Isaiah 7; Isaiah 8; Ephesians 2

Isaiah 7

1 In the days of Ahaz (Jotham's son and grandson of Judah's King Uzziah), Aram's King Rezin and Israel's King Pekah (Remaliah's son) came up to attack Jerusalem, but they couldn't overpower it.

2 When the house of David was told that Aram had become allies with Ephraim, their hearts and the hearts of their people shook as the trees of a forest shake when there is a wind.

3 But the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the channel of the Upper Pool, by the road to the field where laundry is washed,

4 and say to him, ‘Be careful and stay calm. Don't fear, and don't lose heart over these two pieces of smoking torches, over the burning anger of Rezin, Aram, and Remaliah's son.

5 Aram has planned evil against you with Ephraim and Remaliah's son, saying,

6 “Let's march up against Judah, tear it apart, capture it for ourselves, and install Tabeel's son as its king.”

7 But the LORD God says: It won't happen; it won't take place.

8 The chief of Aram is Damascus; the chief of Damascus is Rezin (in sixty-five more years Ephraim will be shattered as a nation);

9 the chief of Ephraim is Samaria; and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you don't believe this, you can't be trusted.'”

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz:

11 "Ask a sign from the LORD your God. Make it as deep as the grave or as high as heaven."

12 But Ahaz said, "I won't ask; I won't test the LORD."

13 Then Isaiah said, "Listen, house of David! Isn't it enough for you to be tiresome for people that you are also tiresome before my God?

14 Therefore, the Lord will give you a sign. The young woman is pregnant and is about to give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel.

15 He will eat butter and honey, and learn to reject evil and choose good.

16 Before the boy learns to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned.

17 The LORD will bring upon you, upon your people, and upon your families days unlike any that have come since the day Ephraim broke away from Judah—the king of Assyria."

18 On that day, the LORD will whistle for the flies from the remotest streams of Egypt and for the bees that are in the land of Assyria.

19 They will come and settle in the steep ravines, in the cracks of the cliffs, in all the thornbushes, and in all the watering holes.

20 On that day, the Lord will shave with a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—with the king of Assyria—the head and the pubic hair, and will cut off the beard as well.

21 On that day, one will raise a young cow and two sheep

22 and will eat butter because of the abundance of milk, for all who remain in the land will eat butter and honey.

23 On that day, there will be thorns and thistles in every place where a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels once grew.

24 Only those with bows and arrows will go there, because the entire land will become thorns and thistles.

25 As for the hills that were once farmed with hoes, you won't go there for fear of the thorns and thistles. They will become places where cattle are turned loose and sheep wander.

Isaiah 8

1 The LORD said to me, "Take a large tablet, and write on it in ordinary letters, For Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

2 Summon trusted people, Uriah the priest and Zechariah, Jeberechiah's son, to witness it."

3 I then had sex with the prophetess, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then the LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

4 Before the boy knows how to say ‘my father' and ‘my mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria."

5 The LORD spoke again to me:

6 Since this people has rejected the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and instead rejoices over Rezin and Remaliah's son—

7 therefore, look, the Lord is raising up against them the powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates, the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will rise up over all its channels, overflowing all its banks,

8 and sweep into Judah, flooding, overflowing, and reaching up to the neck. But God is with us; the span of his wings will cover the width of the land.

9 Unite yourselves, peoples, and be shattered! Listen, all distant places of the earth! Prepare to be shattered! Prepare to be shattered!

10 Create a plan, but be frustrated! Speak a word, but it won't stand, for God is with us.

11 The LORD spoke to me, taking hold of me and warning me not to walk in the way of this people:

12 Don't call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy. Don't fear what they fear, and don't be terrified.

13 It is the LORD of heavenly forces whom you should hold sacred, whom you should fear, and whom you should hold in awe.

14 God will become a sanctuary— but he will be a stone to trip over and a rock to stumble on for the two houses of Israel; a trap and a snare for those living in Jerusalem.

15 Many of them will stumble and fall, and be broken, snared, and captured.

16 Bind up the testimony; seal up the teaching among my disciples.

17 I will wait for the LORD, who has hidden his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in God.

18 Look! I and the children the LORD gave me are signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of heavenly forces, who lives on Mount Zion.

19 If they say to you: "Consult the ghosts and the spirits that chirp and mutter. (Shouldn't a people consult its gods?) Consult the dead on behalf of the living

20 for instruction and for testimony"—they will surely say such things, but they will never see the dawn.

21 They will pass through the land, dejected and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will curse their king and God. They will turn toward heaven

22 and look to the earth, but they will see only distress and darkness, random movement, and the anguish and doom of banishment.

Ephesians 2

1 At one time you were like a dead person because of the things you did wrong and your offenses against God.

2 You used to live like people of this world. You followed the rule of a destructive spiritual power. This is the spirit of disobedience to God's will that is now at work in persons whose lives are characterized by disobedience.

3 At one time you were like those persons. All of you used to do whatever felt good and whatever you thought you wanted so that you were children headed for punishment just like everyone else.

4 -

5 However, God is rich in mercy. He brought us to life with Christ while we were dead as a result of those things that we did wrong. He did this because of the great love that he has for us. You are saved by God's grace!

6 And God raised us up and seated us in the heavens with Christ Jesus.

7 God did this to show future generations the greatness of his grace by the goodness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus.

8 You are saved by God's grace because of your faith. This salvation is God's gift. It's not something you possessed.

9 It's not something you did that you can be proud of.

10 Instead, we are God's accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.

11 So remember that once you were Gentiles by physical descent, who were called "uncircumcised" by Jews who are physically circumcised.

12 At that time you were without Christ. You were aliens rather than citizens of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of God's promise. In this world you had no hope and no God.

13 But now, thanks to Christ Jesus, you who once were so far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us.

15 He canceled the detailed rules of the Law so that he could create one new person out of the two groups, making peace.

16 He reconciled them both as one body to God by the cross, which ended the hostility to God.

17 When he came, he announced the good news of peace to you who were far away from God and to those who were near.

18 We both have access to the Father through Christ by the one Spirit.

19 So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God's people, and you belong to God's household.

20 As God's household, you are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

21 The whole building is joined together in him, and it grows up into a temple that is dedicated to the Lord.

22 Christ is building you into a place where God lives through the Spirit.