Reading for March 22nd

 Read Isaiah 19.16--25. In verses 16-25: In spite of these failures, Judah's relations with Egypt were prolonged and often close. The prophet looks beyond the turmoil of Mesopotamian rule to the time when a community would dwell there who spoke the language of Canaan (v. 18) and swore allegiance to the Lord of host. Even Assyria would one day become with Egypt and Israel a blessing in the midst of the earth (v. 24). The series of remarkable short prophecies builds on the aftermath of the disasters that befell Jerusalem at the hands of Assyrians and Babylonians. Many citizens fled to Egypt, and, from the sixth century BCE onwards, substantial settlements of exiled Judeans took refuge there. In this bold look across the spiritual boundaries of the ancient world, a genuine religious universalism begins to appear (vv. 21-24). The knowledge of God revealed to Israel would be shared among other peoples, replacing the failed learning of the Egyptian sages (v. 11). Comments or Questions..