Isaiah 43-44

English Standard Version

Israel's Only Savior

43 But now thus says the Lord,
^(A)he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
^(B)“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    ^(C)I have called you by name, you are mine.
²^(D)When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
^(E)when you walk through fire ^(F)you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
³For ^(G)I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
^(H)I give Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and ^(I)Seba in exchange for you.
⁴Because you are precious in my eyes,
    and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
    peoples in exchange for your life.
⁵^(J)Fear not, for I am with you;
    ^(K)I will bring your offspring from the east,
    and from the west I will gather you.
⁶I will say to the north, Give up,
    and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring ^(L)my sons from afar
    and ^(M)my daughters from the end of the earth,
⁷everyone who is called by my name,
    whom I created for my glory,
    whom I formed and made.”

⁸Bring out ^(N)the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
    who are deaf, yet have ears!
⁹^(O)All the nations gather together,
    and the peoples assemble.
Who among them can declare this,
    and show us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,
    and let them hear and say, It is true.
¹⁰^(P)“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
    “and ^(Q)my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
^(R)Before me no god was formed,
    nor shall there be any after me.
¹¹^(S)I, I am the Lord,
    and besides me there is no savior.
¹²I declared and saved and proclaimed,
    when there was no strange god among you;
    and ^(T)you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.
¹³Also ^(U)henceforth I am he;
    there is none who can deliver from my hand;
    I work, and who can turn it back?”

¹⁴Thus says the Lord,
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
^(V)“For your sake I send to Babylon
    and ^(W)bring them all down as fugitives,
    ^(X)even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
¹⁵I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    the Creator of Israel, your King.”

¹⁶Thus says the Lord,
    ^(Y)who makes a way in the sea,
    a path in the mighty waters,
¹⁷who ^(Z)brings forth chariot and horse,
    army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
    ^(AA)they are extinguished, ^(AB)quenched like a wick:
¹⁸^(AC)“Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
¹⁹^(AD)Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
^(AE)I will make a way in the wilderness
    ^(AF)and rivers in the desert.
²⁰The wild beasts will honor me,
    ^(AG)the jackals and the ostriches,
^(AH)for I give water in the wilderness,
    rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
²¹    the people whom I formed for myself
^(AI)that they might declare my praise.

²²“Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
    but ^(AJ)you have been weary of me, O Israel!
²³^(AK)You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
    or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
    ^(AL)or wearied you with frankincense.
²⁴You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
    or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
    you have wearied me with your iniquities.

²⁵“I, I am he
    ^(AM)who blots out ^(AN)your transgressions for my own sake,
    and I will not remember your sins.
²⁶Put me in remembrance; ^(AO)let us argue together;
    set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
²⁷^(AP)Your first father sinned,
    and ^(AQ)your mediators transgressed against me.
²⁸Therefore ^(AR)I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,
    and ^(AS)deliver Jacob to utter destruction
    and Israel to reviling.

Israel the Lord's Chosen

44 “But now hear, ^(AT)O Jacob my servant,
    Israel whom I have chosen!
²Thus says the Lord who made you,
    ^(AU)who formed you from the womb and will help you:
^(AV)Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
    ^(AW)Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
³^(AX)For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
    and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
    and my blessing on your descendants.
⁴They shall spring up among the grass
    ^(AY)like willows by flowing streams.
⁵^(AZ)This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’
    another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord's,’
    and name himself by the name of Israel.”

Besides Me There Is No God

⁶Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
    and ^(BA)his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
^(BB)“I am the first and I am the last;
    besides me there is no god.
⁷^(BC)Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.^[a]
    Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
    Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
⁸Fear not, nor be afraid;
    have I not told you from of old and declared it?
    ^(BD)And you are my witnesses!
^(BE)Is there a God besides me?
    There is no ^(BF)Rock; I know not any.”

The Folly of Idolatry

⁹^(BG)All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. ¹⁰^(BH)Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? ¹¹^(BI)Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

¹²^(BJ)The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. ¹³The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.^[b] He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. ^(BK)He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. ¹⁴^(BL)He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. ¹⁶Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” ¹⁷And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. ^(BM)He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

¹⁸They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. ¹⁹No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an ^(BN)abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” ²⁰^(BO)He feeds on ^(BP)ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not ^(BQ)a lie in my right hand?”

The Lord Redeems Israel

²¹Remember these things, O Jacob,
    and Israel, for you are ^(BR)my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
    ^(BS)O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
²²^(BT)I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
    and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.

²³^(BU)Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
    shout, O ^(BV)depths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
    O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
    ^(BW)and will be glorified^[c] in Israel.

²⁴Thus says the Lord, ^(BX)your Redeemer,
    ^(BY)who formed you from the womb:
^(BZ)“I am the Lord, who made all things,
    ^(CA)who alone stretched out the heavens,
    who spread out the earth by myself,
²⁵who frustrates the signs of liars
    and makes fools of diviners,
^(CB)who turns wise men back
    and makes their knowledge foolish,
²⁶^(CC)who confirms the word of his servant
    and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
    ^(CD)and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
    and I will raise up their ruins’;
²⁷^(CE)who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;
    I will dry up your rivers’;
²⁸who says of ^(CF)Cyrus, ‘He is ^(CG)my shepherd,
    and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
    ^(CH)and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

Footnotes

Isaiah 44:7 Or Who like me can proclaim it?
Isaiah 44:13 Hebrew stylus
Isaiah 44:23 Or will display his beauty

Mark 11:1-18

English Standard Version

The Triumphal Entry

11 ^(A)Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to ^(B)Bethphage and Bethany, at ^(C)the Mount of Olives, Jesus^[a] sent ^(D)two of his disciples ²and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, ^(E)on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. ³If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” ⁴And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. ⁵And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. ⁷And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. ⁸And many ^(F)spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. ⁹And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, ^(G)“Hosanna! ^(H)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! ¹⁰Blessed is ^(I)the coming ^(J)kingdom of ^(K)our father ^(L)David! ^(M)Hosanna ^(N)in the highest!”

¹¹^(O)And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, ^(P)he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

¹²^(Q)On the following day, when they came from Bethany, ^(R)he was hungry. ¹³^(S)And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for ^(T)it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹⁵^(U)And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^(V)the money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^(W)pigeons. ¹⁶And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ^(X)‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But ^(Y)you have made it a den of robbers.” ¹⁸And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and ^(Z)were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because ^(AA)all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.