“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a scepter of justice. 9 You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”[g]
10 He also says to the Son,
“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. 11 They will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. 12 You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will live forever.”[h]
13 And God never said to any of the angels,
“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”[i]
14 Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.”
ENCOURAGEMENT
Isaiah 17
“A Message about Damascus and Israel This message came to me concerning Damascus:
“Look, the city of Damascus will disappear! It will become a heap of ruins. 2 The towns of Aroer will be deserted. Flocks will graze in the streets and lie down undisturbed, with no one to chase them away. 3 The fortified towns of Israel[a] will also be destroyed, and the royal power of Damascus will end. All that remains of Syria[b] will share the fate of Israel’s departed glory,” declares the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
4 “In that day Israel’s[c] glory will grow dim; its robust body will waste away. 5 The whole land will look like a grainfield after the harvesters have gathered the grain. It will be desolate, like the fields in the valley of Rephaim after the harvest. 6 Only a few of its people will be left, like stray olives left on a tree after the harvest. Only two or three remain in the highest branches, four or five scattered here and there on the limbs,” declares the Lord, the God of Israel.
7 Then at last the people will look to their Creator and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. 8 They will no longer look to their idols for help or worship what their own hands have made. They will never again bow down to their Asherah poles or worship at the pagan shrines they have built. 9 Their largest cities will be like a deserted forest, like the land the Hivites and Amorites abandoned[d] when the Israelites came here so long ago. It will be utterly desolate. 10 Why? Because you have turned from the God who can save you. You have forgotten the Rock who can hide you. So you may plant the finest grapevines and import the most expensive seedlings. 11 They may sprout on the day you set them out; yes, they may blossom on the very morning you plant them, but you will never pick any grapes from them. Your only harvest will be a load of grief and unrelieved pain.
12 Listen! The armies of many nations roar like the roaring of the sea. Hear the thunder of the mighty forces as they rush forward like thundering waves. 13 But though they thunder like breakers on a beach, God will silence them, and they will run away. They will flee like chaff scattered by the wind, like a tumbleweed whirling before a storm. 14 In the evening Israel waits in terror, but by dawn its enemies are dead. This is the just reward of those who plunder us, a fitting end for those who destroy us.”
Isaiah 18
“A Message about Ethiopia Listen, Ethiopia[a]—land of fluttering sails[b] that lies at the headwaters of the Nile, 2 that sends ambassadors in swift boats down the river.
Go, swift messengers! Take a message to a tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction, and whose land is divided by rivers.
3 All you people of the world, everyone who lives on the earth— when I raise my battle flag on the mountain, look! When I blow the ram’s horn, listen! 4 For the Lord has told me this: “I will watch quietly from my dwelling place— as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.” 5 Even before you begin your attack, while your plans are ripening like grapes, the Lord will cut off your new growth with pruning shears. He will snip off and discard your spreading branches. 6 Your mighty army will be left dead in the fields for the mountain vultures and wild animals. The vultures will tear at the corpses all summer. The wild animals will gnaw at the bones all winter.
7 At that time the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will receive gifts from this land divided by rivers, from this tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction. They will bring the gifts to Jerusalem,[c] where the Lord of Heaven’s Armies dwells.”
