Truth stumbles in the streets,
    
and honesty has been outlawed.

Yes, 

truth is gone,
    
and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    
to find there was no justice.

So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm,
    
and his justice sustained him.

He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds.
    
His fury will fall on his foes.
    
He will pay them back even to the ends of the earth.

In the west, 

people will respect the name of the Lord;
    
in the east, 

they will glorify him.

For he will come like a raging flood tide
    
driven by the breath of the Lord.

Isaiah 59:14-15, 16, 18-19

(Portland, ME)

This is what the Lord says:

“Be just and fair to all.

Do what is right and good,

for I am coming soon to rescue you

and to display my righteousness among you.

Blessed are all those

who are careful to do this.

Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest

and keep themselves from doing wrong.”

Isaiah 56:1-2

Oh,

praise the Lord,

all you servants of the Lord,
    
you who serve at night in the house of the Lord.

Lift your hands toward the sanctuary,
    
and praise the Lord.

May the Lord,

who made heaven and earth,
    
bless you from Jerusalem.

Psalm 134:1-3

The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain…

Wise people treasure knowledge,

but the babbling of a fool invites disaster.

Too much talk leads to sin.

Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

Proverbs 10:11, 14, 19

When Noah was 600 years old, 

on the seventeenth day of the second month, 

all the underground waters erupted from the earth, 

and the rain fell in mighty torrents from the sky. 

The rain continued to fall for forty days and forty nights. 

That very day Noah had gone into the boat 

with his wife and his sons…

and their wives.  

…Then the Lord closed the door behind them.

God wiped out every living thing on the earth…

The only people who survived were Noah 

and those with him in the boat.

Genesis 7:11-13; 16, 23

“So you, 

too, 

must keep watch! 

For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.  

You also must be ready all the time, 

for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

Matthew 24:42, 44