March 23
Isaiah 14 & 1Corinthians 14
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Isaiah 14

Chapter 14

14:1For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will choose Israel again. He will settle them on their own land. The foreigner will join them and be united with the house of Jacob. 2The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord's land. They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.
3When the Lord gives you rest from your pain, torment, and the hard labor you were forced to do, 4you will sing this song of contempt about the king of Babylon and say:
How the oppressor has quieted down,
and how the raging has become quiet!
5The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers.
6It struck the peoples in anger
with unceasing blows.
It subdued the nations in rage
with relentless persecution.
7All the earth is calm and at rest;
people shout with a ringing cry.
8Even the cypresses and the cedars of Lebanon
rejoice over you:
"Since you have been laid low,
no woodcutter has come against us."
9Sheol below is eager to greet your coming.
He stirs up the spirits of the departed for you-
all the rulers of the earth.
He makes all the kings of the nations
rise from their thrones.
10They all respond to you, saying:
"You too have become as weak as we are;
you have become like us!
11Your splendor has been brought down to Sheol,
along with the music of your harps.
Maggots are spread out under you,
and worms cover you."
12Shining morning star,
how you have fallen from the heavens!
You destroyer of nations,
you have been cut down to the ground.
13You said to yourself:
"I will ascend to the heavens;
I will set up my throne
above the stars of God.
I will sit on the mount of the gods' assembly,
in the remotest parts of the North.
14I will ascend above the highest clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."
15But you will be brought down to Sheol
into the deepest regions of the Pit.
16Those who see you will stare at you;
they will look closely at you:
"Is this the man who caused the earth to tremble,
who shook the kingdoms,
17who turned the world into a wilderness,
who destroyed its cities
and would not release the prisoners to return home?"
18All the kings of the nations
lie in splendor, each in his own tomb.
19But you are thrown out without a grave,
like a worthless branch,
covered by those slain with the sword
and dumped into a rocky pit like a trampled corpse.
20You will not join them in burial,
because you destroyed your land
and slaughtered your own people.
The offspring of evildoers
will never be remembered.
21Prepare a place of slaughter for his sons,
because of the iniquity of their fathers.
They will never rise up to possess a land
or fill the surface of the earth with cities.
22"I will rise up against them"-this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts-"and I will cut off from Babylon her reputation, remnant, offspring, and posterity"-this is the Lord's declaration. 23"I will make her a swampland and a region for screech owls, and I will sweep her away with a broom of destruction."

This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
24The Lord of Hosts has sworn:
As I have purposed, so it will be;
as I have planned it, so it will happen.
25I will break Assyria in My land;
I will tread him down on My mountain.
Then his yoke will be taken from them,
and his burden will be removed from their shoulders.
26This is the plan prepared
for the whole earth,
and this is the hand stretched out
against all the nations.
27The Lord of Hosts Himself has planned it;
therefore, who can stand in its way?
It is His hand that is outstretched,
so who can turn it back?
28In the year that King Ahaz died, this oracle came:
29Don't rejoice, all of you in Philistia,
because the rod of the one who struck you is broken.
For a viper will come from the root of a snake,
and from its egg comes a flying serpent.
30Then the firstborn of the poor will be well fed,
and the impoverished will lie down in safety,
but I will kill your root with hunger,
and your remnant will be slain.
31Wail, you gates! Cry out, city!
Tremble with fear, all Philistia!
For a cloud of dust is coming from the north,
and there is no one missing from the invader's ranks.
32What answer will be given to the messengers from that nation?
The Lord has founded Zion,
and His afflicted people find refuge in her.

1Corinthians 14

Chapter 14

14:1Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy. 2For the person who speaks in another language is not speaking to men but to God, since no one understands him; however, he speaks mysteries in the Spirit. 3But the person who prophesies speaks to people for edification, encouragement, and consolation. 4The person who speaks in another language builds himself up, but he who prophesies builds up the church. 5I wish all of you spoke in other languages, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in languages, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.
6But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in other languages, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7Even inanimate things that produce sounds-whether flute or harp-if they don't make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized? 8In fact, if the trumpet makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle? 9In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air. 10There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, and all have meaning. 11Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. 12So also you-since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.
13Therefore the person who speaks in another language should pray that he can interpret. 14For if I pray in another language, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with my understanding. 16Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit, how will the uninformed person say "Amen" at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? 17For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up. 18I thank God that I speak in other languages more than all of you; 19yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than 10,000 words in another language.
20Brothers, don't be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking. 21It is written in the law:
I will speak to these people
by people of other languages
and by the lips of foreigners,
and even then, they will not listen to Me,
says the Lord. 22It follows that speaking in other languages is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers. But prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23Therefore, if the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in other languages and people who are uninformed or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or uninformed person comes in, he is convicted by all and is judged by all. 25The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, "God is really among you."
26What then is the conclusion, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, another language, or an interpretation. All things must be done for edification. 27If any person speaks in another language, there should be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and someone must interpret. 28But if there is no interpreter, that person should keep silent in the church and speak to himself and to God. 29Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. 30But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent. 31For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. 32And the prophets' spirits are under the control of the prophets, 33since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints, 34the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but should be submissive, as the law also says. 35And if they want to learn something, they should ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church meeting. 36Did the word of God originate from you, or did it come to you only?
37If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord's command. 38But if anyone ignores this, he will be ignored. 39Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in other languages. 40But everything must be done decently and in order.

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