WEBVTT 00:00:00.860 --> 00:00:03.700 Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:05.719 taking this journey together to read the Bible 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:08.820 in a year. Today's reading is from the book of 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:14.839 Isaiah, chapters 13, 21, 33 through 35. Chapter 00:00:14.839 --> 00:00:18.539 13. The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the 00:00:18.539 --> 00:00:21.519 son of Amos saw. Lift up a banner on the high 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.239 mountain. Raise your voice to them. Wave your 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:26.780 hand that they may enter the gates of the nobles. 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:30.620 I have commanded my sanctified ones. I have also 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:33.719 called my mighty ones for my anger, those who 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:36.719 rejoice in my exaltation. The noise of a multitude 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:39.679 in the mountains, like that of many people. A 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:42.619 tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered 00:00:42.619 --> 00:00:45.799 together. The Lord of hosts musters the army 00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:48.619 for battle. They come from a far country, from 00:00:48.619 --> 00:00:51.000 the end of heaven. The Lord and his weapons of 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:54.240 indignation to destroy the whole land. Wait! 00:00:54.619 --> 00:00:57.320 For the whole day of the Lord is at hand. It 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:00.060 will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:03.039 all hands will be limp, every man's heart will 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:06.519 melt, and they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows 00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:08.859 will take hold of them. They will be in pain 00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:11.640 as a woman in childbirth. They will be amazed 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:14.459 at one another, their faces will be like flames. 00:01:15.099 --> 00:01:18.000 Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel with 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.959 both wrath and fierce anger. to lay the land 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.819 desolate, and he will destroy its sinners from 00:01:23.819 --> 00:01:26.819 it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations 00:01:26.819 --> 00:01:29.900 will not give their light, the sun will be darkened 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:32.099 in its going forth, and the moon will not cause 00:01:32.099 --> 00:01:35.140 its light to shine. I will punish the world for 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:37.500 its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. 00:01:37.540 --> 00:01:40.180 I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will 00:01:40.180 --> 00:01:43.359 lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:46.379 make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man 00:01:46.379 --> 00:01:49.700 more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore 00:01:49.700 --> 00:01:51.760 I will shake the heavens, and the earth will 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:54.519 move out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord 00:01:54.519 --> 00:01:56.659 of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.140 It shall be as the hunted gazelle, and as a sheep 00:02:00.140 --> 00:02:03.079 that no man takes up. Every man will turn to 00:02:03.079 --> 00:02:05.319 his own people, and everyone will flee to his 00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:08.340 own land. Everyone who is found will be thrust 00:02:08.340 --> 00:02:11.180 through, and everyone who is captured will fall 00:02:11.180 --> 00:02:14.560 by the sword. Their children also will be dashed 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:16.900 to pieces before their eyes, their houses will 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:20.090 be plundered, and their wives ravaged. Behold, 00:02:20.110 --> 00:02:22.669 I will stir up the Medes against them, who will 00:02:22.669 --> 00:02:25.550 not regard silver, and as for gold, they will 00:02:25.550 --> 00:02:28.289 not delight in it. Also their bows will dash 00:02:28.289 --> 00:02:30.590 the young men to pieces, and they will have no 00:02:30.590 --> 00:02:33.530 pity on the fruit of the womb. Their eye will 00:02:33.530 --> 00:02:36.030 not spare children. In Babylon the glory of kingdoms, 00:02:36.270 --> 00:02:39.030 the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, will be as 00:02:39.030 --> 00:02:41.550 when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:44.610 never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from 00:02:44.610 --> 00:02:47.509 generation to generation, nor will the Arabian 00:02:47.509 --> 00:02:50.969 pitch tents there. Nor will the shepherds make 00:02:50.969 --> 00:02:53.849 their sheepfolds there. But wild beasts of the 00:02:53.849 --> 00:02:56.090 desert will lie there, and their houses will 00:02:56.090 --> 00:02:59.189 be full of owls. Ostriches will dwell there, 00:02:59.330 --> 00:03:02.689 and wild goats will caper there. The hyenas will 00:03:02.689 --> 00:03:05.349 howl in their citadels, and jackals in their 00:03:05.349 --> 00:03:08.789 pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and 00:03:08.789 --> 00:03:14.870 her days will not be prolonged. Chapter 21 The 00:03:14.870 --> 00:03:18.430 Burden Against the Wilderness of the Sea As whirlwinds 00:03:18.430 --> 00:03:21.229 in the south pass through, so it comes from the 00:03:21.229 --> 00:03:24.110 desert, from a terrible land. A distressing vision 00:03:24.110 --> 00:03:27.189 is declared to me. The treacherous dealer deals 00:03:27.189 --> 00:03:30.490 treacherously, and the plunderer plunders. Go 00:03:30.490 --> 00:03:34.289 up, O Elam, besiege O Media. All its sighing 00:03:34.289 --> 00:03:37.330 I have made to cease. Therefore my loins are 00:03:37.330 --> 00:03:40.030 filled with pain. Pangs have taken hold of me 00:03:40.030 --> 00:03:43.099 like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed 00:03:43.099 --> 00:03:45.419 when I heard it, I was dismayed when I saw it. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:48.979 My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me. 00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:51.800 The night for which I longed, he turned into 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:55.159 fear for me. Prepare the table, set a watchman 00:03:55.159 --> 00:03:58.580 in the tower, eat and drink. Arise, you princes, 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:01.620 anoint the shield. For thus has the Lord said 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:04.759 to me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:07.360 he sees. And he saw a chariot with a pair of 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:09.669 horsemen. a chariot of donkeys and a chariot 00:04:09.669 --> 00:04:12.189 of camels. And he listened earnestly with great 00:04:12.189 --> 00:04:15.710 care. Then he cried, A lion, my lord! I stand 00:04:15.710 --> 00:04:17.709 continually on the watchtower in the daytime. 00:04:18.009 --> 00:04:20.810 I have sat at my post every night. And look, 00:04:20.990 --> 00:04:23.889 here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen. 00:04:24.110 --> 00:04:26.730 Then he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, 00:04:26.910 --> 00:04:30.009 is fallen. And all the carved images of her gods 00:04:30.009 --> 00:04:33.769 he has broken to the ground. O my threshing and 00:04:33.769 --> 00:04:36.500 the grain of my floor! That which I have heard 00:04:36.500 --> 00:04:39.120 from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.339 have declared to you. The burden against Duma. 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:45.899 He calls to me out of Seir. Watchman, what of 00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:49.160 the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:52.060 said, the morning comes and also the night. If 00:04:52.060 --> 00:04:55.100 you will inquire, inquire. Return, come back. 00:04:55.819 --> 00:04:59.259 The burden against Arabia. In the forest in Arabia 00:04:59.259 --> 00:05:02.120 you will lodge. O you traveling companies of 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.879 Dedanites! O inhabitants of the land of Tema! 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:07.939 Bring water to him who is thirsty. With their 00:05:07.939 --> 00:05:11.319 bread they met him who fled. For they fled from 00:05:11.319 --> 00:05:14.120 the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:17.339 bow, and from the distress of war. For thus the 00:05:17.339 --> 00:05:19.920 Lord has said to me, Within a year, according 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:22.839 to the year of a hired man, all the glory of 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:25.680 Kedar will fail. and the remainder of the number 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.360 of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, 00:05:28.540 --> 00:05:31.360 will be diminished, for the Lord God of Israel 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:37.939 has spoken it. Chapter 33 Woe to you who plunder, 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:40.680 though you have not been plundered, and you who 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:43.199 deal treacherously, though they have not dealt 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:46.319 treacherously with you. When you cease plundering, 00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:49.019 you will be plundered. When you make an end of 00:05:49.019 --> 00:05:51.819 dealing treacherously, they will deal treacherously 00:05:51.819 --> 00:05:55.209 with you. O Lord, be gracious to us. We have 00:05:55.209 --> 00:05:58.230 waited for you. Be their arm every morning, our 00:05:58.230 --> 00:06:00.970 salvation also in the time of trouble. At the 00:06:00.970 --> 00:06:03.829 noise of the tumult the people shall flee. When 00:06:03.829 --> 00:06:06.610 you lift yourself up, the nations shall be scattered, 00:06:06.829 --> 00:06:09.290 and your plunder shall be gathered, like the 00:06:09.290 --> 00:06:11.829 gathering of the caterpillar. As the running 00:06:11.829 --> 00:06:15.170 to and fro of locusts, he shall run upon them. 00:06:15.269 --> 00:06:18.769 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high. He 00:06:18.769 --> 00:06:20.910 has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. 00:06:21.610 --> 00:06:24.410 Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of 00:06:24.410 --> 00:06:27.029 your times. And the strength of salvation, the 00:06:27.029 --> 00:06:29.949 fear of the Lord, is his treasure. Surely their 00:06:29.949 --> 00:06:33.089 valiant ones shall cry outside. The ambassadors 00:06:33.089 --> 00:06:36.089 of peace shall weep bitterly. The highways lie 00:06:36.089 --> 00:06:39.110 waste. The traveling man ceases. He has broken 00:06:39.110 --> 00:06:42.129 the covenant. He has despised the cities. He 00:06:42.129 --> 00:06:45.389 regards no man. The earth mourns and languishes. 00:06:45.589 --> 00:06:48.870 Lebanon is shamed and shriveled. Sharon is like 00:06:48.870 --> 00:06:51.730 a wilderness, and Bashan and Carmel shake off 00:06:51.730 --> 00:06:54.910 their fruits. Now I will rise, says the Lord, 00:06:55.110 --> 00:06:57.930 now I will be exalted, now I will lift myself 00:06:57.930 --> 00:07:01.410 up. You shall conceive chaff, you shall bring 00:07:01.410 --> 00:07:04.889 forth stubble. Your breath as fire shall devour 00:07:04.889 --> 00:07:07.069 you, and the people shall be like the burnings 00:07:07.069 --> 00:07:10.329 of lime. Like thorns cut up, they shall be burned 00:07:10.329 --> 00:07:13.980 in the fire. Here, you who are far off, what 00:07:13.980 --> 00:07:16.339 I have done, and you who are near, acknowledge 00:07:16.339 --> 00:07:20.339 my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid. Fearfulness 00:07:20.339 --> 00:07:23.579 has seized the hypocrites. Who among us shall 00:07:23.579 --> 00:07:26.420 dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:29.240 dwell with everlasting burnings? He who walks 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:32.439 righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises 00:07:32.439 --> 00:07:35.819 the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his 00:07:35.819 --> 00:07:39.009 hands, refusing bribes. who stops his ears from 00:07:39.009 --> 00:07:42.350 hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from 00:07:42.350 --> 00:07:45.550 seeing evil. He will dwell on high. His place 00:07:45.550 --> 00:07:48.629 of defense will be the fortress of rocks. Bread 00:07:48.629 --> 00:07:51.910 will be given him, his water will be sure. Your 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:54.670 eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will 00:07:54.670 --> 00:07:57.550 see the land that is very far off. Your heart 00:07:57.550 --> 00:08:00.589 will meditate on terror. Where is the scribe? 00:08:00.629 --> 00:08:03.850 Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts 00:08:03.850 --> 00:08:06.649 the towers? You will not see a fierce people. 00:08:06.990 --> 00:08:09.649 a people of obscure speech beyond perception, 00:08:09.970 --> 00:08:12.329 of a stammering tongue that you cannot understand. 00:08:12.689 --> 00:08:16.170 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. 00:08:16.329 --> 00:08:19.769 Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home, a 00:08:19.769 --> 00:08:22.449 tabernacle that will not be taken down. Not one 00:08:22.449 --> 00:08:25.610 of its stakes will ever be removed, nor will 00:08:25.610 --> 00:08:29.269 any of its cords be broken. But there the majestic 00:08:29.269 --> 00:08:32.350 Lord will be for us, a place of broad rivers 00:08:32.350 --> 00:08:35.389 and streams, in which no galley with oars will 00:08:35.389 --> 00:08:38.980 sail. nor majestic ships pass by. For the Lord 00:08:38.980 --> 00:08:42.019 is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord 00:08:42.019 --> 00:08:45.860 is our king, he will save us. Your tackle is 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:48.220 loosed, they could not strengthen their mast, 00:08:48.460 --> 00:08:51.100 they could not spread the sail. Then the prey 00:08:51.100 --> 00:08:54.059 of great plunder is divided. The lame take the 00:08:54.059 --> 00:08:56.899 prey, and the inhabitant will not say, I am sick. 00:08:57.100 --> 00:09:00.120 The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:06.659 iniquity. Come near, you nations, to hear and 00:09:06.659 --> 00:09:09.440 heed, you people. Let the earth hear and all 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:12.159 that is in it, the world and all things that 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:15.100 come forth from it. For the indignation of the 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:18.080 Lord is against all nations, and His fury against 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:21.299 all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:24.259 He has given them over to the slaughter. Also 00:09:24.259 --> 00:09:27.240 their slain shall be thrown out. Their stench 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:29.559 shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:32.110 shall be melted with their blood. All the hosts 00:09:32.110 --> 00:09:34.230 of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens 00:09:34.230 --> 00:09:37.370 shall be rolled up like a scroll. All their hosts 00:09:37.370 --> 00:09:40.570 shall fall down, as the leaf falls from the vine, 00:09:40.730 --> 00:09:43.970 and as fruit falling from a fig tree. For my 00:09:43.970 --> 00:09:46.990 sword shall be bathed in heaven. Indeed, it shall 00:09:46.990 --> 00:09:50.009 come down on Edom, and the people of my curse 00:09:50.009 --> 00:09:52.450 for judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled 00:09:52.450 --> 00:09:55.730 with blood. It is made overflowing with fatness, 00:09:55.830 --> 00:09:58.669 with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat 00:09:58.669 --> 00:10:02.320 of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:04.879 in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.159 of Edom. The wild oxen shall come down with them, 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:11.220 and the young bulls with the mighty bulls. Their 00:10:11.220 --> 00:10:13.700 land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust 00:10:13.700 --> 00:10:17.220 saturated with fatness. For it is the day of 00:10:17.220 --> 00:10:19.799 the Lord's vengeance, the year of recompense 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:22.840 for the cause of Zion. Its streams shall be turned 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.000 into pitch, and its dust into brimstone. Its 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.279 land shall become burning pitch, it shall not 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:31.740 be quenched night or day. its smoke shall ascend 00:10:31.740 --> 00:10:34.779 forever from generation to generation it shall 00:10:34.779 --> 00:10:37.620 lie waste no one shall pass through it forever 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:41.139 and ever but the pelican and the porcupine shall 00:10:41.139 --> 00:10:44.100 possess it also the owl and the raven shall dwell 00:10:44.100 --> 00:10:47.360 in it and he shall stretch out over it the line 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:50.379 of confusion and the stones of emptiness they 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:53.259 shall call its nobles to the kingdom but none 00:10:53.259 --> 00:10:56.000 shall be there and all its princes shall be nothing 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:59.679 And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:02.580 and brambles in its fortresses. It shall be a 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:05.759 habitation of jackals, a courtyard of ostriches. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:08.679 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:11.500 with the jackals, and the wild goat shall bleed 00:11:11.500 --> 00:11:14.500 to its companion. Also the night creature shall 00:11:14.500 --> 00:11:17.320 rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:20.240 There the arrow snake shall make her nest and 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.940 lay eggs, and hatch and gather them under her 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:25.960 shadow. There also shall the hawks be gathered, 00:11:26.139 --> 00:11:29.440 everyone with her mate. Search from the book 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:32.500 of the Lord and read. Not one of these shall 00:11:32.500 --> 00:11:35.860 fail, not one shall lack her mate. For my mouth 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:38.279 has commanded it, and his spirit has gathered 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:41.360 them. He has cast a lot for them, and his hand 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:44.039 has divided it among them with a measuring line. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.740 They shall possess it forever, from generation 00:11:46.740 --> 00:11:53.740 to generation they shall dwell in it. The wilderness 00:11:53.740 --> 00:11:56.399 and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.279 the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:03.120 It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.820 with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall 00:12:05.820 --> 00:12:08.259 be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and 00:12:08.259 --> 00:12:10.419 Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:13.559 the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:16.559 hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:19.279 those who are fearful -hearted, Be strong, do 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:22.210 not fear. behold your god will come with vengeance 00:12:22.210 --> 00:12:25.230 with the recompense of god he will come and save 00:12:25.230 --> 00:12:27.629 you then the eyes of the blind shall be opened 00:12:27.629 --> 00:12:30.750 and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped then 00:12:30.750 --> 00:12:33.330 the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue 00:12:33.330 --> 00:12:36.710 of the dumb sing for waters shall burst forth 00:12:36.710 --> 00:12:39.429 in the wilderness and streams in the desert the 00:12:39.429 --> 00:12:42.129 parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty 00:12:42.129 --> 00:12:45.570 land springs of water in the habitation of jackals 00:12:45.570 --> 00:12:48.720 where each lay There shall be grass with reeds 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:51.679 and rushes. A highway shall be there and a road, 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:53.879 and it shall be called the highway of holiness. 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:56.980 The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall 00:12:56.980 --> 00:13:00.139 be for others. Whoever walks the road, although 00:13:00.139 --> 00:13:03.299 a fool, shall not go astray. No lion shall be 00:13:03.299 --> 00:13:06.419 there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:09.679 it. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:12.389 shall walk there. and the ransomed of the Lord 00:13:12.389 --> 00:13:15.610 shall return and come to Zion with singing, with 00:13:15.610 --> 00:13:18.370 everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain 00:13:18.370 --> 00:13:21.309 joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 00:13:21.309 --> 00:13:29.029 flee away. I hope you enjoyed today's reading 00:13:29.029 --> 00:13:31.350 as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing 00:13:31.350 --> 00:13:33.389 you again tomorrow to continue on our journey. 00:13:33.570 --> 00:13:35.210 God bless you and have a great day.