17“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.19“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”Faith or Works of the Law1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”7Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

A Prophecy About Jerusalem1A prophecy against the Valley of Vision:What troubles you now,that you have all gone up on the roofs,2you town so full of commotion,you city of tumult and revelry?Your slain were not killed by the sword,nor did they die in battle.3All your leaders have fled together;they have been captured without using the bow.All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,having fled while the enemy was still far away.4Therefore I said, “Turn away from me;let me weep bitterly.Do not try to console meover the destruction of my people.”5The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a dayof tumult and trampling and terrorin the Valley of Vision,a day of battering down wallsand of crying out to the mountains.6Elam takes up the quiver,with her charioteers and horses;Kir uncovers the shield.7Your choicest valleys are full of chariots,and horsemen are posted at the city gates.8The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah,and you looked in that dayto the weapons in the Palace of the Forest.9You saw that the walls of the City of Davidwere broken through in many places;you stored up waterin the Lower Pool.10You counted the buildings in Jerusalemand tore down houses to strengthen the wall.11You built a reservoir between the two wallsfor the water of the Old Pool,but you did not look to the One who made it,or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.12The Lord, the Lord Almighty,called you on that dayto weep and to wail,to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.13But see, there is joy and revelry,slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,eating of meat and drinking of wine!“Let us eat and drink,” you say,“for tomorrow we die!”14The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.15This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:“Go, say to this steward,to Shebna the palace administrator:16What are you doing here and who gave you permissionto cut out a grave for yourself here,hewing your grave on the heightand chiseling your resting place in the rock?17“Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of youand hurl you away, you mighty man.18He will roll you up tightly like a balland throw you into a large country.There you will dieand there the chariots you were so proud ofwill become a disgrace to your master’s house.19I will depose you from your office,and you will be ousted from your position.20“In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 23I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. 24All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.25“In that day,” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.A Prophecy Against Tyre1A prophecy against Tyre:Wail, you ships of Tarshish!For Tyre is destroyedand left without house or harbor.From the land of Cyprusword has come to them.2Be silent, you people of the islandand you merchants of Sidon,whom the seafarers have enriched.3On the great waterscame the grain of the Shihor;the harvest of the Nile was the revenue of Tyre,and she became the marketplace of the nations.4Be ashamed, Sidon, and you fortress of the sea,for the sea has spoken:“I have neither been in labor nor given birth;I have neither reared sons nor brought up daughters.”5When word comes to Egypt,they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre.6Cross over to Tarshish;wail, you people of the island.7Is this your city of revelry,the old, old city,whose feet have taken herto settle in far-off lands?8Who planned this against Tyre,the bestower of crowns,whose merchants are princes,whose traders are renowned in the earth?9The Lord Almighty planned it,to bring down her pride in all her splendorand to humble all who are renowned on the earth.10Till your land as they do along the Nile,Daughter Tarshish,for you no longer have a harbor.11The Lord has stretched out his hand over the seaand made its kingdoms tremble.He has given an order concerning Phoeniciathat her fortresses be destroyed.12He said, “No more of your reveling,Virgin Daughter Sidon, now crushed!“Up, cross over to Cyprus;even there you will find no rest.”13Look at the land of the Babylonians,this people that is now of no account!The Assyrians have made ita place for desert creatures;they raised up their siege towers,they stripped its fortresses bareand turned it into a ruin.14Wail, you ships of Tarshish;your fortress is destroyed!15At that time Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, the span of a king’s life. But at the end of these seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:16“Take up a harp, walk through the city,you forgotten prostitute;play the harp well, sing many a song,so that you will be remembered.”17At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes.The Lord’s Devastation of the Earth1See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earthand devastate it;he will ruin its faceand scatter its inhabitants—2it will be the samefor priest as for people,for the master as for his servant,for the mistress as for her servant,for seller as for buyer,for borrower as for lender,for debtor as for creditor.3The earth will be completely laid wasteand totally plundered.The Lord has spoken this word.4The earth dries up and withers,the world languishes and withers,the heavens languish with the earth.5The earth is defiled by its people;they have disobeyed the laws,violated the statutesand broken the everlasting covenant.6Therefore a curse consumes the earth;its people must bear their guilt.Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up,and very few are left.7The new wine dries up and the vine withers;all the merrymakers groan.8The joyful timbrels are stilled,the noise of the revelers has stopped,the joyful harp is silent.9No longer do they drink wine with a song;the beer is bitter to its drinkers.10The ruined city lies desolate;the entrance to every house is barred.11In the streets they cry out for wine;all joy turns to gloom,all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.12The city is left in ruins,its gate is battered to pieces.13So will it be on the earthand among the nations,as when an olive tree is beaten,or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.14They raise their voices, they shout for joy;from the west they acclaim the Lord’s majesty.15Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;exalt the name of the Lord, the God of Israel,in the islands of the sea.16From the ends of the earth we hear singing:“Glory to the Righteous One.”But I said, “I waste away, I waste away!Woe to me!The treacherous betray!With treachery the treacherous betray!”17Terror and pit and snare await you,people of the earth.18Whoever flees at the sound of terrorwill fall into a pit;whoever climbs out of the pitwill be caught in a snare.The floodgates of the heavens are opened,the foundations of the earth shake.19The earth is broken up,the earth is split asunder,the earth is violently shaken.20The earth reels like a drunkard,it sways like a hut in the wind;so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellionthat it falls—never to rise again.21In that day the Lord will punishthe powers in the heavens aboveand the kings on the earth below.22They will be herded togetherlike prisoners bound in a dungeon;they will be shut up in prisonand be punished after many days.23The moon will be dismayed,the sun ashamed;for the Lord Almighty will reignon Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,and before its elders—with great glory.

Psalm 60For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.1You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;you have been angry—now restore us!2You have shaken the land and torn it open;mend its fractures, for it is quaking.3You have shown your people desperate times;you have given us wine that makes us stagger.4But for those who fear you, you have raised a bannerto be unfurled against the bow.5Save us and help us with your right hand,that those you love may be delivered.6God has spoken from his sanctuary:“In triumph I will parcel out Shechemand measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.7Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;Ephraim is my helmet,Judah is my scepter.8Moab is my washbasin,on Edom I toss my sandal;over Philistia I shout in triumph.”9Who will bring me to the fortified city?Who will lead me to Edom?10Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected usand no longer go out with our armies?11Give us aid against the enemy,for human help is worthless.12With God we will gain the victory,and he will trample down our enemies.

Saying 1415My son, if your heart is wise,then my heart will be glad indeed;16my inmost being will rejoicewhen your lips speak what is right.

One Year Bible

September 16, 2025

Reading Plan

Devotional

Pastor Larry Stockstill

Isaiah 22:1-24:23

Galatians 2:17-3:9

Psalm 60:1-12

Prov. 23:15-16