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NIV Email for Sep 20

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NEW TESTAMENT

Acts 1:1 through Acts 1:26 (NIV)
1In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

6So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

7He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. 13When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

15In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus-17he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."

18(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

20"For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms,

"'May his place be deserted;

let there be no one to dwell in it,'

and,

"'May another take his place of leadership.'

21Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."

23So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." 26Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

PSALMS OR PROVERBS

Psalm 81:1 through Psalm 81:16 (NIV)
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;

shout aloud to the God of Jacob!

2 Begin the music, strike the tambourine,

play the melodious harp and lyre.

3 Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon,

and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;

4 this is a decree for Israel,

an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

5 He established it as a statute for Joseph

when he went out against Egypt,

where we heard a language we did not understand.

6 He says, "I removed the burden from their shoulders;

their hands were set free from the basket.

7 In your distress you called and I rescued you,

I answered you out of a thundercloud;

I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Selah8 "Hear, O my people, and I will warn you-

if you would but listen to me, O Israel!

9 You shall have no foreign god among you;

you shall not bow down to an alien god.

10 I am the LORD your God,

who brought you up out of Egypt.

Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

11 "But my people would not listen to me;

Israel would not submit to me.

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts

to follow their own devices.

13 "If my people would but listen to me,

if Israel would follow my ways,

14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies

and turn my hand against their foes!

15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him,

and their punishment would last forever.

16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;

with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

OLD TESTAMENT

Isaiah 20:1 through Isaiah 20:6 (NIV)
1In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it-2at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, "Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet." And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.

3Then the LORD said, "Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush, 4so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared-to Egypt's shame. 5Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be afraid and put to shame. 6In that day the people who live on this coast will say, 'See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?'"

Isaiah 21:1 through Isaiah 21:17 (NIV)
1An oracle concerning the Desert by the Sea:

Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland,

an invader comes from the desert,

from a land of terror.

2 A dire vision has been shown to me:

The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot.

Elam, attack! Media, lay siege!

I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

3 At this my body is racked with pain,

pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;

I am staggered by what I hear,

I am bewildered by what I see.

4 My heart falters,

fear makes me tremble;

the twilight I longed for

has become a horror to me.

5 They set the tables,

they spread the rugs,

they eat, they drink!

Get up, you officers,

oil the shields!

6This is what the Lord says to me:

"Go, post a lookout

and have him report what he sees.

7 When he sees chariots

with teams of horses,

riders on donkeys

or riders on camels,

let him be alert,

fully alert."

8And the lookout shouted,

"Day after day, my lord, I stand on the watchtower;

every night I stay at my post.

9 Look, here comes a man in a chariot

with a team of horses.

And he gives back the answer:

'Babylon has fallen, has fallen!

All the images of its gods

lie shattered on the ground!'"

10 O my people, crushed on the threshing floor,

I tell you what I have heard

from the LORD Almighty,

from the God of Israel.

11An oracle concerning Dumah:

Someone calls to me from Seir,

"Watchman, what is left of the night?

Watchman, what is left of the night?"

12 The watchman replies,

"Morning is coming, but also the night.

If you would ask, then ask;

and come back yet again."

13An oracle concerning Arabia:

You caravans of Dedanites,

who camp in the thickets of Arabia,

14 bring water for the thirsty;

you who live in Tema,

bring food for the fugitives.

15 They flee from the sword,

from the drawn sword,

from the bent bow

and from the heat of battle.

16This is what the Lord says to me: "Within one year, as a servant bound by contract would count it, all the pomp of Kedar will come to an end. 17The survivors of the bowmen, the warriors of Kedar, will be few." The LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.

Isaiah 22:1 through Isaiah 22:25 (NIV)
1An oracle concerning the Valley of Vision:

What troubles you now,

that you have all gone up on the roofs,

2 O town full of commotion,

O city of tumult and revelry?

Your slain were not killed by the sword,

nor did they die in battle.

3 All 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.

4 Therefore I said, "Turn away from me;

let me weep bitterly.

Do not try to console me

over the destruction of my people."

5 The Lord, the LORD Almighty, has a day

of tumult and trampling and terror

in the Valley of Vision,

a day of battering down walls

and of crying out to the mountains.

6 Elam takes up the quiver,

with her charioteers and horses;

Kir uncovers the shield.

7 Your choicest valleys are full of chariots,

and horsemen are posted at the city gates;

8 the defenses of Judah are stripped away.

And you looked in that day

to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest;

9 you saw that the City of David

had many breaches in its defenses;

you stored up water

in the Lower Pool.

10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem

and tore down houses to strengthen the wall.

11 You built a reservoir between the two walls

for 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.

12 The Lord, the LORD Almighty,

called you on that day

to weep and to wail,

to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.

13 But 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, who is in charge of the palace:

16 What are you doing here and who gave you permission

to cut out a grave for yourself here,

hewing your grave on the height

and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

17 "Beware, the LORD is about to take firm hold of you

and hurl you away, O you mighty man.

18 He will roll you up tightly like a ball

and throw you into a large country.

There you will die

and there your splendid chariots will remain-

you disgrace to your master's house!

19 I 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 house 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 be 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.

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