Because you have left your people alone,
Ya’aqob’s household.
Because they are full from the east,
yes, of diviners like the Pelishtites [Philistines],
and they abound in children of foreigners.
Its country’s full of silver and gold;
there’s no end to its treasures.
Its country’s full of horses;
there’s no end to its chariots.
Its country’s full of non-entities;
they bow low to the making of their hands,
to what their fingers made.
…So humanity bows down,
the individual falls down
– may you not carry them.

Come into the crag,
bury yourself in the earth,
Before the fearfulness of Yahweh,
from the dreadfulness of his majesty.
Lofty human eyes have fallen down,
the exaltedness of individuals has bowed down.
Yahweh alone will be on high on that day.

Because Yahweh of Armies
has a day against all majesty and exaltedness,
Against all that is high –
and it will fall down,
Against all the cedars of the Lebanon,
exalted and high,
against all the oaks of the Bashan,
Against all the exalted mountains,
against all the high hills,
Against every lofty tower,
against every fortified wall,
Against every Tarshish ship,
against all the impressive vessels.
Human loftiness will bow down,
people’s exaltedness will fall down.
Yahweh alone will be on high on that day;
non-entities – they will completely vanish.
People will go into caves in the crags,
into holes in the earth,
From before the fearfulness of Yahweh,
from the dreadfulness of his majesty,
when he arises to terrify the country.

On that day humanity will throw away
its silver non-entities
and its gold non-entities,
Which they made for themsleves
to bow down to,
to the moles and to the bats,
To come into the clefts in the crags,
into the crevices in the cliffs,
Before the fearfulness of Yahweh,
from the dreadfulness of his majesty.
when he arises to terrify the earth,
Get yourselves away from humanity,
that has breath in its nostrils,
because what is it to count for?

Goldingay, John; The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

The word that Yesha’yahu ben Amots beheld
concerning Yehudah and Yerushalaim.

It will come about at the end of the time:
The mountain of Yahweh’s house will have become established
at the head of the mountains, and it will be lifted up higher than the hills.
All the nations will stream to it;
many peoples will come and say,
‘Come on, let’s go up to Yahweh’s mountain,
to the house of Ya’aqob’s [Jacob’s] God,
So he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.’

Because instruction will go out from Tsiyyon,
Yahweh’s word from Yerushalaim.
He will exercise authority among the nations,
and issue reproof to many peoples.
They’ll beat their swords into hoes,
their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not carry sword against nation;
they will no more learn about battle.
Ya’aqob’s household, come on,
let’s walk by Yahweh’s light.

Goldingay, John; The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

Aagh, she’s become a whore,
the trustworthy township,
full of the exercise of authority.
Faithfulness was lodging in it,
but now murderers.
Your silver has become slag,
your drink is diluted with water.
Your officers are defiant,
the associates of thieves;
every one of them loves a bribe, chases gifts.
They don’t exercise authority for the orphan;
the widow’s cause doesn’t come to them.

Therefore the declaration of the Lord,
Yahweh of Armies, Yisra’el’s champion, is:
‘Hey, I shall get relief from my adversaries,
take redress from my enemies,
turn back my hand against you.

But I shall smelt your slag as with lye,
remove all your contamination.
I shall restore your leaders as of old,
your counsellors as at the beginning.
Afterwards you will be called faithful town,
trustworthy township.

Tsiyyon will find redemption through the exercise of authority,
and the people in it who turn back, through faithfulness.
But there will be a breaking of rebels and wrongdoers, all together,
and the people who abandon Yahweh will be finished.

Because they’ll be shamed on account of the oaks that you desired;
you will be confounded on account of the gardens that you chose.
Because you’ll be like an oak wilting of foliage,
like a garden for which there’s no water.
The strong person will become tinder, his work a spark.
The two of them will burn all together, and there will be no one quenching.

Goldingay, John; Goldingay, John; . The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

Listen to Yahweh’s word,
rulers of Sedom!
Give ear to our God’s instruction,
people of Amorah!

What use to me is the large number of your sacrifices?
(Yahweh says).
I’m full of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fatlings.
In the blood of bulls and lambs and goats
I do not delight.
When you come to appear to my face,
who sought this from your hand?
Trampling my courtyards –
you will do it no more,
bringing an empty offering.
Incense is an offence to me,
new month and sabbath, the calling of a convocation.

I cannot bear trouble and assembly;
your new moons and your appointed times my entire being dislikes.
They’ve become a burden to me
that I’m weary of carrying.

And when you spread the palms of your hands,
I shall lift up my eyes from you.
Even when you offer many a plea,
there will be no listening on my part.
Your hands are full of bloodshed –

wash, get clean.
Remove the badness of your practices
from in front of my eyes.
Stop dealing badly,
learn doing good.
Require the exercise of authority, put the oppressor right,
exercise authority for the orphan, argue for the widow.

Come on, please, let’s argue it out
(Yahweh says).
If your wrongdoings are like scarlet,
they’re to be white like snow.
If they’re red like crimson,
they’re to be like wool.
If you’re willing and you listen,
you will consume the good things of the country.
But if you refuse and rebel,
you’ll be consumed by the sword;
because Yahweh’s mouth has spoken.

Goldingay, John; Goldingay, John; Wright, Tom; Wright, Tom. The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

The vision of Yesha’yahu ben Amots which he beheld concerning Yehudah and Yerushalaim in the days of Uzziyyahu, Yotam, Ahaz and Yehizqiyyahu [Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah], kings of Yehudah.

Listen, heavens, give ear, earth,
because Yahweh has spoken.

I reared children, I raised them,
but they – they rebelled against me.
An ox acknowledges its owner,
a donkey its master’s manger.
Yisra’el doesn’t acknowledge,
my people doesn’t show any discernment.

Hey, wrongdoing nation,
a people heavy with waywardness!
Offspring of people who deal badly,
devastating children,
they’ve abandoned Yahweh.
They’ve disdained Yisra’el’s sacred one,
they’ve become estranged, backwards.

Why will you be struck down more,
continue being defiant?
The whole head has come to sickness,
the whole mind is faint.
From the sole of the foot to the
head, there’s no integrity in it.
Bruise, blotch, fresh wound –
they haven’t been pressed out.
They haven’t been bandaged,
it hasn’t been softened with oil.
Your country’s a desolation,
your towns burned with fire.
Your land – in front of you,
foreigners are consuming it,
A desolation, quite overthrown by foreigners,
and Miss Tsiyyon [Zion] is left like a shelter in a vineyard,
Like a place to stay the night in a melon field,
like a town besieged.

Had Yahweh of Armies
not left us survivors, a few,
We’d have been like Sedom [Sodom],
we’d have resembled Amorah [Gomorrah].

Goldingay, John; The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)