Isaiah 62

ZION’S RESTORATION
Iwill not keep silent because of Zion,
and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem,
until her righteousness shines like a bright light
and her salvation, like a flaming torch.
2 Nations will see your righteousness
and all kings, your glory.
You will be given a new name
that the Lord’s mouth will announce.
3 You will be a glorious crown in the Lord’s hand,
and a royal diadem in the palm of your God’s hand.
4 You will no longer be called Deserted,
and your land will not be called Desolate;
instead, you will be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land will be married.
5 For as a young man marries a young woman,
so your sons will marry you;
and as a groom rejoices over his bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
6 Jerusalem,
I have appointed watchmen on your walls;
they will never be silent, day or night.
There is no rest for you,
who remind the Lord.
7 Do not give him rest
until he establishes and makes Jerusalem
the praise of the earth.
8 The Lord has sworn with his right hand
and his strong arm:
I will no longer give your grain
to your enemies for food,
and foreigners will not drink the new wine
for which you have labored.
9 For those who gather grain will eat it
and praise the Lord,
and those who harvest the grapes will drink the wine
in my holy courts.
10 Go out, go out through the city gates;
prepare a way for the people!
Build it up, build up the highway;
clear away the stones!
Raise a banner for the peoples.
11 Look, the Lord has proclaimed
to the ends of the earth,
“Say to Daughter Zion:
Look, your salvation is coming,
his wages are with him,
and his reward accompanies him.”
12 And they will be called the Holy People,
the Lord’s Redeemed;
and you will be called Cared For,
A City Not Deserted.

Isaiah 63

THE LORD’S DAY OF VENGEANCE
Who is this coming from Edom
in crimson-stained garments from Bozrah —
this one who is splendid in his apparel,
striding in his formidable might?
It is I, proclaiming vindication,
powerful to save.
2 Why are your clothes red,
and your garments like one who treads a winepress?
3 I trampled the winepress alone,
and no one from the nations was with me.
I trampled them in my anger
and ground them underfoot in my fury;
their blood spattered my garments,
and all my clothes were stained.
4 For I planned the day of vengeance,
and the year of my redemption came.
5 I looked, but there was no one to help,
and I was amazed that no one assisted;
so my arm accomplished victory for me,
and my wrath assisted me.
6 I crushed nations in my anger;
I made them drunk with my wrath
and poured out their blood on the ground.
REMEMBRANCE OF GRACE
7 I will make known the Lord’s faithful love
and the Lord’s praiseworthy acts,
because of all the Lord has done for us —
even the many good things
he has done for the house of Israel,
which he did for them based on his compassion
and the abundance of his faithful love.
8 He said, “They are indeed my people,
children who will not be disloyal,”
and he became their Savior.
9 In all their suffering, he suffered,
and the angel of his presence saved them.
He redeemed them
because of his love and compassion;
he lifted them up and carried them
all the days of the past.
10 But they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he became their enemy
and fought against them.
11 Then he remembered the days of the past,
the days of Moses and his people.
Where is he who brought them out of the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among the flock?
12 He made his glorious strength
available at the right hand of Moses,
divided the water before them
to make an eternal name for himself,
13 and led them through the depths
like a horse in the wilderness,
so that they did not stumble.
14 Like cattle that go down into the valley,
the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
You led your people this way
to make a glorious name for yourself.
ISRAEL’S PRAYER
15 Look down from heaven and see
from your lofty home ​— ​holy and beautiful.
Where is your zeal and your might?
Your yearning and your compassion
are withheld from me.
16 Yet you are our Father,
even though Abraham does not know us
and Israel doesn’t recognize us.
You, Lord, are our Father;
your name is Our Redeemer
from Ancient Times.
17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways?
You harden our hearts so we do not fear you.
Return, because of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
18 Your holy people had a possession
for a little while,
but our enemies have trampled down
your sanctuary.
19 We have become like those you never ruled,
like those who did not bear your name.

Isaiah 64

If only you would tear the heavens open
and come down,
so that mountains would quake at your presence —
2 just as fire kindles brushwood,
and fire boils water —
to make your name known to your enemies,
so that nations would tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome works
that we did not expect,
you came down,
and the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From ancient times no one has heard,
no one has listened to,
no eye has seen any God except you
who acts on behalf of the one who waits for him.
5 You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right;
they remember you in your ways.
But we have sinned, and you were angry.
How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?
6 All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment;
all of us wither like a leaf,
and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
7 No one calls on your name,
striving to take hold of you.
For you have hidden your face from us
and made us melt because of our iniquity.
8 Yet Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we all are the work of your hands.
9 Lord, do not be terribly angry
or remember our iniquity forever.
Please look ​— ​all of us are your people!
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful temple,
where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned down,
and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.
12 Lord, after all this, will you restrain yourself?
Will you keep silent and afflict us severely?

1 Thessalonians 5

THE DAY OF THE LORD
About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you.
2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. 6 So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.

EXHORTATIONS AND BLESSINGS
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we exhort you, brothers and sisters: warn those who are idle, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Don’t stifle the Spirit. 20 Don’t despise prophecies, 21 but test all things. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. 25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us also. 26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27 I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers and sisters. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

— 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28 (CSB)