Week 23: Second Chance Ministry | Day 4

Tasks for this week:

  1. Watch all three parts of  Second Chance Ministry
  2. Complete daily Bible reading
  3. Memorize Isaiah 53:5-6 and 1 Peter 2:23-24

Week 23: Day 4

Today’s F260 Bible reading: Isaiah 65-66

65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; I appeared to those who did not look for me. I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’ to a nation that did not invoke my name. 2I spread out my hands all day long to my rebellious people, who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable and who did what they desired. 3These people continually and blatantly offend me as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards and burn incense on brick altars. 4They sit among the tombs and keep watch all night long. They eat pork and broth from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans. 5They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’ These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long. 6Look, I have decreed: I will not keep silent, but will pay them back; I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, 7for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,” says the Lord. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and offended me on the hills, I will punish them in full measure.” 8This is what the Lord says: “When juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes, someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ So I will do for the sake of my servants— I will not destroy everyone. 9I will bring forth descendants from Jacob and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains. My chosen ones will take possession of the land; my servants will live there. 10Sharon will become a pasture for sheep, and the Valley of Achor a place where cattle graze; they will belong to my people, who seek me. 11But as for you who abandon the Lord and forget about worshiping at my holy mountain, who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’ and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’— 12I predestine you to die by the sword, all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, because I called to you, and you did not respond; I spoke and you did not listen. You did evil before me; you chose to do what displeases me.” 13So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated. 14Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts. But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. 15Your names will live on in the curse formulas of my chosen ones. The Sovereign Lord will kill you, but he will give his servants another name. 16Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth will do so in the name of the faithful God; whoever makes an oath in the earth will do so in the name of the faithful God. For past problems will be forgotten; I will no longer think about them. 17For look, I am ready to create new heavens and a new earth! The former ones will not be remembered; no one will think about them anymore. 18But be happy and rejoice forevermore over what I am about to create! For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem to be a source of joy, and her people to be a source of happiness. 19Jerusalem will bring me joy, and my people will bring me happiness. The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow will never be heard in her again. 20Never again will one of her infants live just a few days or an old man die before his time. Indeed, no one will die before the age of one hundred; anyone who fails to reach the age of one hundred will be considered cursed. 21They will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, for my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. 23They will not work in vain or give birth to children that will experience disaster. For the Lord will bless their children and their descendants. 24Before they even call out, I will respond; while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25A wolf and a lamb will graze together; a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, and a snake’s food will be dirt. They will no longer injure or destroy on my entire royal mountain,” says the Lord. 66:1 This is what the Lord says: “The heavens are my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where then is the house you will build for me? Where is the place where I will rest? 2My hand made them; that is how they came to be,” says the Lord.“I show special favor to the humble and contrite, who respect what I have to say. 3The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; the one who offers incense also praises an idol. They have decided to behave this way; they enjoy these disgusting practices. 4So I will choose severe punishment for them; I will bring on them what they dread because I called, and no one responded. I spoke and they did not listen. They did evil before me; they chose to do what displeases me.” 5Listen to the Lord’s message, you who respect his word! “Your countrymen, who hate you and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name, say, ‘May the Lord be glorified, then we will witness your joy.’ But they will be put to shame. 6The sound of battle comes from the city; the sound comes from the temple! It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies. 7Before she goes into labor, she gives birth! Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy! 8Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons! 9Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord. “Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?” asks your God. 10“Be happy for Jerusalem and rejoice with her, all you who love her! Share in her great joy, all you who have mourned over her! 11For you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts.” 12For this is what the Lord says: “Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river, the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. You will nurse from her breast and be carried at her side; you will play on her knees. 13As a mother consoles a child, so I will console you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.” 14When you see this, you will be happy, and you will be revived. The Lord will reveal his power to his servants and his anger to his enemies. 15For look, the Lord comes with fire; his chariots come like a windstorm to reveal his raging anger, his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. 16For the Lord judges all humanity with fire and his sword; the Lord will kill many. 17“As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice—they will all be destroyed together,” says the Lord. 18“I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; they will come and witness my splendor. 19I will perform a mighty act among them and then send some of those who remain to the nations—to Tarshish, Pul, Lud (known for its archers), Tubal, Javan, and to the distant coastlands that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. 20They will bring back all your countrymen from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers. 21And I will choose some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord. 22“For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain. 23From one month to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people will come to worship me,” says the Lord. 24“They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, and the fire that consumes them will not die out. All people will find the sight abhorrent.” (NET Bible)

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. www.Lockman.org