drink offering in addition to the continual burnt offering. 25 On the seventh day you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work.
26 ‘Also on the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work. 27 You shall present the burnt offering as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs one year old; 28 and their grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three-tenths [of an ephah] for each bull, two-tenths for the one ram, 29 a tenth for each of the seven male lambs, 30 and one male goat to make atonement for you. 31 In addition to the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, you shall present them with their drink offerings. They shall be without blemish.
1 Give the king [knowledge of] Your judgments, O God,
And [the spirit of] Your righteousness to the king’s son [to guide all his ways].
2
May he judge Your people with righteousness,
And Your afflicted with justice.
3
The mountains will bring peace and prosperity to the people,
And the hills, in [the establishment of] righteousness.
4
May he bring justice to the poor among the people,
Save the children of the needy
And crush the oppressor,
5
Let them fear You [with awe-inspired reverence and worship You with obedience] while the sun endures,
And as long as the moon [reflects light], throughout all generations.
6
May he come down like rain on the mown grass,
Like showers that water the earth.
7
In his days may the righteous flourish,
And peace abound until the moon is no more.
8
May he also rule from sea to sea
And from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth.
9
The nomads of the desert will bow before him,
And his enemies will lick the dust.
10
The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring offerings;
The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts.
11
Yes, all kings will bow down before him,
All nations will serve him.
12
For he will rescue the needy when he cries for help,
The afflicted and abused also, and him who has no helper.
13
He will have compassion on the poor and needy,
And he will save the lives of the needy.
14
He will redeem their life from oppression and fraud and violence,
And their blood will be precious in His sight.
15
So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him;
And let them pray for him continually;
Let them bless and praise him all day long.
16
There will be an abundance of grain in the soil on the top of the mountains;
Its fruit will wave like [the cedars of] Lebanon,
And those of the city will flourish like grass of the earth.
17
May his name endure forever;
May his name continue as long as the sun;
And let men bless themselves by him;
Let all nations call him blessed.
18
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who alone does wonderful things.
19
Blessed be His glorious name forever;
And may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.
20
The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
1 The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Egypt:
Listen carefully, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
2
“So I will provoke Egyptians against Egyptians;
And they will fight, each one against his brother and each one against his neighbor,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom.
3
“Then the spirit of the Egyptians will become exhausted within them and emptied out;
And I will confuse their strategy,
So that they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
And mediums and soothsayers.
4
“And I will hand over the Egyptians to a hard and cruel master,
And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord God of hosts.
5
The waters from the sea will dry up,
And the river will be parched and dry.
6
The canals will become foul-smelling,
The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up,
The reeds and the rushes will rot away.
7
The meadows by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile,
And all the sown fields of the Nile
Will become dry, be blown away, and be no more.
8
The fishermen will lament (cry out in grief),
And all those who cast a hook into the Nile will mourn,
And those who spread nets upon the waters will languish.
9
Moreover, those who make linen from combed flax
And those who weave white cloth will be ashamed.
10
[Those who are] the pillars and foundations of Egypt will be crushed;
And all those who work for wages will be grieved in soul.
11
The princes of Zoan are complete fools;
The counsel of the Pharaoh’s wisest advisors has become stupid.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings?”
12
Where then are your wise men?
Please let them tell you,
And let them understand what the Lord of hosts
Has purposed against Egypt [if they can].
13
The princes of Zoan have acted like fools,
The princes of Memphis are deluded [and entertain false hope];
Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes
Have led Egypt astray.
14
The Lord has mixed a spirit of distortion within her;
Her leaders have caused Egypt to stagger in all that she does,
As a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15
There will be no work for Egypt
Which head or tail, [high] palm branch or [low] bulrush, may do.
16 In that day the Egyptians will become like [helpless] women, and they will tremble and be frightened because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He is going to wave over them. 17 The land of Judah [Assyria’s ally] will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is planning against Egypt.
18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of [the Hebrews of] Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One [of them] will be called the City of Destruction.
19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a memorial stone to the Lord near its border. 20 It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior, a [Great] Defender, and He will rescue them. 21 And so the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know [heed, honor, and cherish] the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifices [of animals] and offerings [of produce]; they will make a vow to the Lord and fulfill it. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing it; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and heal them.
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship and serve [the Lord] with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and with Assyria [in a Messianic league], a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage.”
1 In the year that the Tartan [the Assyrian commander in chief] came to Ashdod [in Philistia], when Sargon king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it, 2 at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, untie the sackcloth from your hips and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, walking around stripped [to his loincloth] and barefoot. 3 And the Lord said, “Even as My servant Isaiah has walked stripped and barefoot for three years as a sign and forewarning concerning Egypt and Cush (Ethiopia), 4 in the same way the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, young and old, stripped and barefoot, even with buttocks uncovered—to the shame of Egypt. 5 Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast. 6 So the inhabitants of this coastland [the Israelites and their neighbors] will say in that day, ‘Look what has happened to those in whom we hoped and trusted and to whom we fled for help to be spared from the king of Assyria! But we, how will we escape [captivity and exile]?’”
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Jesus Christ,
To those who have received and possess [by God’s will] a precious faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be multiplied to you in the [true, intimate] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has bestowed on us His precious and magnificent promises [of inexpressible value], so that by them you may escape from the immoral freedom that is in the world because of disreputable desire, and become sharers of the divine nature. 5 For this very reason, applying your diligence [to the divine promises, make every effort] in [exercising] your faith to, develop moral excellence, and in moral excellence, knowledge (insight, understanding), 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, steadfastness, and in your steadfastness, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly affection, and in your brotherly affection, [develop Christian] love [that is, learn to unselfishly seek the best for others and to do things for their benefit]. 8 For as these qualities are yours and are increasing [in you as you grow toward spiritual maturity], they will keep you from being useless and unproductive in regard to the true knowledge and greater understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is blind—shortsighted [closing his spiritual eyes to the truth], having become oblivious to the fact that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, believers, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you [be sure that your behavior reflects and confirms your relationship with God]; for by doing these things [actively developing these virtues], you will never stumble [in your spiritual growth and will live a life that leads others away from sin]; 11 for in this way entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly provided to you.
12 Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and are established in the truth which is held firmly in your grasp. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this earthly tent, to inspire you by reminding you, 14 knowing that the laying aside of this earthly tent of mine is imminent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 Moreover, I will diligently endeavor [to see to it] that even after my departure you will be able, at all times, to call these things to mind.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories or myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty [His grandeur, His authority, His sovereignty]. 17 For when He was invested with honor and [the radiance of the Shekinah] glory from God the Father, such a voice as this came to Him from the [splendid] Majestic Glory [in the bright cloud that overshadowed Him, saying], “This is My Son, My Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased and delighted”— 18 and we [actually] heard this voice made from heaven when we were together with Him on the holy mountain.
19 So we have the prophetic word made more certain. You do well to pay [close] attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and light breaks through the gloom and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But understand this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of or comes from one’s own [personal or special] interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.