May 1
Isaiah 51 & Luke 14
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Isaiah 51

Chapter 51

51:1Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2Look to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain.
When I called him, he was only one;
I blessed him and made him many.
3For the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her waste places,
and He will make her wilderness like Eden,
and her desert like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and melodious song.
4Pay attention to Me, My people,
and listen to Me, My nation;
for instruction will come from Me,
and My justice for a light to the nations.
I will bring it about quickly.
5My righteousness is near,
My salvation appears,
and My arms will bring justice to the nations.
The coastlands will put their hope in Me,
and they will look to My strength.
6Look up to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants will die like gnats.
But My salvation will last forever,
and My righteousness will never be shattered.
7Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is My instruction:
do not fear disgrace by men,
and do not be shattered by their taunts.
8For the moth will devour them like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness will last forever,
and My salvation for all generations.
9Wake up, wake up!
Put on the strength of the Lord's power.
Wake up as in days past,
as in generations of long ago.
Wasn't it You who hacked Rahab to pieces,
who pierced the sea monster?
10Wasn't it You who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the sea-bed into a road
for the redeemed to pass over?
11And the redeemed of the Lord will return
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.
12I-I am the One who comforts you.
Who are you that you should fear man who dies,
or a son of man who is given up like grass?
13But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth.
You are in constant dread all day long
because of the fury of the oppressor,
who has set himself to destroy.
But where is the fury of the oppressor?
14The prisoner is soon to be set free;
he will not die and go to the Pit,
and his food will not be lacking.
15For I am Yahweh your God
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-
His name is Yahweh of Hosts.
16I have put My words in your mouth,
and covered you in the shadow of My hand,
in order to plant the heavens,
to found the earth,
and to say to Zion, "You are My people."
17Wake yourself, wake yourself up!
Stand up, Jerusalem,
you who have drunk the cup of His fury
from the hand of the Lord;
you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs-
the cup that causes people to stagger.
18There is no one to guide her
among all the children she has raised;
there is no one to take hold of her hand
among all the offspring she has brought up.
19These two things have happened to you:
devastation and destruction,
famine and sword.
Who will grieve for you?
How can I comfort you?
20Your children have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net.
They are full of the Lord's fury,
the rebuke of your God.
21So listen to this, afflicted
and drunken one-but not with wine.
22This is what your Lord says-
Yahweh, even your God,
who defends His people-
"Look, I have removed
the cup of staggering from your hand;
that goblet, the cup of My fury.
You will never drink it again.
23I will put it into the hands of your tormentors,
who said to you:
Lie down, so we can walk over you.
You made your back like the ground,
and like a street for those who walk on it.

Luke 14

Chapter 14

14:1One Sabbath, when He went to eat at the house of one of the leading Pharisees, they were watching Him closely. 2There in front of Him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid. 3In response, Jesus asked the law experts and the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" 4But they kept silent. He took the man, healed him, and sent him away. 5And to them, He said, "Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?" 6To this they could find no answer.
7He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noticed how they would choose the best places for themselves: 8"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don't recline at the best place, because a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by your host. 9The one who invited both of you may come and say to you, 'Give your place to this man,' and then in humiliation, you will proceed to take the lowest place.
10"But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' You will then be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
12He also said to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a lunch or a dinner, don't invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. 13On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
15When one of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!"
16Then He told him: "A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. 17At the time of the banquet, he sent his slave to tell those who were invited, 'Come, because everything is now ready.'
18"But without exception they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.'
19"Another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.'
20"And another said, 'I just got married, and therefore I'm unable to come.'
21"So the slave came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his slave, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame!'
22"'Master,' the slave said, 'what you ordered has been done, and there's still room.'
23"Then the master told the slave, 'Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. 24For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will enjoy my banquet!'"
25Now great crowds were traveling with Him. So He turned and said to them: 26"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters-yes, and even his own life-he cannot be My disciple. 27Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28"For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn't first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to make fun of him, 30saying, 'This man started to build and wasn't able to finish.'
31"Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with 10,000 to oppose the one who comes against him with 20,000? 32If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple.
34"Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? 35It isn't fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!"

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