Isaiah 56-59

New American Standard Bible

Rewards for Obedience to God

56 This is what the Lord says:
“^(A)Guard justice and do righteousness,
For My ^(B)salvation is about to come
And My righteousness to be revealed.
²^(C)Blessed is a man who does this,
And a son of man who ^(D)takes hold of it;
Who ^(E)keeps from profaning the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
³Let not the ^(F)foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will certainly separate me from His people.”
Nor let the ^(G)eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
⁴For this is what the Lord says:
“To the eunuchs who ^(H)keep My Sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And ^(I)hold firmly to My covenant,
⁵To them I will give in My ^(J)house and within My ^(K)walls a memorial,
And a name better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give ^[a]them an everlasting ^(L)name which ^(M)will not be eliminated.

⁶“Also the ^(N)foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
To attend to His service and to love the name of the Lord,
To be His servants, every one who ^(O)keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it,
And holds firmly to My covenant;
⁷Even ^(P)those I will bring to My ^(Q)holy mountain,
And ^(R)make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on ^(S)My altar;
For ^(T)My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
⁸The Lord ^[b]God, who ^(U)gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares,
“I will yet gather ^(V)others to ^[c]them, to those already gathered.”

⁹All you ^[d]^(W)wild animals,
All you animals in the forest,
Come to eat.
¹⁰His ^(X)watchmen are ^(Y)blind,
All of them know nothing.
All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,
Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;
¹¹And the dogs are ^[e]^(Z)greedy, they ^[f]are never satisfied.
And they are shepherds who have ^(AA)no understanding;
They have all ^(AB)turned to their own way,
Each one to his unjust gain, ^[g]without exception.
¹²“Come,” they say, “^[h]let’s get ^(AC)wine, and let’s drink heavily of intoxicating drink;
And ^(AD)tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”

Evil Leaders Rebuked

57 The righteous person perishes, and no one ^(AE)takes it to heart;
And devout people are taken away, while no one understands.
For the righteous person is taken away from ^(AF)evil,
²He enters into peace;
They rest in their ^[i]beds,
Each one who ^(AG)walked in his upright way.
³“But come here, you sons of a ^(AH)sorceress,
^(AI)Offspring of an adulterer and ^[j]a ^(AJ)prostitute!
⁴Of whom do you make fun?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of ^(AK)rebellion,
Offspring of deceit,
⁵Who inflame yourselves among the ^(AL)oaks,
^(AM)Under every luxuriant tree,
Who ^(AN)slaughter the children in the ^[k]ravines,
Under the clefts of the rocks?
⁶Among the ^[l]^(AO)smooth stones of the ^[m]ravine
Is your portion, ^[n]they are your lot;
Even to them you have ^(AP)poured out a drink offering,
You have made a grain offering.
Should I ^[o]^(AQ)relent of these things?
⁷On a ^(AR)high and lofty mountain
You have ^(AS)made your bed.
You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
⁸Behind the door and the doorpost
You have set up your sign;
Indeed, far removed from Me, you have ^(AT)uncovered yourself,
And have gone up and made your bed wide.
And you have made an agreement for yourself with them,
You have loved their bed,
You have looked at their ^[p]manhood.
⁹You have journeyed to the king with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have ^(AU)sent your messengers a great distance
And made them go down to ^[q]Sheol.
¹⁰You were tired out by the length of your road,
Yet you did not say, ‘^(AV)It is hopeless!’
You found ^[r]renewed strength,
Therefore you did not ^[s]faint.

¹¹“Of ^(AW)whom were you worried and fearful
When you lied, and did ^(AX)not remember Me
^[t]Nor ^(AY)give Me a thought?
Was I not silent, even for a long time,
So you do not fear Me?
¹²I will ^(AZ)declare your righteousness and your ^(BA)deeds,
And they will not benefit you.
¹³When you cry out, ^(BB)let your collection of idols save you.
But the wind will carry them all up,
And a breath will take them away.
But the one who ^(BC)takes refuge in Me will ^(BD)inherit the land
And ^(BE)possess My holy mountain.”

¹⁴And it will be said,
“^(BF)Build up, build up, prepare the way,
Remove every obstacle from the way of My people.”
¹⁵For this is what the ^(BG)high and exalted One
Who ^[u]^(BH)lives forever, whose name is Holy, says:
“I ^(BI)dwell in a high and holy place,
And also with the ^(BJ)contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to ^(BK)revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.
¹⁶For I will ^(BL)not contend forever,
^(BM)Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would grow faint before Me,
And the ^(BN)breath of those whom I have made.
¹⁷Because of the wrongful act of his ^(BO)unjust gain I was angry and struck him;
I hid My face and was angry,
And he went on ^(BP)turning away, in the way of his heart.
¹⁸I have seen his ways, but I will ^(BQ)heal him;
I will ^(BR)lead him and ^(BS)restore comfort to him and to his mourners,
¹⁹Creating the ^[v]^(BT)praise of the lips.
^(BU)Peace, peace to him who is ^(BV)far away and to him who is near,”
Says the Lord, “and I will heal him.”
²⁰But the ^(BW)wicked are like the tossing sea,
For it cannot be quiet,
And its waters toss up refuse and mud.
²¹“^(BX)There is no peace,” says ^(BY)my God, “for the wicked.”

Observances of Fasts

58 “^(BZ)Cry loudly, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their ^(CA)wrongdoing,
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
²Yet they ^(CB)seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,
As a nation that has done ^(CC)righteousness
And ^(CD)has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight ^(CE)in the nearness of God.
³‘Why have we ^(CF)fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not ^[w]notice?’
Behold, on the ^(CG)day of your fast you find your desire,
And oppress all your workers.
⁴Behold, you fast for contention and ^(CH)strife, and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you have done today to ^(CI)make your voice heard on high!
⁵Is it a fast like this that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it for bowing ^[x]one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out ^(CJ)sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an ^(CK)acceptable day to the Lord?
⁶Is this not the fast that I choose:
To ^(CL)release the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the ropes of the yoke,
And to ^(CM)let the oppressed go free,
And ^(CN)break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to ^(CO)break your bread ^[y]with the hungry
And ^(CP)bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the ^(CQ)naked, to cover him;
And not to ^(CR)hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸Then your ^(CS)light will break out like the dawn,
And your ^(CT)recovery will spring up quickly;
And your ^(CU)righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the ^(CV)Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹Then you will ^(CW)call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you ^(CX)remove the yoke from your midst,
The ^[z]^(CY)pointing of the finger and ^(CZ)speaking wickedness,
¹⁰And if you ^(DA)offer yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the ^[aa]need of the afflicted,
Then your ^(DB)light will rise in darkness,
And your gloom will become like midday.
¹¹And the ^(DC)Lord will continually guide you,
And ^(DD)satisfy your ^[ab]desire in scorched places,
And ^(DE)give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a ^(DF)watered garden,
And like a ^(DG)spring of water whose waters do not ^[ac]fail.
¹²Those from among you will ^(DH)rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will ^(DI)raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the ^(DJ)breach,
The restorer of the ^[ad]streets in which to dwell.

Keeping the Sabbath

¹³“If, because of the Sabbath, you ^(DK)restrain your foot
From doing as you wish on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a ^(DL)pleasure, and the holy day of the Lord honorable,
And honor it, desisting from your ^(DM)own ways,
From seeking your own pleasure
And ^(DN)speaking your own word,
¹⁴Then you will take ^(DO)delight in the Lord,
And I will make you ride ^(DP)on the heights of the earth;
And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the ^(DQ)mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Separation from God

59 Behold, ^(DR)the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
^(DS)Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
²But your ^(DT)wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His ^[ae]face from you so that He does ^(DU)not hear.
³For your ^(DV)hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with wrongdoing;
Your lips have spoken ^(DW)deceit,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
⁴^(DX)No one sues righteously and ^(DY)no one pleads ^[af]honestly.
They ^(DZ)trust in confusion and speak lies;
They ^(EA)conceive trouble and give birth to disaster.
⁵They hatch vipers’ eggs and ^(EB)weave the spider’s web;
The one who eats of their eggs dies,
And from what is crushed, a snake breaks out.
⁶Their webs will not become clothing,
Nor will they ^(EC)cover themselves with their works;
Their ^(ED)works are works of wrongdoing,
And an ^(EE)act of violence is in their ^[ag]hands.
⁷^(EF)Their feet run to evil,
And they hurry to shed innocent blood;
^(EG)Their thoughts are thoughts of wrongdoing,
Devastation and destruction are in their paths.
⁸They do not know the ^(EH)way of peace,
And there is ^(EI)no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
^(EJ)Whoever walks on ^[ah]them does not know peace.

A Confession of Wickedness

⁹Therefore ^(EK)justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not reach us;
We ^(EL)hope for light, but there is darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
¹⁰We ^(EM)grope for the wall like people who are blind,
We grope like those who have no eyes.
We ^(EN)stumble at midday as in the twilight;
Among those who are healthy we are ^(EO)like the dead.
¹¹All of us growl like bears,
And ^(EP)moan sadly like doves;
We hope for ^(EQ)justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
¹²For our ^(ER)wrongful acts have multiplied before You,
And our ^(ES)sins have testified against us;
For our wrongful acts are with us,
And ^[ai]we know our wrongdoings:
¹³^[aj]Offending and ^(ET)denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking ^(EU)oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and ^(EV)uttering lying words from the heart.
¹⁴^(EW)Justice is turned back,
And ^(EX)righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.
¹⁵Truth is lacking,
And one who turns aside from evil ^(EY)makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw,
And it was ^[ak]displeasing in His sight ^(EZ)that there was no justice.
¹⁶And He saw that there was ^(FA)no one,
And was amazed that there was not one to intercede;
Then His ^(FB)own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
¹⁷He put on ^(FC)righteousness like a breastplate,
And a ^(FD)helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on ^(FE)garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with ^(FF)zeal as a cloak.
¹⁸^(FG)According to their deeds, ^[al]so will He repay:
Wrath to His adversaries, ^[am]retribution to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will ^[an]deal ^[ao]retribution.
¹⁹So they will fear the name of the Lord from the ^(FH)west
And His glory from the ^(FI)rising of the sun,
For He will ^(FJ)come like a ^[ap]rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
²⁰“A ^(FK)Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those in Jacob who ^(FL)turn from wrongdoing,” declares the Lord.

²¹“As for Me, this is My ^(FM)covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My ^(FN)Spirit who is upon you, and My ^(FO)words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your ^[aq]offspring, nor from the mouth of your ^[ar]offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 56:5 As in DSS; MT him
Isaiah 56:8 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 56:8 Lit him
Isaiah 56:9 Lit animals of the field
Isaiah 56:11 Lit strong of soul/appetite
Isaiah 56:11 Lit do not know satisfaction
Isaiah 56:11 Lit from his end
Isaiah 56:12 As in DSS and some ancient versions; MT I will
Isaiah 57:2 I.e., graves
Isaiah 57:3 As in ancient versions; MT she prostitutes herself
Isaiah 57:5 Or wadis
Isaiah 57:6 I.e., symbols of fertility gods
Isaiah 57:6 Or wadi
Isaiah 57:6 Lit they, they
Isaiah 57:6 Or repent
Isaiah 57:8 Lit hand
Isaiah 57:9 I.e., the netherworld
Isaiah 57:10 Lit the life of your hand
Isaiah 57:10 Or become sick
Isaiah 57:11 Lit You did not set it upon your heart
Isaiah 57:15 Or dwells in eternity
Isaiah 57:19 Lit fruit of the lips
Isaiah 58:3 Lit know
Isaiah 58:5 Lit his
Isaiah 58:7 Lit for
Isaiah 58:9 I.e., an abusive gesture
Isaiah 58:10 Or soul
Isaiah 58:11 Or soul
Isaiah 58:11 Or deceive
Isaiah 58:12 Lit paths
Isaiah 59:2 As in ancient versions; MT faces
Isaiah 59:4 Lit in truth
Isaiah 59:6 Lit palms
Isaiah 59:8 Lit it
Isaiah 59:12 Lit our wrongdoings we know them
Isaiah 59:13 Or Revolting against and
Isaiah 59:15 Or evil
Isaiah 59:18 Lit accordingly
Isaiah 59:18 Lit requital
Isaiah 59:18 Lit repay
Isaiah 59:18 Lit requital
Isaiah 59:19 Lit narrow
Isaiah 59:21 Lit seed
Isaiah 59:21 Lit seed

Psalm 70

New American Standard Bible

Prayer for Help against Persecutors.

For the music director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.

70 ^(A)God, hurry to save me;
Lord, hurry to help me!
²^(B)May those who seek my ^[a]life
Be put to shame and humiliated;
May those who delight ^[b]in my harm
Be turned back and dishonored.
³^(C)May those who say, “Aha, aha!” be ^[c]turned back
Because of their shame.

⁴May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And may those who love Your salvation say continually,
“May God be exalted!”
⁵But ^(D)I am afflicted and needy;
^(E)Hurry to me, God!
You are my help and my savior;
Lord, do not delay.

Footnotes

Psalm 70:2 Or soul
Psalm 70:2 Or to injure me
Psalm 70:3 Some mss appalled

1 Corinthians 16

New American Standard Bible

Instructions and Greetings

16 Now concerning ^(A)the collection for ^[a]^(B)the saints, as ^(C)I directed the churches of ^(D)Galatia, so you are to do as well. ²On ^(E)the first day of every week, each of you is to ^[b]put aside and save as he may prosper, so that ^(F)no collections need to be made when I come. ³When I arrive, ^(G)whomever you approve, I will send them with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem; ⁴and if it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me.

⁵But I ^(H)will come to you after I go through ^(I)Macedonia; for I ^(J)am going through Macedonia, ⁶and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may ^(K)send me on my way wherever I go. ⁷For I do not want to see you now ^(L)just in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, ^(M)if the Lord permits. ⁸But I will remain in ^(N)Ephesus until ^(O)Pentecost; ⁹for a ^(P)wide door ^[c]for effective service has opened to me, and ^(Q)there are many adversaries.

¹⁰Now if ^(R)Timothy comes, see that he ^[d]has no reason to be afraid while among you, for he is doing ^(S)the Lord’s work, as I also am. ¹¹^(T)So do not look down on him, anyone. But ^(U)send him on his way ^(V)in peace, so that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brothers.

¹²Now concerning our brother ^(W)Apollos, I strongly encouraged him to come to you with the brothers; and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has the opportunity.

¹³^(X)Be on the alert, ^(Y)stand firm in the faith, ^(Z)act like men, ^(AA)be strong. ¹⁴All that you do must be done ^(AB)in love.

¹⁵Now I urge you, brothers and sisters: you know the ^(AC)household of Stephanas, that ^[e]they are the ^(AD)first fruits of ^(AE)Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to ^(AF)ministry to ^(AG)the ^[f]saints; ¹⁶I urge that ^(AH)you also be subject to such as these and to everyone who helps in the work and labors. ¹⁷I rejoice over the ^[g]^(AI)coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, because they have ^[h]supplied ^(AJ)what was lacking on your part. ¹⁸For they ^(AK)have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore ^(AL)acknowledge such men.

¹⁹The churches of ^[i]^(AM)Asia greet you. ^(AN)Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with ^(AO)the church that is in their house. ²⁰All the brothers and sisters greet you. ^(AP)Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²¹The greeting is in ^(AQ)my own hand—that of Paul. ²²If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be ^[j]^(AR)accursed. ^[k]^(AS)Maranatha! ²³^(AT)The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. ²⁴My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.