October 5: Isaiah 23-25; Psalm 89:1-29; Acts 11

Isaiah 23-25

An Oracle Concerning Tyre and Sidon

23 The oracle concerning Tyre.

  Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
    for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor!
  From the land of Cyprus¹
    it is revealed to them.
  Be still, O inhabitants of the coast;
    the merchants of Sidon, who cross the sea, have filled you.
  And on many waters
  your revenue was the grain of Shihor,
    the harvest of the Nile;
    you were the merchant of the nations.
  Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken,
    the stronghold of the sea, saying:
  “I have neither labored nor given birth,
    I have neither reared young men
    nor brought up young women.”
  When the report comes to Egypt,
    they will be in anguish² over the report about Tyre.
  Cross over to Tarshish;
    wail, O inhabitants of the coast!
  Is this your exultant city
    whose origin is from days of old,
  whose feet carried her
    to settle far away?
  Who has purposed this
    against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
  whose merchants were princes,
    whose traders were the honored of the earth?
  The LORD of hosts has purposed it,
    to defile the pompous pride of all glory,³
    to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
  Cross over your land like the Nile,
    O daughter of Tarshish;
    there is no restraint anymore.
  He has stretched out his hand over the sea;
    he has shaken the kingdoms;
  the LORD has given command concerning Canaan
    to destroy its strongholds.
  And he said:
  “You will no more exult,
    O oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon;
  arise, cross over to Cyprus,
    even there you will have no rest.”

Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This is the people that was not;⁴ Assyria destined it for wild beasts. They erected their siege towers, they stripped her palaces bare, they made her a ruin.

  Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
    for your stronghold is laid waste.

In that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days⁵ of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

  “Take a harp;
    go about the city,
    O forgotten prostitute!
  Make sweet melody;
    sing many songs,
    that you may be remembered.”

At the end of seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the LORD. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the LORD.

Judgment on the Whole Earth

24   Behold, the LORD will empty the earth⁶ and make it desolate,
    and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
  And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
    as with the slave, so with his master;
    as with the maid, so with her mistress;
  as with the buyer, so with the seller;
    as with the lender, so with the borrower;
    as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
  The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered;
    for the LORD has spoken this word.
  The earth mourns and withers;
    the world languishes and withers;
    the highest people of the earth languish.
  The earth lies defiled
    under its inhabitants;
  for they have transgressed the laws,
    violated the statutes,
    broken the everlasting covenant.
  Therefore a curse devours the earth,
    and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt;
  therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched,
    and few men are left.
  The wine mourns,
    the vine languishes,
    all the merry-hearted sigh.
  The mirth of the tambourines is stilled,
    the noise of the jubilant has ceased,
    the mirth of the lyre is stilled.
  No more do they drink wine with singing;
    strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
  The wasted city is broken down;
    every house is shut up so that none can enter.
  There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine;
    all joy has grown dark;
    the gladness of the earth is banished.
  Desolation is left in the city;
    the gates are battered into ruins.
  For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth
    among the nations,
  as when an olive tree is beaten,
    as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.
  They lift up their voices, they sing for joy;
    over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west.⁷
  Therefore in the east⁸ give glory to the LORD;
    in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
  From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise,
    of glory to the Righteous One.
  But I say, “I waste away,
    I waste away. Woe is me!
  For the traitors have betrayed,
    with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”
  Terror and the pit and the snare⁹
    are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!
  He who flees at the sound of the terror
    shall fall into the pit,
  and he who climbs out of the pit
    shall be caught in the snare.
  For the windows of heaven are opened,
    and the foundations of the earth tremble.
  The earth is utterly broken,
    the earth is split apart,
    the earth is violently shaken.
  The earth staggers like a drunken man;
    it sways like a hut;
  its transgression lies heavy upon it,
    and it falls, and will not rise again.
  On that day the LORD will punish
    the host of heaven, in heaven,
    and the kings of the earth, on the earth.
  They will be gathered together
    as prisoners in a pit;
  they will be shut up in a prison,
    and after many days they will be punished.
  Then the moon will be confounded
    and the sun ashamed,
  for the LORD of hosts reigns
    on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
  and his glory will be before his elders.

God Will Swallow Up Death Forever

25   O LORD, you are my God;
    I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
  for you have done wonderful things,
    plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
  For you have made the city a heap,
    the fortified city a ruin;
  the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
    it will never be rebuilt.
  Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
    cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
  For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
    a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
    a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
  for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
    like heat in a dry place.
  You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
    as heat by the shade of a cloud,
    so the song of the ruthless is put down.
  On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
  And he will swallow up on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    the veil that is spread over all nations.
    He will swallow up death forever;
  and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    for the LORD has spoken.
  It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the LORD; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
  For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain,
    and Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
    as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.¹⁰
  And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
    as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
    but the LORD will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill¹¹ of his hands.
  And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
    lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

(ESV)

Psalm 89:1-29

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maskil¹ of Ethan the Ezrahite.

89   I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever;
    with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
  For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
    in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
  You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to David my servant:
  ‘I will establish your offspring forever,
    and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah
  Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,
    your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
  For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?
    Who among the heavenly beings² is like the LORD,
  a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
    and awesome above all who are around him?
  O LORD God of hosts,
    who is mighty as you are, O LORD,
    with your faithfulness all around you?
  You rule the raging of the sea;
    when its waves rise, you still them.
  You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
    you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
  The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
    the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
  The north and the south, you have created them;
    Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
  You have a mighty arm;
    strong is your hand, high your right hand.
  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
    steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
  Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
    who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,
  who exult in your name all the day
    and in your righteousness are exalted.
  For you are the glory of their strength;
    by your favor our horn is exalted.
  For our shield belongs to the LORD,
    our king to the Holy One of Israel.
  Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,³ and said:
    “I have granted help to one who is mighty;
    I have exalted one chosen from the people.
  I have found David, my servant;
    with my holy oil I have anointed him,
  so that my hand shall be established with him;
    my arm also shall strengthen him.
  The enemy shall not outwit him;
    the wicked shall not humble him.
  I will crush his foes before him
    and strike down those who hate him.
  My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,
    and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
  I will set his hand on the sea
    and his right hand on the rivers.
  He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
    my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
  And I will make him the firstborn,
    the highest of the kings of the earth.
  My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
    and my covenant will stand firm⁴ for him.
  I will establish his offspring forever
    and his throne as the days of the heavens.

(ESV)

Acts 11

Peter Reports to the Church

11 Now the apostles and the brothers¹ who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party² criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” But Peter began and explained it to them in order: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house. And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?” When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists³ also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers⁴ living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

(ESV)