Isaiah 5–6; Ephesians 1

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Isaiah 5–6

The Vineyard of the Lord Destroyed

Let me sing for my beloved

my love song concerning his vineyard:

My beloved had va vineyard

on a very fertile hill.

He dug it and cleared it of stones,

and planted it with wchoice vines;

he built a watchtower in the midst of it,

and hewed out a wine vat in it;

and xhe looked for it to yield grapes,

but it yielded wild grapes.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem

and men of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.

yWhat more was there to do for my vineyard,

that I have not done in it?

xWhen I looked for it to yield grapes,

why did it yield wild grapes?

And now I will tell you

what I will do to my vineyard.

I will remove zits hedge,

and it shall be devoured;1

aI will break down its wall,

and it shall be trampled down.

I will make it a waste;

it shall not be pruned or hoed,

and bbriers and thorns shall grow up;

cI will also command the clouds

that they rain no rain upon it.

dFor the vineyard of the Lord of hosts

is the house of Israel,

and the men of Judah

are his pleasant planting;

and he looked for justice,

but behold, bloodshed;2

for righteousness,

but behold, an outcry!3

Woe to the Wicked

Woe to those who ejoin house to house,

who add field to field,

until there is no more room,

and you are made to dwell alone

in the midst of the land.

The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:

fSurely many houses shall be desolate,

large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.

10  gFor ten acres4 of vineyard shall yield but one bath,

and a hhomer of seed shall yield but an ephah.5

11  Woe to those who irise early in the morning,

that they may run after strong drink,

who tarry late into the evening

as wine inflames them!

12  jThey have lyre and harp,

tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts,

kbut they do not regard the deeds of the Lord,

or see the work of his hands.

13  Therefore my people go into exile

lfor lack of knowledge;6

their mhonored men go hungry,7

and their multitude is parched with thirst.

14  Therefore Sheol has nenlarged its appetite

and opened oits mouth beyond measure,

and the nobility of Jerusalem8 and her multitude will go down,

her revelers and he who pexults in her.

15  qMan is humbled, and each one is brought low,

and the eyes of the haughty9 are brought low.

16  rBut the Lord of hosts is exalted10 in justice,

and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.

17  Then shall the lambs graze sas in their pasture,

and tnomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich.

18  Woe to those who draw iniquity with ucords of falsehood,

who draw sin as with cart ropes,

19  who say: vLet him be quick,

let him speed his work

that we may see it;

let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,

and let it come, that we may know it!

20  Woe to wthose who call evil good

and good evil,

xwho put darkness for light

and light for darkness,

who put bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter!

21  Woe to those who are ywise in their own eyes,

and shrewd in their own sight!

22  Woe to those who are zheroes at drinking wine,

and valiant men in mixing strong drink,

23  who aacquit the guilty for a bribe,

and deprive the innocent of his right!

24  Therefore, bas the tongue of fire devours the stubble,

and as dry grass sinks down in the flame,

so ctheir root will be das rottenness,

and their blossom go up like dust;

for they have erejected the law of the Lord of hosts,

and have fdespised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25  Therefore gthe anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,

and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them,

and hthe mountains quaked;

and their corpses were ias refuse

in the midst of the streets.

jFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.

26  He will kraise a signal for nations far away,

and lwhistle for them mfrom the ends of the earth;

and behold, quickly, speedily they come!

27  nNone is weary, none stumbles,

none slumbers or sleeps,

not a waistband is loose,

not a sandal strap broken;

28  otheir arrows are sharp,

all their bows bent,

their horses’ hoofs seem like flint,

and their wheels plike the whirlwind.

29  Their roaring is like a lion,

like young lions they roar;

they growl and qseize their prey;

they carry it off, and none can rescue.

30  They will growl over it on that day,

like the growling of the sea.

And if one looks to the land,

behold, rdarkness and distress;

and the light is darkened by its clouds.

Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord

In the year that sKing Uzziah died I tsaw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train11 of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had usix wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

uHoly, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

vthe whole earth is full of his glory!12

And wthe foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and xthe house was filled with smoke. And I said: Woe is me! yFor I am lost; zfor I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the aKing, the Lord of hosts!

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he btouched my mouth and said: Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.

Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for cus? Then I said, Here I am! Send me. And he said, Go, and say to this people:

dKeep on hearing,13 but do not understand;

keep on seeing,14 but do not perceive.

10  eMake the heart of this people fdull,15

and their ears heavy,

and blind their eyes;

glest they see with their eyes,

and hear with their ears,

and understand with their hearts,

and turn and be healed.

11  Then I said, hHow long, O Lord?

And he said:

Until icities lie waste

without inhabitant,

and houses without people,

and the land is a desolate waste,

12  and the Lord removes people far away,

and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

13  jAnd though a tenth remain in it,

it will be burned16 again,

like a terebinth or an oak,

whose stump kremains

when it is felled.

lThe holy seed17 is its stump.


Ephesians 1

Greeting

Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and care faithful1 in Christ Jesus:

dGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

eBlessed be fthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing gin the heavenly places, heven as he ichose us in him jbefore the foundation of the world, that we should be kholy and blameless before him. In love lhe predestined us2 for madoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, naccording to the purpose of his will, oto the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in pthe Beloved. qIn him we have rredemption sthrough his blood, tthe forgiveness of our trespasses, uaccording to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight vmaking known3 to us the mystery of his will, naccording to his purpose, which he wset forth in Christ 10 as a plan for xthe fullness of time, yto unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained zan inheritance, ahaving been predestined baccording to the purpose of him who works all things according to cthe counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be dto the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard ethe word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, fwere sealed with the gpromised Holy Spirit, 14 who is hthe guarantee4 of our iinheritance until jwe acquire kpossession of it,5 lto the praise of his glory.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

15 For this reason, mbecause I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love6 toward all the saints, 16 I ndo not cease to give thanks for you, oremembering you in my prayers, 17 that pthe God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, qmay give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 rhaving the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is sthe hope to which he has called you, what are tthe riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, uaccording to the working of vhis great might 20 that he worked in Christ wwhen he raised him from the dead and xseated him at his right hand yin the heavenly places, 21 zfar above aall rule and authority and power and dominion, and above bevery name that is named, not only in cthis age but also in the one to come. 22 And dhe put all things under his feet and gave him as ehead over all things to the church, 23 fwhich is his body, gthe fullness of him hwho fills iall in all.