March 12
Isaiah 5 & 1Corinthians 7
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Isaiah 5

Chapter 5

5:1I will sing about the one I love,
a song about my loved one's vineyard:
The one I love had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones,
and planted it with the finest vines.
He built a tower in the middle of it
and even dug out a winepress there.
He expected it to yield good grapes,
but it yielded worthless grapes.
3So now, residents of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
please judge between Me
and My vineyard.
4What more could I have done for My vineyard
than I did?
Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes,
did it yield worthless grapes?
5Now I will tell you
what I am about to do to My vineyard:
I will remove its hedge,
and it will be consumed;
I will tear down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6I will make it a wasteland.
It will not be pruned or weeded;
thorns and briers will grow up.
I will also give orders to the clouds
that rain should not fall on it.
7For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah,
the plant He delighted in.
He looked for justice
but saw injustice,
for righteousness,
but heard cries of wretchedness.
8Woe to those who add house to house
and join field to field
until there is no more room
and you alone are left in the land.
9I heard the Lord of Hosts say:
Indeed, many houses will become desolate,
grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.
10For a ten-acre vineyard will yield
only six gallons,
and 10 bushels of seed will yield
only one bushel.
11Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of beer,
who linger into the evening,
inflamed by wine.
12At their feasts they have lyre, harp,
tambourine, flute, and wine.
They do not perceive the Lord's actions,
and they do not see the work of His hands.
13Therefore My people will go into exile
because they lack knowledge;
her dignitaries are starving,
and her masses are parched with thirst.
14Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat
and opens wide its enormous jaws,
and down go Zion's dignitaries, her masses,
her crowds, and those who carouse in her!
15Humanity is brought low, man is humbled,
and haughty eyes are humbled.
16But the Lord of Hosts is exalted by His justice,
and the holy God is distinguished by righteousness.
17Lambs will graze
as if in their own pastures,
and strangers will eat
among the ruins of the rich.
18Woe to those who drag wickedness
with cords of deceit
and pull sin along with cart ropes,
19to those who say:
"Let Him hurry up and do His work quickly
so that we can see it!
Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take place
so that we can know it!"
20Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion
and clever in their own sight.
22Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are fearless at mixing beer,
23who acquit the guilty for a bribe
and deprive the innocent of justice.
24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected
the instruction of the Lord of Hosts,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel.
25Therefore the Lord's anger burns against His people.
He raised His hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,
and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.
In all this, His anger is not removed,
and His hand is still raised to strike.
26He raises a signal flag for the distant nations
and whistles for them from the ends of the earth.
Look-how quickly and swiftly they come!
27None of them grows weary or stumbles;
no one slumbers or sleeps.
No belt is loose
and no sandal strap broken.
28Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows strung.
Their horses' hooves are like flint;
their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
29Their roaring is like a lion's;
they roar like young lions;
they growl and seize their prey
and carry it off,
and no one can rescue it.
30On that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
When one looks at the land,
there will be darkness and distress;
light will be obscured by clouds.

1Corinthians 7

Chapter 7

7:1Now in response to the matters you wrote about: "It is good for a man not to have relations with a woman." 2But because sexual immorality is so common, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. 3A husband should fulfill his marital responsibility to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. 4A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does. 5Do not deprive one another sexually-except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6I say the following as a concession, not as a command. 7I wish that all people were just like me. But each has his own gift from God, one person in this way and another in that way.
8I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am. 9But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with desire.
10I command the married-not I, but the Lord-a wife is not to leave her husband. 11But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband-and a husband is not to leave his wife. 12But I (not the Lord) say to the rest: If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not leave her. 13Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not leave her husband. 14For the unbelieving husband is set apart for God by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is set apart for God by the husband. Otherwise your children would be corrupt, but now they are set apart for God. 15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace. 16For you, wife, how do you know whether you will save your husband? Or you, husband, how do you know whether you will save your wife?
17However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him. This is what I command in all the churches. 18Was anyone already circumcised when he was called? He should not undo his circumcision. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? He should not get circumcised. 19Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter, but keeping God's commands does. 20Each person should remain in the life situation in which he was called. 21Were you called while a slave? It should not be a concern to you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity. 22For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ's slave. 23You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24Brothers, each person should remain with God in whatever situation he was called.
25About virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I do give an opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. 26Therefore I consider this to be good because of the present distress: It is fine for a man to remain as he is. 27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28However, if you do get married, you have not sinned, and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such people will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. 29And I say this, brothers: The time is limited, so from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none, 30those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, 31and those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. For this world in its current form is passing away.
32I want you to be without concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord-how he may please the Lord. 33But a married man is concerned about the things of the world-how he may please his wife- 34and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world-how she may please her husband. 35Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.
36But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin, if she is past marriageable age, and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married. 37But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will) and has decided in his heart to keep his own virgin, will do well. 38So then he who marries his virgin does well, but he who does not marry will do better.
39A wife is bound as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants-only in the Lord. 40But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

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