Luke 24:36-44; Hebrews 13:1-8; Proverbs 30; Isaiah 62; Isaiah 63; Isaiah 64

Luke 24:36-44

36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!"

37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.

38 And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."

40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?"

42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

43 and he took it and ate before them.

44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

Hebrews 13:1-8

1 Let brotherly love continue.

2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

6 So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Proverbs 30

1 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out.

2 Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man.

3 I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!

5 Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

6 Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

7 Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:

8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,

9 lest I be full and deny you and say, "Who is the LORD?" or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

10 Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

11 There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.

12 There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth.

13 There are those--how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift!

14 There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind.

15 The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough":

16 Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, "Enough."

17 The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.

18 Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand:

19 the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin.

20 This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I have done no wrong."

21 Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up:

22 a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food;

23 an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

24 Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise:

25 the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer;

26 the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs;

27 the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank;

28 the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces.

29 Three things are stately in their tread; four are stately in their stride:

30 the lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any;

31 the strutting rooster, the he-goat, and a king whose army is with him.

32 If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth.

33 For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife.

Isaiah 62

1 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.

2 The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.

3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married.

5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the LORD in remembrance, take no rest,

7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.

8 The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: "I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink your wine for which you have labored;

9 but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary."

10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; clear it of stones; lift up a signal over the peoples.

11 Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him."

12 And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.

Isaiah 63

1 Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? "It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save."

2 Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

3 "I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel.

4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.

5 I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me.

6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."

7 I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

8 For he said, "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely." And he became their Savior.

9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.

11 Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,

12 who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name,

13 who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble.

14 Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.

15 Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me.

16 For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.

17 O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.

18 Your holy people held possession for a little while; our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.

19 We have become like those over whom you have never ruled, like those who are not called by your name.

Isaiah 64

1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence--

2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil-- to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!

3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.

5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?

6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

8 But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

9 Be not so terribly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.

10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.

12 Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD? Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?