Isaiah 1; Isaiah 2; Galatians 5

1 This is the vision which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem at the time of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.

2 Listen, heaven, and pay attention, earth! The LORD has spoken, "I raised [my] children and helped them grow, but they have rebelled against me.

3 Oxen know their owners, and donkeys know where their masters feed them. But Israel doesn't know [its owner]. My people don't understand [who feeds them].

4 "How horrible it will be for a nation that sins. [Its] people are loaded down with guilt. They are descendants of evildoers and destructive children. They have abandoned the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have turned their backs on him.

5 "Why do you still want to be beaten? Why do you continue to rebel? Your whole head is infected. Your whole heart is failing.

6 From the bottom of your feet to the top of your head there is no healthy spot left on your [body]-- only bruises, sores, and fresh wounds. They haven't been cleansed, bandaged, or soothed with oil.

7 "Your country is devastated. Your cities are burned down. Your fields are destroyed right before your eyes by foreigners. Your fields are devastated and taken over by foreigners.

8 My people Zion are left like a hut in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a city under attack."

9 If the LORD of Armies hadn't left us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.

10 Listen to the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Pay attention to the teachings from our God, you people of Gomorrah!

11 The LORD asks, "What do your many animal sacrifices mean to me? I've had enough of your burnt offerings of rams and enough fat from your fattened calves. I'm not pleased with the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats.

12 When you appear in my presence, who asked you to trample on my courtyards?

13 Don't bring any more worthless grain offerings. Your incense is disgusting to me, so are your New Moon Festivals, your days of worship, and the assemblies you call. I can't stand your evil assemblies.

14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and your appointed festivals. They've become a burden to me, and I'm tired of putting up with them.

15 So when you stretch out your hands [in prayer], I will turn my eyes away from you. Even though you offer many prayers, I will not listen because your hands are covered with blood.

16 "Wash yourselves! Become clean! Get your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing evil.

17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Arrest oppressors. Defend orphans. Plead the case of widows."

18 "Come on now, let's discuss this!" says the LORD. "Though your sins are bright red, they will become as white as snow. Though they are dark red, they will become as white as wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.

20 But if you refuse and rebel, you will be destroyed by swords." The LORD has spoken.

21 How the faithful town has become a prostitute! She was full of justice, and righteousness lived in her. But now murderers live there!

22 Your silver is not pure. Your wine is watered down.

23 Your rulers are rebels, friends with thieves. They all love bribes and run after gifts. They never defend orphans. They don't notice the widows' pleas.

24 That's why the Lord, the LORD of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says, "How horrible it will be when I take revenge on my opponents! I will avenge myself against my enemies.

25 I will turn my power against you. I will remove your impurities with bleach. I will get rid of all your impurities.

26 I will give you judges like you had long ago, advisers like you had in the beginning. After that you will be called the Righteous City, the Faithful Town."

27 Zion will be pardoned by [the LORD's] justice, and those who return will be pardoned by [the LORD's] righteousness.

28 Rebels and sinners will be crushed at the same time, and those who abandon the LORD will come to an end.

29 You will be ashamed of the oaks that you wanted to worship and embarrassed by the garden that you have chosen for your gods.

30 You will be like an oak whose leaves wither and like a garden without water.

31 Strong people will become tinder for a fire, and their work will be the spark. Both of them will burn together, and there will be no one to put out the fire.

1 This is the message which Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem.

2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD's house will be established as the highest of the mountains and raised above the hills. All the nations will stream to it.

3 Then many people will come and say, "Let's go to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so that we may live by them." The teachings will go out from Zion. The word of the LORD will go out from Jerusalem.

4 Then he will judge disputes between nations and settle arguments between many people. They will hammer their swords into plowblades and their spears into pruning shears. Nations will never fight against each other, and they will never train for war again.

5 Come, descendants of Jacob, let's live in the light of the LORD.

6 LORD, you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob, because they are filled with Eastern influences. They are fortunetellers like the Philistines, and they make deals with foreigners.

7 Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures. Their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots.

8 Their land is filled with idols, and they worship what their hands have shaped and what their fingers have molded.

9 People will be brought down. Everyone will be humbled. Do not forgive them.

10 Go in among the rocks and hide underground because of the LORD's terrifying presence and the honor of his majesty.

11 The eyes of arrogant people will be humbled. High and mighty people will be brought down. On that day the LORD alone will be honored.

12 The LORD of Armies will have his day against all who are arrogant and conceited and all who are proud of themselves (they will be humbled),

13 against all the towering and mighty cedars of Lebanon and all the oaks of Bashan,

14 against all the high mountains and all the lofty hills,

15 against every high tower and every fortified wall,

16 against all the large ships of Tarshish and all the beautiful boats.

17 Then arrogant people will be brought down, and high and mighty people will be humbled. On that day the LORD alone will be honored.

18 Then idols will disappear completely.

19 People will go into caves in the rocks and into holes in the ground because of the LORD's terrifying presence and the honor of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.

20 On that day people will throw to the moles and the bats the silver and gold idols that they made for themselves to worship.

21 They will go into caves in the rocks and into cracks in the cliffs because of the LORD's terrifying presence and the honor of his majesty when he rises to terrify the earth.

22 Stop trusting people. Their life is in their nostrils. How can they be worth anything?

1 Christ has freed us so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. Therefore, be firm [in this freedom], and don't become slaves again.

2 I, Paul, can guarantee that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

3 Again, I insist that everyone who allows himself to be circumcised must realize that he obligates himself to do everything Moses' Teachings demand.

4 Those of you who try to earn God's approval by obeying his laws have been cut off from Christ. You have fallen out of God's favor.

5 However, in our spiritual nature, faith causes us to wait eagerly for the confidence that comes with God's approval.

6 As far as our relationship to Christ Jesus is concerned, it doesn't matter whether we are circumcised or not. But what matters is a faith that expresses itself through love.

7 You were doing so well. Who stopped you from being influenced by the truth?

8 The arguments of the person who is influencing you do not come from the one who is calling you.

9 A little yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough.

10 The Lord gives me confidence that you will not disagree with this. However, the one who is confusing you will suffer God's judgment regardless of who he is.

11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching that circumcision is necessary, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the cross wouldn't be offensive anymore.

12 I wish those troublemakers would castrate themselves.

13 You were indeed called to be free, brothers and sisters. Don't turn this freedom into an excuse for your corrupt nature to express itself. Rather, serve each other through love.

14 All of Moses' Teachings are summarized in a single statement, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."

15 But if you criticize and attack each other, be careful that you don't destroy each other.

16 Let me explain further. Live your life as your spiritual nature directs you. Then you will never follow through on what your corrupt nature wants.

17 What your corrupt nature wants is contrary to what your spiritual nature wants, and what your spiritual nature wants is contrary to what your corrupt nature wants. They are opposed to each other. As a result, you don't always do what you intend to do.

18 If your spiritual nature is your guide, you are not subject to Moses' laws.

19 Now, the effects of the corrupt nature are obvious: illicit sex, perversion, promiscuity,

20 idolatry, drug use, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambition, conflict, factions,

21 envy, drunkenness, wild partying, and similar things. I've told you in the past and I'm telling you again that people who do these kinds of things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the spiritual nature produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, and self-control. There are no laws against things like that.

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their corrupt nature along with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by our spiritual nature, then our lives need to conform to our spiritual nature.

26 We can't allow ourselves to act arrogantly and to provoke or envy each other.