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SEPTEMBER 23
in unrepentant sin would both humiliate and sadden Paul.This warning (and the one in 13:2) was
designed to prevent that from happening.
“I will not spare”(v. 2). Paul informed the Corinthians that he would deal biblically with any sin
he found in Corinth. Those Corinthians still seeking proof that Paul was a genuine apostle would
have it when he arrived (v.3).They may have gotten more than they bargained for,however,for Paul
was going to use his apostolic authority and power to deal with any sin and rebellion he found there.
Christ’s power was to be revealed through Paul against the sinning Corinthians (1 Cor.11:30–32).Paul
was to come to Corinth armed with the irresistible power of the risen, glorified Christ (v.4).
In vv. 5,6, the Greek grammar places great emphasis on the pronouns “yourselves” and “you.”
Paul turned the tables on his accusers.Instead of presuming to evaluate his apostleship,they need-
ed to test the genuineness of their faith (James 2:14–26). He pointed out the incongruity of the
Corinthians’ believing (as they did) that their faith was genuine and his apostleship false. Paul was
their spiritual father (1 Cor. 4:15). If his apostleship was counterfeit, so was their faith.The genuine-
ness of their salvation was proof of the genuineness of his apostleship.

‘Do not let your God in whom you trust
deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be
September 23 given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
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Look! You have heard what the kings of As-
syria have done to all lands by utterly destroy-
Isaiah 37:1–38:22 ing them; and shall you be delivered? Have
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the gods of the nations delivered those whom
And so it was, when King Hezekiah
37 heard it, that he tore his clothes, cov- my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran
ered himself with sackcloth, and went into the and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were
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house of the LORD. Then he sent Eliakim, who in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath,
was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of
the elders of the priests, covered with sack- Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’ ”
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the
cloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
3 hand of the messengers, and read it; and
And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah:
‘This day is a day of trouble and rebuke and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD,
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blasphemy; for the children have come to and spread it before the LORD. Then
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birth, but there is no strength to bring them Hezekiah prayed to the LORD, saying: “O
forth. It may be that the LORD your God will LORD of hosts, God of Israel, the One who
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hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his dwells between the cherubim, You are God,
master the king of Assyria has sent to re- You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth.
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proach the living God, and will rebuke the You have made heaven and earth. Incline
words which the LORD your God has heard. Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O
Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant LORD, and see; and hear all the words of
that is left.’ ” Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach
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5 the living God. Truly, LORD, the kings of As-
So the servants of King Hezekiah came to
Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you syria have laid waste all the nations and their
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shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: lands, and have cast their gods into the fire;
“Do not be afraid of the words which you have for they were not gods, but the work of men’s
heard, with which the servants of the king of hands—wood and stone. Therefore they
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Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our
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send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a God, save us from his hand, that all the king-
rumor and return to his own land; and I will doms of the earth may know that You are the
cause him to fall by the sword in his own LORD, You alone.”
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to
land.” ’ ”
8 Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD God of
Then the Rabshakeh returned, and found
the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me against
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he heard that he had departed from Lachish. Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word
And the king heard concerning Tirhakah
9 which the LORD has spoken concerning him:
king of Ethiopia, “He has come out to make “The virgin, the daughter of Zion,
war with you.” So when he heard it, he sent Has despised you, laughed you to
messengers to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus you scorn;
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shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: The daughter of Jerusalem
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