Isaiah 50-51
English Standard Version
Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience
50 Thus says the Lord:
“Where is (A)your mother's certificate of divorce,
with which (B)I sent her away?
Or (C)which of my creditors is it
to whom I have sold you?
(D)Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
2 (E)Why, when I came, was there no man;
why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
(F)Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
(G)Behold, by my rebuke (H)I dry up the sea,
(I)I make the rivers a desert;
(J)their fish stink for lack of water
and die of thirst.
3 (K)I clothe the heavens with blackness
and make sackcloth their covering.”
4 The Lord God has given (L)me
the tongue of those who are taught,
that (M)I may know how to sustain with a word
(N)him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
he awakens my ear
to hear as those who are taught.
5 (O)The Lord God has opened my ear,
(P)and I was not rebellious;
I turned not backward.
6 (Q)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;
(R)therefore I have set my face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
8 (S)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 (T)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 (U)the voice of his servant?
(V)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!
(W)This you have from my hand:
you shall lie down in torment.
The Lord's Comfort for Zion
51 (X)“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 (Y)he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the Lord (Z)comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like (AA)Eden,
her desert like (AB)the garden of the Lord;
(AC)joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 (AD)“Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
(AE)for a law[a] will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 (AF)My righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
(AG)the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 (AH)Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
(AI)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;[b]
(AJ)but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
7 (AK)“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people (AL)in whose heart is my law;
(AM)fear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 (AN)For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool,
(AO)but my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations.”
9 (AP)Awake, awake, (AQ)put on strength,
O (AR)arm of the Lord;
awake, (AS)as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut (AT)Rahab in pieces,
who pierced (AU)the dragon?
10 (AV)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 (AW)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 (AX)who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of (AY)man who dies,
of the son of man who is made (AZ)like grass,
13 and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
(BA)who stretched out the heavens
and (BB)laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of (BC)the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of (BD)the oppressor?
14 (BE)He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down (BF)to the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15 I am the Lord your God,
(BG)who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name.
16 (BH)And I have put my words in your mouth
(BI)and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
(BJ)establishing[c] the heavens
and (BK)laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17 (BL)Wake yourself, wake yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
(BM)you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl, (BN)the cup of staggering.
18 (BO)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 (BP)These two things have happened to you—
who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?[d]
20 (BQ)Your sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an (BR)antelope (BS)in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
the rebuke of your God.
21 (BT)Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
your God (BU)who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand (BV)the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23 (BW)and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
(BX)who have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and (BY)you have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 51:4 Or for teaching; also verse 7
- Isaiah 51:6 Or will die like gnats
- Isaiah 51:16 Or planting
- Isaiah 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you
2 Corinthians 4
English Standard Version
The Light of the Gospel
4 Therefore, having (A)this ministry (B)by the mercy of God,[a] we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced (C)disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice[b] cunning or (D)to tamper with God's word, but (E)by the open statement of the truth (F)we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even (G)if our gospel is veiled, (H)it is veiled to (I)those who are perishing. 4 In their case (J)the god of this world (K)has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing (L)the light of (M)the gospel of the glory of Christ, (N)who is the image of God. 5 For what (O)we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with (P)ourselves as your servants[c] for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, (Q)“Let light shine out of darkness,” (R)has shone in our hearts to give (S)the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Treasure in Jars of Clay
7 But we have this treasure in (T)jars of clay, (U)to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are (V)afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but (W)not forsaken; (X)struck down, but not destroyed; 10 (Y)always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, (Z)so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So (AA)death is at work in us, but life in you.
13 Since we have (AB)the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, (AC)“I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that (AD)he who raised the Lord Jesus (AE)will raise us also with Jesus and (AF)bring us with you into his presence. 15 For (AG)it is all for your sake, so that as (AH)grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, (AI)to the glory of God.
16 So we do not lose heart. (AJ)Though our outer self[d] is wasting away, (AK)our inner self (AL)is being renewed day by day. 17 For (AM)this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 (AN)as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 4:1 Greek having this ministry as we have received mercy
- 2 Corinthians 4:2 Greek to walk in
- 2 Corinthians 4:5 Or slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)
- 2 Corinthians 4:16 Greek man
Psalm 107:1-7
English Standard Version
Book Five
Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So
107 (A)Oh give thanks to the Lord, (B)for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let (C)the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has (D)redeemed from trouble[a]
3 and (E)gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 Some (F)wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way (G)to a city to dwell in;
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul (H)fainted within them.
6 Then they (I)cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by (J)a straight way
till they reached (K)a city to dwell in.
Footnotes
- Psalm 107:2 Or from the hand of the foe
Proverbs 23:13-14
English Standard Version
13 Do not withhold (A)discipline from a child;
(B)if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14 If you strike him with the rod,
you will (C)save his soul from Sheol.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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