Bible Reading Plan

War against Jerusalem

¹ Now it came about in the days of ^(C1)Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that ^(C2)Rezin the king of Aram and ^(C3)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but ^(C4)could not ^(F1)conquer it.² When it was reported to the ^(C1)house of David, saying, "The Arameans ^(C2)have taken a stand by ^(C3)Ephraim," his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake from the wind.

³ Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son ^(F1)Shear-jashub, at the end of the ^(C1)conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the ^(F2)fuller's field,⁴ and say to him, 'Take care and be ^(C1)calm, have no ^(C2)fear and ^(C3)do not be fainthearted because of these two stumps of smoldering ^(C4)logs, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the ^(C5)son of Remaliah.⁵ 'Because ^(C1)Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,⁶ "Let's go up against Judah and ^(F1)terrorize it, and take it for ourselves by assault and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,"⁷ this is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD says: "^(C1)It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.⁸ "For the head of Aram is ^(C1)Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people),⁹ and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. ^(C1)If you will not believe, you certainly shall not ^(F1)last."'"

The Child Immanuel

¹⁰ Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying,¹¹ "Ask for a ^(C1)sign for yourself from the LORD your God; ^(F1)make it deep as Sheol or high as ^(F2)heaven."¹² But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I put the LORD to the test!"¹³ Then he said, "Listen now, ^(C1)house of David! Is it too trivial a thing for you to ^(F1)try the patience of men, that you will ^(F2)(C2)try the patience of ^(C3)my God as well?¹⁴ "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, ^(C1)the ^(F1)virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him ^(F2)(C2)Immanuel.¹⁵ "He will eat ^(F1)(C1)curds and honey ^(F2)at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.¹⁶ "^(C1)For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, ^(C2)the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.

Trials to Come for Judah

¹⁸ On that day the LORD will ^(C1)whistle for the fly that is in the ^(F1)(C2)remotest part of the canals of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.¹⁹ They will all come and settle on the steep ^(F1)ravines, on the ^(C1)ledges of the cliffs, ^(C2)on all the thorn bushes, and on all the watering places.

²⁰ On that day the Lord will ^(C1)shave with a ^(C2)razor, ^(C3)hired from regions beyond ^(C4)the Euphrates River (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.

²¹ Now on that day a person may keep alive only a ^(C1)heifer and a pair of sheep;²² and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat ^(F1)curds, for everyone who is left within the land will eat ^(F1)(C1)curds and honey.

²³ And it will come about on that day, ^(C1)that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become ^(C2)briars and thorns.²⁴ People will come there with bows and arrows, because all the land will be briars and thorns.²⁵ As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the plow, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for ^(F1)(C1)pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.

Chapter 20

¹⁸ And when they came to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, ^(C1)from the first day that I set foot in ^(F1)Asia, how I was with you the whole time,¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came upon me ^(F1)through ^(C1)the plots of the Jews;²⁰ how I ^(C1)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was beneficial, and teaching you publicly and ^(F1)from house to house,²¹ solemnly ^(C1)testifying to both Jews and Greeks of ^(C2)repentance toward God and ^(C3)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.²² "And now, behold, bound by the ^(F1)Spirit, ^(C1)I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,²³ except that ^(C1)the Holy Spirit solemnly ^(C2)testifies to me in every city, saying that ^(C3)chains and afflictions await me.²⁴ "But ^(C1)I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may ^(C2)finish my course and ^(C3)the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ^(C4)testify solemnly of the gospel of ^(C5)God's grace.

²⁵ "And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ^(C1)preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.²⁶ "Therefore, I ^(F1)testify to you this day that ^(C1)I am ^(F2)innocent of the blood of all people.²⁷ "For I ^(C1)did not shrink from declaring to you the whole ^(C2)purpose of God.²⁸ "Be on guard for yourselves and for all ^(C1)the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you ^(F1)overseers, to shepherd ^(C2)the church of God which ^(C3)He ^(F2)purchased ^(F3)with His own blood.²⁹ "I know that after my departure ^(C1)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ^(C2)the flock;³⁰ and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away ^(C1)the disciples after them.³¹ "Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of ^(C1)three years I did not cease to admonish each one ^(C2)with tears.³² "And now I ^(C1)entrust you to God and to ^(C2)the word of His grace, which is able to ^(C3)build you up and to give you ^(C4)the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.³³ "^(C1)I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes.³⁴ "You yourselves know that ^(C1)these hands served my own needs and the ^(C2)men who were with me.³⁵ "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

³⁶ When he had said these things, he ^(C1)knelt down and prayed with them all.³⁷ And ^(F1)they all began to weep aloud and ^(F2)(C1)embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,^38 (F1)grieving especially over ^(C1)the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were ^(C2)accompanying him to the ship.