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loveofyhwh · 6 years

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October 15: Isaiah 49–51; James 4:1–10; Psalm 98; Proverbs 25:25–27

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October 15: Isaiah 49–51; James 4:1–10; Psalm 98; Proverbs 25:25–27

Old Testament:

Isaiah 49–51

Isaiah 49–51 (Listen)

The Servant of the Lord

49 Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. 3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”Or I will display my beauty‘>1 4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.” 5 And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength— 6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” 7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

The Restoration of Israel

8 Thus says the LORD: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, 9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; 10 they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. 11 And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up. 12 Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west,Hebrew from the sea‘>2 and these from the land of Syene.”Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim‘>3 13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. 14 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. 17 Your builders make haste;Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste‘>4 your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you. 18 Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, declares the LORD, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does. 19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land— surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. 20 The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: ‘The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.’ 21 Then you will say in your heart: ‘Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, but who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; from where have these come?’” 22 Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their arms,Hebrew in their bosom‘>5 and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. 23 Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.” 24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrantDead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man‘>6 be rescued? 25 For thus says the LORD: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children. 26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the LORD your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Israel’s Sin and the Servant’s Obedience

50 Thus says the LORD: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away. 2 Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth their covering.” 4 The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. 5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. 6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. 7 But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. 10 Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.

The Lord‘s Comfort for Zion

51 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. 2 Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him. 3 For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. 4 “Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a lawOr for teaching; also verse 7‘>7 will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples. 5 My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;Or will die like gnats‘>8 but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed. 7 “Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. 8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool, but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.” 9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? 10 Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? 11 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 12 “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, 13 and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor? 14 He who is bowed down shall speedily be released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking. 15 I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of hosts is his name. 16 And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishingOr planting‘>9 the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” 17 Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering. 18 There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne; there is none to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up. 19 These two things have happened to you— who will console you?— devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you‘>10 20 Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God. 21 Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine: 22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; 23 and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.”

Footnotes

[1] 49:3 Or I will display my beauty [2] 49:12 Hebrew from the sea [3] 49:12 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim [4] 49:17 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste [5] 49:22 Hebrew in their bosom [6] 49:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man [7] 51:4 Or for teaching; also verse 7 [8] 51:6 Or will die like gnats [9] 51:16 Or planting [10] 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you

(ESV)

New Testament:

James 4:1–10

James 4:1–10 (Listen)

Warning Against Worldliness

4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passionsGreek pleasures; also verse 3‘>1 are at war within you?Greek in your members‘>2 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people!Or You adulteresses!‘>3 Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Footnotes

[1] 4:1 Greek pleasures; also verse 3 [2] 4:1 Greek in your members [3] 4:4 Or You adulteresses!

(ESV)

Psalm:

Psalm 98

Psalm 98 (Listen)

Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord

A Psalm.

98 Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 2 The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! 5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD! 7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! 8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together 9 before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

(ESV)

Proverb:

Proverbs 25:25–27

Proverbs 25:25–27 (Listen)

25 Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. 26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. 27 It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain‘>1

Footnotes

[1] 25:27 The meaning of the Hebrew line is uncertain

(ESV)

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newyorktheater · 5 years

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Stephanie J. Block as “Star” Cher

Bryan Cranston

Lauren Ridloff from Children of a Lesser God

My ten favorite individual human performances in New York stage shows that opened in 2018 are listed alphabetically, with explanations for my choices largely excerpted from my reviews, but let’s begin with a few noteworthy ensembles:

The cast of Dance Nation showed us what it’s like to be an adolescent girl, though the actresses were as old as 60.

Noah Robbins and Edmund Donovan in Clarkston

The six performers of Lewiston/Clarkston confess, kiss and fight literally inches away from the audience

The two dozen actors of The Ferryman, most making their Broadway debuts, are all terrific, believable even when the play takes a turn into fantasy, especially the ones charged with taking care of the live baby, bunny, and goose that accompanies them on stage nightly.

The 1,000 performers of the Mile-Long Opera, stood in their position along the entire 30 block length of the High Line elevated park, singing snippets or reciting short monologues over and over and over again about life in New York City. It was an astonishing, spectacular, moving, and deeply odd work of theater that required a massive collaborative effort.

Broadway veteran Stephanie J. Block goes beyond just a spot-on impersonation of the mature Cher, called Star, in The Cher Show. As one of the three actresses portraying the entertainer at different stages of her life, she captures not just her look, her mannerisms, her moves, and her voice, but her attitudes and even her aura.

Nobody can do a nervous breakdown like Bryan Cranston. As Howard Beale, long-time network news anchor gone mad, he sits in front of the camera, unable to speak, his face a dramatic repertoire expressing varying shades of reddened desperation. And that’s just one of Cranston’s many memorable moments in the Broadway production of Network. Cranston became a star thanks to his Emmy-winning performance as chemistry teacher turned drug kingpin on AMC’s Breaking Bad, but convinced Broadway of his theater chops in his Tony-winning turn as LBJ in “All The Way.” His performance in “Network” is further proof.

Johnny Flynn portrayed Mooney, the mysterious, sly, sexy intruder in Martin McDonough’s Hangmen. Flynn, who originated the role in England, and played the lead in the bingeable Netflix series “Lovesick,” seems a likely candidate for larger stardom.

In The House That Will Not Stand, Lynda Gravátt portrayed Beartrice, the matriarch of an all-female African-American household in 19th century New Orleans, giving the gravitas it required, but with her character deepened by the suggestion of a willfully suppressed vulnerability. It’s one of the three distinctive roles she performed on New York stages this year – a prophetic cellist in This Flat Earth, a scheming funeral director in The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d. She keeps her sense of dignity even when playing a con artist.

Tom Hollander

Tom Hollander carried Travesties. His energetic clowning never wavered, but he also managed to bring clarity and feeling to Tom Stoppard’s mind-boggling collage of a play.

Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson returned to Broadway in Albee’s Three Tall Women after an absence of thirty years to portray a rich, regal old lady who’s become a monster, and is also dying, a performance that manages to be simultaneously ferocious and vulnerable. Although Jackson herself is now 82 years old, she has that ability that great actresses have of convincing us that her portrayal of a dying 92-year-old is an act; that the actress herself is fully in command of an endless depth and power. In other hands, Albee’s play might seem cold. Jackson’s meditation on facing death finds the heartbreak in it.

Liz Mikel in Fruit Trilogy

In Eve Ensler’s Fruit Trilogy, Liz Mikel gave a final, breathtaking monologue that suggested to me something close to Molly Bloom’s monologue at the end of Joyce’s Ulysses, a passionate outburst about the pleasure a woman’s body can give her – but in Ensler’s play laced with a decidedly feminist message. Mikel completely disrobes, but immediately admonishes the audience not to give her labels like exhibitionist. “What if you were there not to be titillated but instead to watch, learn, appreciate, to perceive and understand my pleasure but not in a lascivious way.”

In what was (incredibly) her professional stage debut, Lauren Ridloff portrayed Sarah Norman in “Children of a Lesser God,” whose language (like the actress’s) was American Sign Language. The actress proved passionate, eloquent and graceful in the upper body ballet that is ASL.

Anika Noni Rose as Carmen Jones

Anika Noni Rose conquers in the title role of Carmen Jones, from the moment she enters wearing that red dress and carrying a red rose, and inspects her silk stockings. It is a subtle gesture that shows us a woman out for herself. Sultry, seductive and destructive, her Carmen Jones is an operatic character of outsized appetites, and Rose’s voice one of operatic force and beauty. But her performance, rooted in her training as a Tony-winning actress in both plays and musicals, offers no hint of the stilted formality we might associate with opera stars.

In her timely and informative play, What the Constitution Means to Me, Heidi Schreck plays herself at age 15 and at her current age. As winning as her play is, her performance as herself is remarkable. There is a certain slyness in her depiction of a teenager, but when she’s herself talking candidly about the history of domestic abuse in her family, or about her abortion, her emotions feel real. It’s bracing to realize she does this eight times a week

One thing about New York City: There’s no end to the stage talent. I could easily fill another Top 10 list of performances in 2018 And so here it is (again alphabetical):

Lauren Ambrose in My Fair Lady, Anthony Boyle in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Nathan Lane in Angels in America, Elaine May in the Waverly Gallery, Lindsay Mendez in Carousel, Laurie Metcalfe in Three Tall Women, Chris Perfetti in The Low Road, Angie Schworer in The Prom, Shannon Tyo in The Chinese Lady, Michael Urie in Torch Song

And, it doesn’t feel right to leave out the puppets of 2018.Behind every successful puppet is a person – usually many people.

King Kong

King Kong in King Kong (Manipulated by Mike Baerga , Rhaamell Burke-Missouri , Jovan Dansberry , Casey Garvin, Gabriel Hyman, Marty Lawson, Robeto Olvero, Khadija Tariyan, Lauren Yalango-Grant , David Yijae — collectively referred to as King’s Company)

Jelani Alladin as Kristoff and Andrew Pirozzi as Sven

Sven the reindeer in Frozen (Adam Jepsen and Andrew Pirozzi)

Frozen: Greg Hildreth as Olaf

Olaf in Frozen (Greg Hildreth)

Jester, dragon, prince and princess finger puppets by Una Clancy in The Jester and the Dragon

The seventy-five puppets (or one thousand depending on how you cat) amoeba-looking plastic cut-outs and pieces of tinsel , psychedelic pinwheels etc. – in Symphonie Fantastique (Kate Brehm, Ben Elling, Andy Gaukel, Jonothon Lyons, and Rachael Shane, with Basil Twist)

20 Favorite New York Stage Performances in 2018, and 5 Top Puppet Performances My ten favorite individual human performances in New York stage shows that opened in 2018 are listed alphabetically, with explanations for my choices largely excerpted from my reviews, but let’s begin with a few noteworthy ensembles:

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