Psalm 124

New King James Version

The Lord the Defense of His People

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

124 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our ^(A)side,”
^(B)Let Israel now say—
²“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
³Then they would have ^(C)swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
⁴Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have ^[a]gone over our soul;
⁵Then the swollen waters
Would have ^[b]gone over our soul.”

⁶Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
⁷^(D)Our soul has escaped ^(E)as a bird from the snare of the ^[c]fowlers;
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
⁸^(F)Our help is in the name of the Lord,
^(G)Who made heaven and earth.

Footnotes

Psalm 124:4 swept over
Psalm 124:5 swept over
Psalm 124:7 Persons who catch birds in a trap or snare

Isaiah 29

New King James Version

Woe to Jerusalem

29 “Woe ^(A)to ^[a]Ariel, to Ariel, the city ^(B)where David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.
²Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
³I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.
⁴You shall be brought down,
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, ^(C)out of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

⁵“Moreover the multitude of your ^(D)foes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like ^(E)chaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be ^(F)in an instant, suddenly.
⁶^(G)You will be punished by the Lord of hosts
With thunder and ^(H)earthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.
⁷^(I)The multitude of all the nations who fight against ^[b]Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be ^(J)as a dream of a night vision.
⁸^(K)It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look—he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look—he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:
So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion.”

The Blindness of Disobedience

⁹Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
^(L)They are drunk, ^(M)but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
¹⁰For ^(N)the Lord has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has ^(O)closed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, ^(P)the seers.

¹¹The whole vision has become to you like the words of a ^[c]book ^(Q)that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”

^(R)And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”

¹²Then the book is delivered to one who ^[d]is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.”

And he says, “I am not literate.”

¹³Therefore the Lord said:

^(S)“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me ^(T)with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
¹⁴^(U)Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
^(V)For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”

¹⁵^(W)Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
^(X)They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
¹⁶Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the ^(Y)thing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?

Future Recovery of Wisdom

¹⁷Is it not yet a very little while
Till ^(Z)Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
¹⁸^(AA)In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
¹⁹^(AB)The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord,
And ^(AC)the poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.
²⁰For the ^[e]terrible one is brought to nothing,
^(AD)The scornful one is consumed,
And all who ^(AE)watch for iniquity are cut off—
²¹Who make a man an offender by a word,
And ^(AF)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just ^(AG)by empty words.

²²Therefore thus says the Lord, ^(AH)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:

“Jacob shall not now be ^(AI)ashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
²³But when he sees his children,
^(AJ)The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
²⁴These also ^(AK)who erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine.”

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Footnotes

Isaiah 29:1 Jerusalem, lit. Lion of God
Isaiah 29:7 Jerusalem
Isaiah 29:11 scroll
Isaiah 29:12 Lit. does not know books
Isaiah 29:20 terrifying

1 John 2:18-29

New King James Version

Deceptions of the Last Hour

¹⁸^(A)Little children, ^(B)it is the last hour; and as you have heard that ^(C)the^[a] Antichrist is coming, ^(D)even now many antichrists have come, by which we know ^(E)that it is the last hour. ¹⁹^(F)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^(G)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out ^(H)that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

²⁰But ^(I)you have an anointing ^(J)from the Holy One, and ^(K)you^[b] know all things. ²¹I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

²²^(L)Who is a liar but he who denies that ^(M)Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. ²³^(N)Whoever denies the Son does not have the ^(O)Father either; ^(P)he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Let Truth Abide in You

²⁴Therefore let that abide in you ^(Q)which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, ^(R)you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵^(S)And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

²⁶These things I have written to you concerning those who try to ^[c]deceive you. ²⁷But the ^(T)anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and ^(U)you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing ^(V)teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you ^[d]will abide in Him.

The Children of God

²⁸And now, little children, abide in Him, that ^[e]when He appears, we may have ^(W)confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. ²⁹^(X)If you know that He is righteous, you know that ^(Y)everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.