Dec 17, 2023
11 For the Lord spoke thus to me with His strong hand
upon me and warned me not to walk in the way of this
people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this
people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear,
nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, Him you shall
honor as holy. Let Him be your fear, and let Him be
your dread. 14 And He will become a sanctuary and a
stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses
of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall
and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
16 Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my
disciples. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who is
hiding
His face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in Him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has
given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts,
who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when
they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who
chirp and mutter,” should not a people
inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of
the living? 20 To the teaching and to the
testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is
because they have no dawn. 21 They will pass
through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are
hungry, they will be enraged and will
speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn
their faces upward. 22 And they will look to
the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish.
And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
Key Words: Fear, Honor, Holy, Sanctuary, Hope,
Children, Dawn
Keystone Verse: I will wait for the Lord, who is
hiding His face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in
Him. Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me.
(Isaiah 8:17-18a)