The Lord's Return

2 Thessalonians 2 When our Lord Jesus returns, we will be gathered up to meet him. So I ask you, my friends, ²not to be easily upset or disturbed by people who claim that the Lord has already come. They may say that they heard this directly from the Holy Spirit, or from someone else, or even that they read it in one of our letters. ³But don't be fooled! People will rebel against God. Then before the Lord returns, the wicked one who is doomed to be destroyed will appear. ⁴He will brag and oppose everything that is holy or sacred. He will even sit in God's temple and claim to be God. ⁵Don't you remember that I told you this while I was still with you?
⁶You already know what is holding this wicked one back until it is time for him to come. ⁷His mysterious power is already at work, but someone is holding him back. And the wicked one won't appear until that someone is out of the way. ⁸Then he will appear, but the Lord Jesus will kill him simply by breathing on him. He will be completely destroyed by the Lord's glorious return.
⁹When the wicked one appears, Satan will pretend to work all kinds of miracles, wonders, and signs. ¹⁰Lost people will be fooled by his evil deeds. They could be saved, but they will refuse to love the truth and accept it. ¹¹So God will make sure that they are fooled into believing a lie. ¹²All of them will be punished, because they would rather do evil than believe the truth.

Be Faithful

¹³My friends, the Lord loves you, and it is only natural for us to thank God for you. God chose you to be the first ones to be saved. His Spirit made you holy, and you put your faith in the truth. ¹⁴God used our preaching as his way of inviting you to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵My friends, that's why you must remain faithful and follow closely what we taught you in person and by our letters.
¹⁶God our Father loves us. He is kind and has given us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope. We pray that our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father ¹⁷will encourage you and help you always to do and say the right thing.

Isaiah 27 On that day, Leviathan, the sea monster,
will squirm and try to escape,
but the LORD will kill him with a cruel, sharp sword.

Protection and Forgiveness

The LORD said:
²At that time you must sing about a fruitful vineyard.
³I, the LORD, will protect it and always keep it watered.
I will guard it day and night to keep it from harm.
⁴I am no longer angry. But if it produces thorns,
I will go to war against it and burn it to the ground.
⁵Yet if the vineyard depends on me for protection,
it will become my friend and be at peace with me.

⁶Someday Israel will take root like a vine.
It will blossom and bear fruit that covers the earth.

⁷I, the LORD, didn't punish and kill the people of Israel
as fiercely as I punished and killed their enemies.
⁸I carefully measured out Israel's punishment
and sent the scorching heat to chase them far away.

⁹There's only one way that Israel's sin and guilt
can be completely forgiven:
They must crush the stones of every pagan altar
and place of worship.

The LORD Will Bring His People Together

¹⁰Fortress cities are left like a desert where no one lives.
Cattle walk through the ruins, stripping the trees bare.
¹¹When broken branches fall to the ground,
women pick them up to feed the fire.
But these people are so stupid
that the God who created them will show them no mercy.
¹²The time is coming when the LORD will shake the land between the Euphrates River and the border of Egypt, and one by one he will bring all of his people together. ¹³A loud trumpet will be heard. Then the people of Israel who were dragged away to Assyria and Egypt will return to worship the LORD on his holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Samaria Will Be Punished

Isaiah 28 The city of Samaria above a fertile valley
is in for trouble!
Its leaders are drunkards, who stuff themselves
with food and wine.
But they will be like flowers that dry up and wilt.
²Only the Lord is strong and powerful!
His mighty hand will strike them down
with the force of a hailstorm or a mighty whirlwind
or an overwhelming flood.

³Every drunkard in Ephraim takes pride in Samaria,
but it will be crushed.
⁴Samaria above a fertile valley will quickly lose its glory.
It will be gobbled down like the first ripe fig
at harvest season.

⁵When this time comes, the LORD All-Powerful
will be a glorious crown for his people who survive.
⁶He will see that justice rules and that his people
are able to defend their cities.

Corrupt Leaders Will Be Punished

⁷Priests and prophets stumble because they are drunk.
Their minds are too confused to receive God's messages
or give honest decisions.
⁸Their tables are covered, completely covered,
with their stinking vomit.

⁹You drunken leaders are like babies!
How can you possibly understand
or teach the LORD's message?
¹⁰You don't even listen--
all you hear is senseless sound
after senseless sound.

¹¹So, the Lord will speak to his people
in strange sounds and foreign languages.
¹²He promised you perfect peace and rest,
but you refused to listen.
¹³Now his message to you will be senseless sound
after senseless sound.
Then you will fall backwards, injured and trapped.

False Security Is Fatal

¹⁴You rulers of Jerusalem do nothing but sneer;
now you must listen to what the LORD says.
¹⁵Do you think you have an agreement with death
and the world of the dead?
Why do you trust in your lies to keep you safe from danger
and the mighty flood?

¹⁶And so the LORD says, "I'm laying a firm foundation
for the city of Zion.
It's a valuable cornerstone proven to be trustworthy;
no one who trusts it will ever be disappointed.
¹⁷Justice and fairness will be the measuring lines
that help me build."

Hailstones and floods will destroy and wash away
your shelter of lies.
¹⁸Your agreement with death and the world of the dead
will be broken.
Then angry, roaring waves will sweep over you.
¹⁹Morning, noon, and night an overwhelming flood
will wash you away.
The terrible things that happen will teach you this lesson:
²⁰Your bed is too short, your blanket too skimpy.

²¹The LORD will fiercely attack as he did at Mount Perazim
and in Gibeon Valley.
But this time the LORD will do something surprising,
not what you expect.
²²So you had better stop sneering
or you will be in worse shape than ever before.
I heard the LORD All-Powerful threaten the whole country
with destruction.

All Wisdom Comes from the LORD

²³Pay close attention to what I am saying.
²⁴Farmers don't just plow and break up the ground.
²⁵When a field is ready, they scatter the seeds
of dill and cumin;
they plant the seeds of wheat and barley
in the proper places.
²⁶They learn this from their God.

²⁷After dill and cumin have been harvested,
the stalks are pounded, not run over with a wagon.
²⁸Wheat and barley are pounded, but not beaten to pulp;
they are run over with a wagon, but not ground to dust.
²⁹This wonderful knowledge comes from the LORD All-Powerful,
who has such great wisdom.

Psalm 118
The LORD Is Always Merciful

¹Tell the LORD how thankful you are,
because he is kind and always merciful.

²Let Israel shout, "God is always merciful!"
³Let the family of Aaron the priest shout,
"God is always merciful!"
⁴Let every true worshiper of the LORD shout,
"God is always merciful!"

⁵When I was really hurting, I prayed to the LORD.
He answered my prayer, and took my worries away.
⁶The LORD is on my side,
and I am not afraid of what others can do to me.
⁷With the LORD on my side,
I will defeat all of my hateful enemies.
⁸It is better to trust the LORD for protection
than to trust anyone else, ⁹including strong leaders.

¹⁰Nations surrounded me,
but I got rid of them by the power of the LORD.
¹¹They attacked from all sides,
but I got rid of them by the power of the LORD.
¹²They swarmed around like bees,
but by the power of the LORD,
I got rid of them and their fiery sting.
¹³Their attacks were so fierce that I nearly fell,
but the LORD helped me.
¹⁴My power and my strength come from the LORD,
and he has saved me.

¹⁵From the tents of God's people come shouts of victory:
"The LORD is powerful!
¹⁶With his mighty arm the LORD wins victories!
The LORD is powerful!"

¹⁷And so my life is safe,
and I will live to tell what the LORD has done.
¹⁸He punished me terribly,
but he did not let death lay its hands on me.

¹⁹Open the gates of justice!
I will enter and tell the LORD how thankful I am.

²⁰Here is the gate of the LORD!
Everyone who does right may enter this gate.

²¹I praise the LORD
for answering my prayers and saving me.
²²The stone that the builders tossed aside
has now become the most important stone.

²³The LORD has done this, and it is amazing to us.
²⁴This day belongs to the LORD!
Let's celebrate and be glad today.
²⁵We'll ask the LORD to save us!
We'll sincerely ask the LORD to let us win.

²⁶God bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD!
We praise you from here in the house of the LORD.

²⁷The LORD is our God, and he has given us light!
Start the celebration!
March with palm branches all the way to the altar.

²⁸The LORD is my God!
I will praise him and tell him how thankful I am.

²⁹Tell the LORD how thankful you are,
because he is kind and always merciful.