2 Kings 19:20–37

19:20 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘I have heard your prayer concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria. 21This is what the Lord says about him:

“‘“The virgin daughter Zion

despises you, she makes fun of you;

Daughter Jerusalem

shakes her head after you.

22Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?

At whom have you shouted,

and looked so arrogantly?

At the Holy One of Israel!

23Through your messengers you taunted the Sovereign Master,

‘With my many chariots

I climbed up the high mountains,

the slopes of Lebanon.

I cut down its tall cedars

and its best evergreens.

I invaded its most remote regions,

its thickest woods.

24I dug wells and drank

water in foreign lands.

With the soles of my feet I dried up

all the rivers of Egypt.’

25 Certainly you must have heard!

Long ago I worked it out.

In ancient times I planned it;

and now I am bringing it to pass.

The plan is this:

Fortified cities will crash

into heaps of ruins.

26Their residents are powerless,

they are terrified and ashamed.

They are as short-lived as plants in the field,

or green vegetation.

They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops

when it is scorched by the east wind.

27I know where you live

and everything you do.

28Because you rage against me,

and the uproar you create has reached my ears,

I will put my hook in your nose,

and my bridle between your lips,

and I will lead you back the way

you came.”

29 “‘This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth: This year you will eat what grows wild, and next year what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. 30Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit.

31“‘For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;

survivors will come out of Mount Zion.

The zeal of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will accomplish this.

32So this is what the Lord has said about the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city,

nor will he shoot an arrow here.

He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors,

nor will he build siege works against it.

33He will go back the way he came.

He will not enter this city,” says the Lord.

34“‘I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.’”

35That very night the angel of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. When they got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses. 36So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. 37One day, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

Ps. 52

52:1 For the music director, a well-written song by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.”

Why do you boast about your evil plans, O powerful man?

God’s loyal love protects me all day long.

2Your tongue carries out your destructive plans;

it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver.

3You love evil more than good,

lies more than speaking the truth. (Selah)

4You love to use all the words that destroy,

and the tongue that deceives.

5Yet God will make you a permanent heap of ruins.

He will scoop you up and remove you from your home;

he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)

6When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,

and will mock the evildoer, saying:

7“Look, here is the man who would not make God his protector.

He trusted in his great wealth

and was confident about his plans to destroy others.”

8But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God;

I continually trust in God’s loyal love.

9I will continually thank you when you execute judgment;

I will rely on you, for your loyal followers know you are good.

Matt. 24:36–25:13

24:36 “But as for that day and hour no one knows it—not even the angels in heaven—except the Father alone. 37For just like the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 38For in those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. 39And they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all away. It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41There will be two women grinding grain with a mill; one will be taken and one left.

42“Therefore stay alert because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45“Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their food at the proper time? 46Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work when he comes. 47I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But if that evil slave should say to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with drunkards, 50then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, 51and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

25:1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of the virgins were foolish, and five were wise. 3When the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take extra olive oil with them. 4But the wise ones took flasks of olive oil with their lamps. 5When the bridegroom was delayed a long time, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.’ 7Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ 9‘No,’ they replied. ‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then the door was shut. 11Later, the other virgins came too, saying, ‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’ 12But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I do not know you!’ 13Therefore stay alert because you do not know the day or the hour.