Isaiah 41-42

New International Version

The Helper of Israel

41 “Be silent^(A) before me, you islands!^(B)
Let the nations renew their strength!^(C)
Let them come forward^(D) and speak;
let us meet together^(E) at the place of judgment.

²“Who has stirred^(F) up one from the east,^(G)
    calling him in righteousness^(H) to his service^[a]?^(I)
He hands nations over to him
    and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust^(J) with his sword,
    to windblown chaff^(K) with his bow.^(L)
³He pursues them and moves on unscathed,^(M)
    by a path his feet have not traveled before.
⁴Who has done this and carried it through,
    calling^(N) forth the generations from the beginning?^(O)
I, the Lord—with the first of them
    and with the last^(P)—I am he.^(Q)”

⁵The islands^(R) have seen it and fear;
    the ends of the earth^(S) tremble.
They approach and come forward;
⁶    they help each other
    and say to their companions, “Be strong!^(T)”
⁷The metalworker^(U) encourages the goldsmith,^(V)
    and the one who smooths with the hammer
    spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.
One says of the welding, “It is good.”
    The other nails down the idol so it will not topple.^(W)

⁸“But you, Israel, my servant,^(X)
    Jacob, whom I have chosen,^(Y)
    you descendants of Abraham^(Z) my friend,^(AA)
⁹I took you from the ends of the earth,^(AB)
    from its farthest corners I called^(AC) you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;^(AD)
    I have chosen^(AE) you and have not rejected you.
¹⁰So do not fear,^(AF) for I am with you;^(AG)
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen^(AH) you and help^(AI) you;
    I will uphold you^(AJ) with my righteous right hand.^(AK)

¹¹“All who rage^(AL) against you
    will surely be ashamed and disgraced;^(AM)
those who oppose^(AN) you
    will be as nothing and perish.^(AO)
¹²Though you search for your enemies,
    you will not find them.^(AP)
Those who wage war against you
    will be as nothing^(AQ) at all.
¹³For I am the Lord your God
    who takes hold of your right hand^(AR)
and says to you, Do not fear;
    I will help^(AS) you.
¹⁴Do not be afraid,^(AT) you worm^(AU) Jacob,
    little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help^(AV) you,” declares the Lord,
    your Redeemer,^(AW) the Holy One^(AX) of Israel.
¹⁵“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,^(AY)
    new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains^(AZ) and crush them,
    and reduce the hills to chaff.^(BA)
¹⁶You will winnow^(BB) them, the wind will pick them up,
    and a gale^(BC) will blow them away.^(BD)
But you will rejoice^(BE) in the Lord
    and glory^(BF) in the Holy One^(BG) of Israel.

¹⁷“The poor and needy search for water,^(BH)
    but there is none;
    their tongues are parched with thirst.^(BI)
But I the Lord will answer^(BJ) them;
    I, the God of Israel, will not forsake^(BK) them.
¹⁸I will make rivers flow^(BL) on barren heights,
    and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert^(BM) into pools of water,^(BN)
    and the parched ground into springs.^(BO)
¹⁹I will put in the desert^(BP)
    the cedar and the acacia,^(BQ) the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers^(BR) in the wasteland,
    the fir and the cypress^(BS) together,^(BT)
²⁰so that people may see and know,^(BU)
    may consider and understand,^(BV)
that the hand^(BW) of the Lord has done this,
    that the Holy One^(BX) of Israel has created^(BY) it.

²¹“Present your case,^(BZ)” says the Lord.
    “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.^(CA)
²²“Tell us, you idols,
    what is going to happen.^(CB)
Tell us what the former things^(CC) were,
    so that we may consider them
    and know their final outcome.
Or declare to us the things to come,^(CD)
²³    tell us what the future holds,
    so we may know^(CE) that you are gods.
Do something, whether good or bad,^(CF)
    so that we will be dismayed^(CG) and filled with fear.
²⁴But you are less than nothing^(CH)
    and your works are utterly worthless;^(CI)
    whoever chooses you is detestable.^(CJ)

²⁵“I have stirred^(CK) up one from the north,^(CL) and he comes—
    one from the rising sun who calls on my name.
He treads^(CM) on rulers as if they were mortar,
    as if he were a potter treading the clay.
²⁶Who told of this from the beginning,^(CN) so we could know,
    or beforehand, so we could say, ‘He was right’?
No one told of this,
    no one foretold^(CO) it,
    no one heard any words^(CP) from you.
²⁷I was the first to tell^(CQ) Zion, ‘Look, here they are!’
    I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news.^(CR)
²⁸I look but there is no one^(CS)—
    no one among the gods to give counsel,^(CT)
    no one to give answer^(CU) when I ask them.
²⁹See, they are all false!
    Their deeds amount to nothing;^(CV)
    their images^(CW) are but wind^(CX) and confusion.

The Servant of the Lord

42 “Here is my servant,^(CY) whom I uphold,
    my chosen one^(CZ) in whom I delight;^(DA)
I will put my Spirit^(DB) on him,
    and he will bring justice^(DC) to the nations.^(DD)
²He will not shout or cry out,^(DE)
    or raise his voice in the streets.
³A bruised reed^(DF) he will not break,^(DG)
    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.^(DH)
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;^(DI)
⁴    he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice^(DJ) on earth.
    In his teaching^(DK) the islands^(DL) will put their hope.”^(DM)

⁵This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens,^(DN) who stretches them out,
    who spreads out the earth^(DO) with all that springs from it,^(DP)
    who gives breath^(DQ) to its people,
    and life to those who walk on it:
⁶“I, the Lord, have called^(DR) you in righteousness;^(DS)
    I will take hold of your hand.^(DT)
I will keep^(DU) you and will make you
    to be a covenant^(DV) for the people
    and a light^(DW) for the Gentiles,^(DX)
⁷to open eyes that are blind,^(DY)
    to free^(DZ) captives from prison^(EA)
    and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.^(EB)

⁸“I am the Lord;^(EC) that is my name!^(ED)
    I will not yield my glory to another^(EE)
    or my praise to idols.^(EF)
⁹See, the former things^(EG) have taken place,
    and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
    I announce^(EH) them to you.”

Song of Praise to the Lord

¹⁰Sing^(EI) to the Lord a new song,^(EJ)
    his praise^(EK) from the ends of the earth,^(EL)
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,^(EM)
    you islands,^(EN) and all who live in them.
¹¹Let the wilderness^(EO) and its towns raise their voices;
    let the settlements where Kedar^(EP) lives rejoice.
Let the people of Sela^(EQ) sing for joy;
    let them shout from the mountaintops.^(ER)
¹²Let them give glory^(ES) to the Lord
    and proclaim his praise^(ET) in the islands.^(EU)
¹³The Lord will march out like a champion,^(EV)
    like a warrior^(EW) he will stir up his zeal;^(EX)
with a shout^(EY) he will raise the battle cry
    and will triumph over his enemies.^(EZ)

¹⁴“For a long time I have kept silent,^(FA)
    I have been quiet and held myself back.^(FB)
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
    I cry out, I gasp and pant.^(FC)
¹⁵I will lay waste^(FD) the mountains^(FE) and hills
    and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn rivers into islands
    and dry up^(FF) the pools.
¹⁶I will lead^(FG) the blind^(FH) by ways they have not known,
    along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light^(FI) before them
    and make the rough places smooth.^(FJ)
These are the things I will do;
    I will not forsake^(FK) them.
¹⁷But those who trust in idols,
    who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’^(FL)
    will be turned back in utter shame.^(FM)

Israel Blind and Deaf

¹⁸“Hear, you deaf;^(FN)
    look, you blind, and see!
¹⁹Who is blind^(FO) but my servant,^(FP)
    and deaf like the messenger^(FQ) I send?
Who is blind like the one in covenant^(FR) with me,
    blind like the servant of the Lord?
²⁰You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
    your ears are open, but you do not listen.”^(FS)
²¹It pleased the Lord
    for the sake^(FT) of his righteousness
    to make his law^(FU) great and glorious.
²²But this is a people plundered^(FV) and looted,
    all of them trapped in pits^(FW)
    or hidden away in prisons.^(FX)
They have become plunder,
    with no one to rescue them;^(FY)
they have been made loot,
    with no one to say, “Send them back.”

²³Which of you will listen to this
    or pay close attention^(FZ) in time to come?
²⁴Who handed Jacob over to become loot,
    and Israel to the plunderers?^(GA)
Was it not the Lord,^(GB)
    against whom we have sinned?
For they would not follow^(GC) his ways;
    they did not obey his law.^(GD)
²⁵So he poured out on them his burning anger,^(GE)
    the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames,^(GF) yet they did not understand;^(GG)
    it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.^(GH)

Footnotes

Isaiah 41:2 Or east, / whom victory meets at every step

Romans 7

New International Version

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters^(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? ²For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.^(B) ³So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.^(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law^(D) through the body of Christ,^(E) that you might belong to another,^(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵For when we were in the realm of the flesh,^[a]^(G) the sinful passions aroused by the law^(H) were at work in us,^(I) so that we bore fruit for death.^(J) ⁶But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law^(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.^(L)

The Law and Sin

⁷What shall we say, then?^(M) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!^(N) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.^(O) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”^[b]^(P) ⁸But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,^(Q) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.^(R) ⁹Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. ¹⁰I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life^(S) actually brought death. ¹¹For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,^(T) deceived me,^(U) and through the commandment put me to death. ¹²So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.^(V)

¹³Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good^(W) to bring about my death,^(X) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

¹⁴We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,^(Y) sold^(Z) as a slave to sin.^(AA) ¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.^(AB) ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.^(AC) ¹⁷As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.^(AD) ¹⁸For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[c]^(AE) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.^(AF) ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.^(AG)

²¹So I find this law at work:^(AH) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being^(AI) I delight in God’s law;^(AJ) ²³but I see another law at work in me, waging war^(AK) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin^(AL) at work within me. ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?^(AM) ²⁵Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!^(AN)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,^(AO) but in my sinful nature^[d] a slave to the law of sin.^(AP)

Footnotes

Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh