Is. 23:1–18

23:1 This is an oracle about Tyre:

Wail, you large ships,

for the port is too devastated to enter!

From the land of Cyprus this news is announced to them.

2Lament, you residents of the coast,

you merchants of Sidon who travel over the sea,

whose agents sail over 3the deep waters.

Grain from the Shihor region,

crops grown near the Nile she receives;

she is the trade center of the nations.

4Be ashamed, O Sidon,

for the sea says this, O fortress of the sea:

“I have not gone into labor

or given birth;

I have not raised young men

or brought up young women.”

5When the news reaches Egypt,

they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre.

6Travel to Tarshish!

Wail, you residents of the coast!

7Is this really your boisterous city

whose origins are in the distant past

and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?

8Who planned this for royal Tyre,

whose merchants are princes,

whose traders are the dignitaries of the earth?

9The Lord of Heaven’s Armies planned it—

to dishonor the pride that comes from all her beauty,

to humiliate all the dignitaries of the earth.

10Daughter Tarshish, travel back to your land, as one crosses the Nile;

there is no longer any marketplace in Tyre.

11The Lord stretched out his hand over the sea,

he shook kingdoms;

he gave the order

to destroy Canaan’s fortresses.

12He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.”

13Look at the land of the Chaldeans,

these people who have lost their identity!

The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals.

They erected their siege towers,

demolished its fortresses,

and turned it into a heap of ruins.

14Wail, you large ships,

for your fortress is destroyed!

15At that time Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years, the typical life span of a king. At the end of 70 years Tyre will try to attract attention again, like the prostitute in the popular song:

16“Take the harp,

go through the city,

forgotten prostitute!

Play it well,

play lots of songs,

so you’ll be noticed.”

17At the end of 70 years the Lord will revive Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms. 18Her profits and earnings will be set apart for the Lord. They will not be stored up or accumulated, for her profits will be given to those who live in the Lord’s presence and will be used to purchase large quantities of food and beautiful clothes.

Ps. 148

148:1 Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the sky.

Praise him in the heavens.

2Praise him, all his angels.

Praise him, all his heavenly assembly.

3Praise him, O sun and moon.

Praise him, all you shiny stars.

4Praise him, O highest heaven

and you waters above the sky.

5Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for he gave the command and they came into existence.

6He established them so they would endure;

he issued a decree that will not be revoked.

7Praise the Lord from the earth,

you sea creatures and all you ocean depths,

8O fire and hail, snow and clouds,

O stormy wind that carries out his orders,

9you mountains and all you hills,

you fruit trees and all you cedars,

10you animals and all you cattle,

you creeping things and birds,

11you kings of the earth and all you nations,

you princes and all you leaders on the earth,

12you young men and young women,

you elderly, along with you children.

13Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for his name alone is exalted;

his majesty extends over the earth and sky.

14He has made his people victorious

and given all his loyal followers reason to praise—

the Israelites, the people who are close to him.

Praise the Lord!

2 Cor. 12:11–21

12:11 I have become a fool. You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. 12Indeed, the signs of an apostle were performed among you with great perseverance by signs and wonders and powerful deeds. 13For how were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this injustice! 14Look, for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you, because I do not want your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15Now I will most gladly spend and be spent for your lives! If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16But be that as it may, I have not burdened you. Yet because I was a crafty person, I took you in by deceit! 17I have not taken advantage of you through anyone I have sent to you, have I? 18I urged Titus to visit you, and I sent our brother along with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? Did we not conduct ourselves in the same spirit? Did we not behave in the same way? 19Have you been thinking all this time that we have been defending ourselves to you? We are speaking in Christ before God, and everything we do, dear friends, is to build you up. 20For I am afraid that somehow when I come I will not find you what I wish, and you will find me not what you wish. I am afraid that somehow there may be quarreling, jealousy, intense anger, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. 21I am afraid that when I come again, my God may humiliate me before you, and I will grieve for many of those who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practiced.