September 29  

Daily Bible in a Year

Daily Old and New Testaments, Psalms, and Proverbs

  •   Isaiah 57:15-59:21
    Isaiah 57:15-59:21

    15 
    For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
         who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
     “I dwell in the high and holy place,
         and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
     to revive the spirit of the lowly,
         and to revive the heart of the contrite.

    16 
    For I will not contend forever,
         nor will I always be angry;
     for the spirit would grow faint before me,
         and the breath of life that I made.

    17 
    Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,
         I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
         but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.

    18 
    I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
         I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,

    19 
        creating the fruit of the lips.
     Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
         “and I will heal him.

    20 
    But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
         for it cannot be quiet,
         and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

    21 
    There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

    True and False Fasting
    58 
    “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
         lift up your voice like a trumpet;
     declare to my people their transgression,
         to the house of Jacob their sins.

    2 
    Yet they seek me daily
         and delight to know my ways,
     as if they were a nation that did righteousness
         and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
     they ask of me righteous judgments;
         they delight to draw near to God.

    3 
    ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
         Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
     Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,[a]
         and oppress all your workers.

    4 
    Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
         and to hit with a wicked fist.
     Fasting like yours this day
         will not make your voice to be heard on high.

    5 
    Is such the fast that I choose,
         a day for a person to humble himself?
     Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
         and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
     Will you call this a fast,
         and a day acceptable to the Lord?

    6 
    “Is not this the fast that I choose:
         to loose the bonds of wickedness,
         to undo the straps of the yoke,
     to let the oppressed[b] go free,
         and to break every yoke?

    7 
    Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
         and bring the homeless poor into your house;
     when you see the naked, to cover him,
         and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

    8 
    Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
         and your healing shall spring up speedily;
     your righteousness shall go before you;
         the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

    9 
    Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
         you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
     If you take away the yoke from your midst,
         the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

    10 
    if you pour yourself out for the hungry
         and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
     then shall your light rise in the darkness
         and your gloom be as the noonday.

    11 
    And the Lord will guide you continually
         and satisfy your desire in scorched places
         and make your bones strong;
     and you shall be like a watered garden,
         like a spring of water,
         whose waters do not fail.

    12 
    And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
         you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
     you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
         the restorer of streets to dwell in.

    13 
    “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
         from doing your pleasure[c] on my holy day,
     and call the Sabbath a delight
         and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
     if you honor it, not going your own ways,
         or seeking your own pleasure,[d] or talking idly;[e]

    14 
    then you shall take delight in the Lord,
         and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;[f]
     I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
         for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

    Evil and Oppression
    59 
    Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
         or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;

    2 
    but your iniquities have made a separation
         between you and your God,
     and your sins have hidden his face from you
         so that he does not hear.

    3 
    For your hands are defiled with blood
         and your fingers with iniquity;
     your lips have spoken lies;
         your tongue mutters wickedness.

    4 
    No one enters suit justly;
         no one goes to law honestly;
     they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
         they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

    5 
    They hatch adders' eggs;
         they weave the spider's web;
     he who eats their eggs dies,
         and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.

    6 
    Their webs will not serve as clothing;
         men will not cover themselves with what they make.
     Their works are works of iniquity,
         and deeds of violence are in their hands.

    7 
    Their feet run to evil,
         and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
     their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
         desolation and destruction are in their highways.

    8 
    The way of peace they do not know,
         and there is no justice in their paths;
     they have made their roads crooked;
         no one who treads on them knows peace.

    9 
    Therefore justice is far from us,
         and righteousness does not overtake us;
     we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
         and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

    10 
    We grope for the wall like the blind;
         we grope like those who have no eyes;
     we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
         among those in full vigor we are like dead men.

    11 
    We all growl like bears;
         we moan and moan like doves;
     we hope for justice, but there is none;
         for salvation, but it is far from us.

    12 
    For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
         and our sins testify against us;
     for our transgressions are with us,
         and we know our iniquities:

    13 
    transgressing, and denying the Lord,
         and turning back from following our God,
     speaking oppression and revolt,
         conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

    Judgment and Redemption
    14 
    Justice is turned back,
         and righteousness stands far away;
     for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
         and uprightness cannot enter.

    15 
    Truth is lacking,
         and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

    The Lord saw it, and it displeased him[g]
         that there was no justice.

    16 
    He saw that there was no man,
         and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
     then his own arm brought him salvation,
         and his righteousness upheld him.

    17 
    He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
         and a helmet of salvation on his head;
     he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
         and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.

    18 
    According to their deeds, so will he repay,
         wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
         to the coastlands he will render repayment.

    19 
    So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
         and his glory from the rising of the sun;
     for he will come like a rushing stream,[h]
         which the wind of the Lord drives.

    20 
    “And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
         to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.
    21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”
    Footnotes:
    1. Isaiah 58:3 Or pursue your own business
    2. Isaiah 58:6 Or bruised
    3. Isaiah 58:13 Or business
    4. Isaiah 58:13 Or pursuing your own business
    5. Isaiah 58:13 Hebrew or speaking a word
    6. Isaiah 58:14 Or of the land
    7. Isaiah 59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes
    8. Isaiah 59:19 Hebrew a narrow river
  •   Philippians 1:1-26
    Philippians 1:1-26

    Greeting
    1 Paul and Timothy, servants[a] of Christ Jesus,
    To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers[b] and deacons:[c]
    2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Thanksgiving and Prayer
    3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[d] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

    The Advance of the Gospel
    12 I want you to know, brothers,[e] that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard[f] and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word[g] without fear.
    15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

    To Live Is Christ
    Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

    Footnotes:
    1. Philippians 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
    2. Philippians 1:1 Or bishops; Greek episkopoi
    3. Philippians 1:1 Or servants, or ministers; Greek diakonoi
    4. Philippians 1:7 Or you all have fellowship with me in grace
    5. Philippians 1:12 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothersor to brothers and sisters; also verse 14
    6. Philippians 1:13 Greek in the whole praetorium
    7. Philippians 1:14 Some manuscripts add of God
  •   Psalm 71
    Psalm 71

    Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent
    71 
    In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
         let me never be put to shame!

    2 
    In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
         incline your ear to me, and save me!

    3 
    Be to me a rock of refuge,
         to which I may continually come;
     you have given the command to save me,
         for you are my rock and my fortress.

    4 
    Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
         from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

    5 
    For you, O Lord, are my hope,
         my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

    6 
    Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
         you are he who took me from my mother's womb.
     My praise is continually of you.

    7 
    I have been as a portent to many,
         but you are my strong refuge.

    8 
    My mouth is filled with your praise,
         and with your glory all the day.

    9 
    Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
         forsake me not when my strength is spent.

    10 
    For my enemies speak concerning me;
         those who watch for my life consult together

    11 
    and say, “God has forsaken him;
         pursue and seize him,
         for there is none to deliver him.”

    12 
    O God, be not far from me;
         O my God, make haste to help me!

    13 
    May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
         with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
         who seek my hurt.

    14 
    But I will hope continually
         and will praise you yet more and more.

    15 
    My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
         of your deeds of salvation all the day,
         for their number is past my knowledge.

    16 
    With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
         I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

    17 
    O God, from my youth you have taught me,
         and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

    18 
    So even to old age and gray hairs,
         O God, do not forsake me,
     until I proclaim your might to another generation,
         your power to all those to come.

    19 
    Your righteousness, O God,
         reaches the high heavens.
     You who have done great things,
         O God, who is like you?

    20 
    You who have made me see many troubles and calamities     will revive me again;
     from the depths of the earth
         you will bring me up again.

    21 
    You will increase my greatness
         and comfort me again.

    22 
    I will also praise you with the harp
         for your faithfulness, O my God;
     I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
         O Holy One of Israel.

    23 
    My lips will shout for joy,
         when I sing praises to you;
         my soul also, which you have redeemed.

    24 
    And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
     for they have been put to shame and disappointed
         who sought to do me hurt.
  •   Proverbs 24:9-10

    Proverbs 24:9-10

    9 
    The devising[a] of folly is sin,
         and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

    10 
    If you faint in the day of adversity,
         your strength is small.

    Footnotes:
    1. Proverbs 24:9 Or scheming



    English Standard Version (ESV)
    The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.