Isaiah 58

New International Version

True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud,^(A) do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.^(B)
Declare to my people their rebellion^(C)
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.^(D)
²For day after day they seek^(E) me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken^(F) the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near^(G) them.
³‘Why have we fasted,’^(H) they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled^(I) ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’^(J)

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please^(K)
    and exploit all your workers.
⁴Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,^(L)
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard^(M) on high.
⁵Is this the kind of fast^(N) I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble^(O) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed^(P)
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?^(Q)
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the kind of fasting^(R) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice^(S)
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed^(T) free
    and break every yoke?^(U)
⁷Is it not to share your food with the hungry^(V)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter^(W)—
when you see the naked, to clothe^(X) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?^(Y)
⁸Then your light will break forth like the dawn,^(Z)
    and your healing^(AA) will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a]^(AB) will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.^(AC)
⁹Then you will call,^(AD) and the Lord will answer;^(AE)
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger^(AF) and malicious talk,^(AG)
¹⁰and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,^(AH)
then your light^(AI) will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.^(AJ)
¹¹The Lord will guide^(AK) you always;
    he will satisfy your needs^(AL) in a sun-scorched land^(AM)
    and will strengthen^(AN) your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,^(AO)
    like a spring^(AP) whose waters never fail.
¹²Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins^(AQ)
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;^(AR)
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,^(AS)
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

¹³“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath^(AT)
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight^(AU)
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,^(AV)
¹⁴then you will find your joy^(AW) in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights^(AX) of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance^(AY) of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.^(AZ)

Footnotes

Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One

Revelation 21

New International Version

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^[a]^(A) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,^(B) and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City,^(C) the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,^(D) prepared as a bride^(E) beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.^(F) They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.^(G) ⁴‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.^(H) There will be no more death’^[b]^(I) or mourning or crying or pain,^(J) for the old order of things has passed away.”^(K)

⁵He who was seated on the throne^(L) said, “I am making everything new!”^(M) Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”^(N)

⁶He said to me: “It is done.^(O) I am the Alpha and the Omega,^(P) the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost^(Q) from the spring of the water of life.^(R) ⁷Those who are victorious^(S) will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.^(T) ⁸But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars^(U)—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.^(V) This is the second death.”^(W)

The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb

⁹One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues^(X) came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride,^(Y) the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰And he carried me away^(Z) in the Spirit^(AA) to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.^(AB) ¹¹It shone with the glory of God,^(AC) and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper,^(AD) clear as crystal.^(AE) ¹²It had a great, high wall with twelve gates,^(AF) and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.^(AG) ¹³There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. ¹⁴The wall of the city had twelve foundations,^(AH) and on them were the names of the twelve apostles^(AI) of the Lamb.

¹⁵The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod^(AJ) of gold to measure the city, its gates^(AK) and its walls. ¹⁶The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia^[c] in length, and as wide and high as it is long. ¹⁷The angel measured the wall using human^(AL) measurement, and it was 144 cubits^[d] thick.^[e] ¹⁸The wall was made of jasper,^(AM) and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.^(AN) ¹⁹The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone.^(AO) The first foundation was jasper,^(AP) the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby,^(AQ) the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.^[f] ²¹The twelve gates^(AR) were twelve pearls,^(AS) each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.^(AT)

²²I did not see a temple^(AU) in the city, because the Lord God Almighty^(AV) and the Lamb^(AW) are its temple. ²³The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God^(AX) gives it light,^(AY) and the Lamb^(AZ) is its lamp. ²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.^(BA) ²⁵On no day will its gates^(BB) ever be shut,^(BC) for there will be no night there.^(BD) ²⁶The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.^(BE) ²⁷Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,^(BF) but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.^(BG)

Footnotes

Revelation 21:1 Isaiah 65:17
Revelation 21:4 Isaiah 25:8
Revelation 21:16 That is, about 1,400 miles or about 2,200 kilometers
Revelation 21:17 That is, about 200 feet or about 65 meters
Revelation 21:17 Or high
Revelation 21:20 The precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain.