Reading for March 8th

 Read Isaiah 9.8-10.4. In 9.8-10.4: No respite for the land of Ephraim. In 9.8-21: The Assyrian intervention proved ruinous. Judah fared less badly than Ephraim; 2 Kings 17.5-23 tells how Ephraim was destroyed (see also Isa 7.8). The prophet warns against pride and complacency (vv. 9-10) in trusting that ruin would be overcome. During the following half-century, persistent external interference and internal conflicts ruined the region of Ephraim-Samaria. Not till the reign of Josiah more than a century later were serious attempts made to reunite parts of this land with Judah. In 10.1-4: Verses belong to the condemnation of the leaders of Jerusalem in 5.8-24 (note also the use of the refrain from 9.8-21 in 5.25), while 10.4 clearly belongs to the warning against Ephraim (9.8-21). Comments or Questions..