WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:03.700 Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:05.740 taking this journey together to read the Bible 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:08.900 in a year. Today's reading is from the book of 00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:14.220 Isaiah, chapters 46 through 48. Chapter 46 Bell 00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:18.260 bows down. Nebo stoops. Their idols were on the 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:21.280 beasts and on the cattle. Your carriages were 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:23.940 heavily loaded, a burden to the weary beast. 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:26.980 They stoop, they bow down together. They could 00:00:26.980 --> 00:00:29.329 not deliver the burden. but have themselves gone 00:00:29.329 --> 00:00:32.329 into captivity. Listen to me, O house of Jacob, 00:00:32.530 --> 00:00:35.329 and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who 00:00:35.329 --> 00:00:38.750 have been upheld by me from birth, who have been 00:00:38.750 --> 00:00:41.850 carried from the womb. Even to your old age I 00:00:41.850 --> 00:00:45.149 am he, and even to gray hairs I will carry you. 00:00:45.189 --> 00:00:48.609 I have made and I will bear, even I will carry 00:00:48.609 --> 00:00:51.609 and will deliver you. To whom will you liken 00:00:51.609 --> 00:00:54.630 me? and make me equal, and compare me that we 00:00:54.630 --> 00:00:57.649 should be alike. They lavish gold out of the 00:00:57.649 --> 00:01:00.689 bag, and weigh silver on the scales. They hire 00:01:00.689 --> 00:01:03.990 a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They prostrate 00:01:03.990 --> 00:01:06.730 themselves, yes, they worship. They bear it on 00:01:06.730 --> 00:01:09.069 the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its 00:01:09.069 --> 00:01:12.469 place, and it stands. From its place it shall 00:01:12.469 --> 00:01:16.230 not move. Though one cries out to it, yet it 00:01:16.230 --> 00:01:18.969 cannot answer, nor save him out of his trouble. 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:22.299 Remember this, and show yourselves men. Recall 00:01:22.299 --> 00:01:25.000 to mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:27.900 things of old, for I am God, and there is no 00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:31.680 other. I am God, and there is none like me. Declaring 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:34.099 the end from the beginning, and from ancient 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:37.719 times things that are not yet done. Saying, My 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:40.680 counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:44.000 Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.420 who executes my counsel from a far country. Indeed, 00:01:47.459 --> 00:01:50.040 I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. 00:01:50.219 --> 00:01:53.959 I have purposed it. I will also do it. Listen 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:56.859 to me, you stubborn -hearted, who are far from 00:01:56.859 --> 00:01:59.560 righteousness. I bring my righteousness near, 00:01:59.739 --> 00:02:02.739 it shall not be far off. My salvation shall not 00:02:02.739 --> 00:02:05.799 linger, and I will place salvation in Zion, for 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:12.539 Israel my glory. Chapter 47 Come down and sit 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:15.430 in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit 00:02:15.430 --> 00:02:17.990 on the ground without a throne, O daughter of 00:02:17.990 --> 00:02:20.469 the Chaldeans, for you shall no more be called 00:02:20.469 --> 00:02:23.590 tender and delicate. Take the millstones and 00:02:23.590 --> 00:02:26.770 grind meal. Remove your veil, take off the skirt, 00:02:27.009 --> 00:02:30.090 uncover the thigh, pass through the rivers. Your 00:02:30.090 --> 00:02:32.469 nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame 00:02:32.469 --> 00:02:35.189 will be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will 00:02:35.189 --> 00:02:38.550 not arbitrate with a man. As for our Redeemer, 00:02:38.650 --> 00:02:41.870 the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of 00:02:41.870 --> 00:02:44.900 Israel. Sit in silence and go into darkness, 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:47.699 O daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:50.300 longer be called the Lady of Kingdoms. I was 00:02:50.300 --> 00:02:53.319 angry with my people. I have profaned my inheritance 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:56.539 and given them into your hand. You showed them 00:02:56.539 --> 00:02:59.620 no mercy. On the elderly you laid your yoke very 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:02.879 heavily, and you said, I shall be a lady forever, 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:06.219 so that you did not take these things to heart, 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:09.240 nor remember the latter end of them. Therefore 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:12.060 hear this now, you who are given to pleasures. 00:03:12.590 --> 00:03:15.830 who dwell securely, who say in your heart, I 00:03:15.830 --> 00:03:19.210 am, and there is no one else besides me. I shall 00:03:19.210 --> 00:03:22.090 not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss 00:03:22.090 --> 00:03:25.030 of children. But these two things shall come 00:03:25.030 --> 00:03:28.289 to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children 00:03:28.289 --> 00:03:31.789 and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their 00:03:31.789 --> 00:03:34.629 fullness, because of the multitude of your sorceries, 00:03:34.629 --> 00:03:37.270 for the great abundance of your enchantments. 00:03:37.430 --> 00:03:40.030 For you have trusted in your wickedness, you 00:03:40.030 --> 00:03:43.080 have said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:45.879 knowledge have warped you, and you have said 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:48.460 in your heart, I am and there is no one else 00:03:48.460 --> 00:03:51.599 besides me. Therefore evil shall come upon you, 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:54.479 you shall not know from where it arises, and 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:56.840 trouble shall fall upon you, you will not be 00:03:56.840 --> 00:03:59.539 able to put it off, and desolation shall come 00:03:59.539 --> 00:04:02.520 upon you suddenly, which you shall not know. 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.639 Stand now with your enchantments and the multitude 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:08.199 of your sorceries, in which you have labored 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:11.120 from your youth. Perhaps you will be able to 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:14.400 profit, perhaps you will prevail. You are wearied 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:17.019 in the multitude of your counsels. Let now the 00:04:17.019 --> 00:04:19.779 astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:23.759 prognosticators stand up and save you from what 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:26.839 shall come upon you. Behold, they shall be a 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:29.800 stubble. The fire shall burn them. They shall 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:32.220 not deliver themselves from the power of the 00:04:32.220 --> 00:04:35.069 flame. It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, 00:04:35.290 --> 00:04:38.750 nor a fire to sit before. Thus shall they be 00:04:38.750 --> 00:04:41.930 to you, with whom you have labored, your merchants 00:04:41.930 --> 00:04:45.350 from your youth. They shall wander each one to 00:04:45.350 --> 00:04:50.730 his quarter. No one shall save you. Chapter 48 00:04:50.730 --> 00:04:54.689 Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by 00:04:54.689 --> 00:04:57.410 the name of Israel, and have come forth from 00:04:57.410 --> 00:05:00.370 the wellsprings of Judah, who swear by the name 00:05:00.370 --> 00:05:03.060 of the Lord. and make mention of the God of Israel, 00:05:03.220 --> 00:05:06.540 but not in truth or in righteousness. For they 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:09.379 call themselves after the holy city, and lean 00:05:09.379 --> 00:05:12.220 on the God of Israel, the Lord of hosts is his 00:05:12.220 --> 00:05:14.839 name. I have declared the former things from 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:17.680 the beginning. They went forth from my mouth, 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:21.060 and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:24.240 them, and they came to pass, because I knew that 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.160 you were obstinate, and your neck was an iron 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:31.230 sinew, and your brow bronze. Even from the beginning 00:05:31.230 --> 00:05:33.790 I have declared it to you. Before it came to 00:05:33.790 --> 00:05:36.410 pass, I proclaimed it to you. Lest you should 00:05:36.410 --> 00:05:39.769 say, My idol has done them, and my carved image 00:05:39.769 --> 00:05:42.829 and my molded image have commanded them. You 00:05:42.829 --> 00:05:46.329 have heard, see all this, and will you not declare 00:05:46.329 --> 00:05:49.269 it? I have made you hear new things from this 00:05:49.269 --> 00:05:52.410 time, even hidden things, and you did not know 00:05:52.410 --> 00:05:55.569 them. They are created now and not from the beginning. 00:05:55.829 --> 00:05:58.129 And before this day you have not heard them. 00:05:58.430 --> 00:06:01.550 Lest you should say, Of course I knew them. Surely 00:06:01.550 --> 00:06:05.170 you did not hear, surely you did not know. Surely 00:06:05.170 --> 00:06:08.709 from long ago your ear was not opened. For I 00:06:08.709 --> 00:06:11.230 knew that you would deal very treacherously, 00:06:11.310 --> 00:06:14.209 and were called a transgressor from the womb. 00:06:14.750 --> 00:06:18.050 For my name's sake I will defer my anger, and 00:06:18.050 --> 00:06:21.189 for my praise I will restrain it from you, so 00:06:21.189 --> 00:06:24.430 that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined 00:06:24.430 --> 00:06:27.279 you, but not as silver. I have tested you in 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:30.480 the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:33.779 my own sake, I will do it. For how should my 00:06:33.779 --> 00:06:36.879 name be profaned? And I will not give my glory 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:40.160 to another. Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:44.399 my called. I am he, I am the first, I am also 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:47.500 the last. Indeed, my hand has laid the foundation 00:06:47.500 --> 00:06:49.980 of the earth, and my right hand has stretched 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:52.920 out the heavens. When I call to them, they stand 00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:56.319 up together. All of you assemble yourselves and 00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:59.120 hear. Who among them has declared these things? 00:06:59.339 --> 00:07:02.660 The Lord loves him. He shall do his pleasure 00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:06.180 on Babylon and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:10.220 I, even I, have spoken. Yes, I have called him. 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:13.019 I have brought him and his way will prosper. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.620 Come near to me, hear this. I have not spoken 00:07:16.620 --> 00:07:19.740 in secret from the beginning. From the time that 00:07:19.740 --> 00:07:23.019 it was, I was there. And now the Lord God and 00:07:23.019 --> 00:07:26.259 His Spirit have sent me. Thus says the Lord your 00:07:26.259 --> 00:07:29.240 Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:32.600 your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:35.379 you by the way you should go. O that you had 00:07:35.379 --> 00:07:38.420 heeded my commandments! Then your peace would 00:07:38.420 --> 00:07:40.600 have been like a river, and your righteousness 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:44.079 like the waves of the sea. Your descendants also 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:46.680 have been like the sand, and the offspring of 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:49.500 your body like the grains of sand. His name would 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:52.720 not have been cut off. nor destroyed from before 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:57.040 me. Go forth from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans. 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:00.560 With a voice of singing, declare, proclaim this, 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:04.259 utter it to the end of the earth. Say, the Lord 00:08:04.259 --> 00:08:07.000 has redeemed his servant Jacob, and he did not 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.920 thirst when he led them through the deserts. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:12.339 He caused the waters to flow from the rock for 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:14.939 them. He also split the rock, and the waters 00:08:14.939 --> 00:08:18.399 gushed out. There is no peace, says the Lord, 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:26.379 for the wicked. I hope you enjoyed today's reading 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:28.699 as much as I did and I look forward to seeing 00:08:28.699 --> 00:08:30.759 you again tomorrow to continue on our journey. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:32.559 God bless you and have a great day.