Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 The Babylonian Exile ended in 539 BCE when the Persians defeated the Babylonians. Cyrus the Great then directed the Judeans to return to Jerusalem. Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE, and the reconstruction of Jerusalem took more than 90 years. Ezra (mentioned in today’s reading) was sent […]
Isaiah 62:1-5 The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH) who called for Jerusalem to repent […]
Isaiah 43:1-7 The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH) who called for Jerusalem to repent […]
Isaiah 60:1-6 The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH) who called for Jerusalem to repent […]
Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3 The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH) who called for Jerusalem […]
READINGS FOR CHRISTMAS III Isaiah 52:7-10 The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH) who called […]
READINGS FOR CHRISTMAS II Isaiah 62:6-12 The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH) who called […]
T 8 READINGS FOR CHRISTMAS I Isaiah 9:2-7 Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 20 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In […]
Micah 5:2-5a Micah was among the earliest of the “Minor Prophets” – the 12 prophets whose works are much shorter than those of the “Major Prophets”(Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and are found in a single scroll. Micah was a prophet to Judea after Northern Israel (Samaria) was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE (an […]
Zephaniah 3:14-20 Zephaniah is one of the 12 “Minor” Prophets, so-called because their works form a single scroll in the Hebrew Bible, as compared to the longer works of the “Major” Prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Zephaniah was a prophet to Judea during the reign of the good King Josiah (640-609 BCE) who instituted […]