Old/New Testament
The Lord Will Rescue His People
43 Now, this is what the Lord says,
the one who created you, O Jacob,
and formed you, O Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect[a] you.
I call you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;
when you pass[b] through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not harm[c] you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel,[d] your deliverer.
I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,
Ethiopia and Seba[e] in place of you.
4 Since you are precious and special in my sight,[f]
and I love you,
I will hand over people in place of you,
nations in place of your life.
5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
From the east I will bring your descendants;
from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’
and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’
Bring my sons from distant lands,
and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,
7 everyone who belongs to me,[g]
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed—yes, whom I made.
The Lord Declares His Sovereignty
8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,
those who are deaf, even though they have ears!
9 All nations gather together,
the peoples assemble.
Who among them announced this?
Who predicted earlier events for us?[h]
Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;
let them listen and affirm, “It is true.”
10 You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,
“my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may consider[i] and believe in me,
and understand that I am he.
No god was formed before me,
and none will outlive me.[j]
11 I, I am the Lord,
and there is no deliverer besides me.
12 I decreed and delivered and proclaimed,
and there was no other god among you.
You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God.
13 From this day forward I am he;
no one can deliver from my power;[k]
I will act, and who can prevent it?”
The Lord Will Do Something New
14 This is what the Lord says,
your Protector,[l] the Holy One of Israel:[m]
“For your sake I send to Babylon
and make them all fugitives,[n]
turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs.[o]
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,[p]
the one who created Israel, your king.”
16 This is what the Lord says,
the one who made a road through the sea,
a pathway through the surging waters,
17 the one who led chariots and horses to destruction,[q]
together with a mighty army.
They fell down,[r] never to rise again;
they were extinguished, put out like a burning wick:
18 “Don’t remember these earlier events;[s]
don’t recall these former events.
19 Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen![t] Do you not recognize[u] it?
Yes, I will make a road in the wilderness
and paths[v] in the wastelands.
20 The wild animals[w] honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the wilderness
and streams in the wastelands,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself,
so they might praise me.[x]
The Lord Rebukes His People
22 “But you did not call for me, O Jacob;
you did not long[y] for me, O Israel.
23 You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings;
you did not honor me with your sacrifices.
I did not burden you with offerings;
I did not make you weary by demanding[z] incense.
24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds;[aa]
you did not present to me[ab] the fat of your sacrifices.
Yet you burdened me with your sins;
you made me weary with your evil deeds.[ac]
25 I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake;
your sins I do not remember.
26 Remind me of what happened. Let’s debate!
You, prove to me that you are right![ad]
27 The father of your nation[ae] sinned;
your spokesmen[af] rebelled against me.
28 So I defiled your holy princes,
and handed Jacob over to destruction,
and subjected[ag] Israel to humiliating abuse.
The Lord Will Renew Israel
44 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!”
2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says—
the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:
“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Jeshurun,[ah] whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the parched ground[ai]
and cause streams to flow[aj] on the dry land.
I will pour my Spirit on your offspring
and my blessing on your children.
4 They will sprout up like a tree in the grass,[ak]
like poplars beside channels of water.
5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’
and another will use[al] the name ‘Jacob.’
One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and use the name ‘Israel.’”[am]
The Absurdity of Idolatry
6 This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says,
their Protector,[an] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:
“I am the first and I am the last,
there is no God but me.
7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim![ao]
Let him announce it and explain it to me—
since I established an ancient people[ap]—
let them announce future events.[aq]
8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid![ar]
Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?
You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?
There is no other sheltering rock;[as] I know of none.
9 All who form idols are nothing;
the things in which they delight are worthless.
Their witnesses cannot see;
they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.
10 Who forms a god and casts an idol
that will prove worthless?[at]
11 Look, all his associates[au] will be put to shame;
the craftsmen are mere humans.[av]
Let them all assemble and take their stand.
They will panic and be put to shame.
12 A blacksmith works with his tool[aw]
and forges metal over the coals.
He forms it[ax] with hammers;
he makes it with his strong arm.
He gets hungry and loses his energy;[ay]
he drinks no water and gets tired.
13 A carpenter takes measurements;[az]
he marks out an outline of its form;[ba]
he scrapes[bb] it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form,[bc]
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine.[bd]
14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress[be] or an oak.
He gets[bf] trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar[bg] and the rain makes it grow.
15 A man uses it to make a fire;[bh]
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.[bi]
16 Half of it he burns in the fire—
over that half he cooks[bj] meat;
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it, saying,
‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
18 They do not comprehend or understand,
for their eyes are blind and cannot see;
their minds do not discern.[bk]
19 No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire—
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’[bl]
20 He feeds on ashes;[bm]
his deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’[bn]
21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
O Israel, for you are my servant.
I formed you to be my servant;
O Israel, I will not forget you![bo]
22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,
the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud.[bp]
Come back to me, for I protect[bq] you.”
23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes;[br]
shout out, you subterranean regions[bs] of the earth.
O mountains, give a joyful shout;
you too, O forest and all your trees![bt]
For the Lord protects[bu] Jacob;
he reveals his splendor through Israel.[bv]
The Lord Empowers Cyrus
24 This is what the Lord, your Protector,[bw] says,
the one who formed you in the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made everything,
who alone stretched out the sky,
who fashioned the earth all by myself,[bx]
25 who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers[by]
and humiliates[bz] the omen readers,
who overturns the counsel of the wise men[ca]
and makes their advice[cb] seem foolish,
26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants[cc]
and brings to pass the announcements[cd] of his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’
and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,
her ruins I will raise up,’
27 who says to the deep sea, ‘Be dry!
I will dry up your sea currents,’
28 who commissions[ce] Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd[cf]
to carry out all my wishes[cg]
and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’
and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’[ch]
Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica
2 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters,[a] about our coming to you—it has not proven to be purposeless.[b] 2 But although we suffered earlier and were mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God[c] in spite of much opposition. 3 For the appeal we make[d] does not come[e] from error or impurity or with deceit, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we declare it, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts. 5 For we never appeared[f] with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is our witness— 6 nor to seek glory from people, either from you or from others, 7 [g] although we could have imposed our weight as apostles of Christ; instead we became[h] little children[i] among you. Like a nursing mother caring for her own children, 8 with such affection for you[j] we were happy[k] to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you recall, brothers and sisters,[l] our toil and drudgery: By working night and day so as not to impose a burden on any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, as to how holy and righteous and blameless our conduct was toward you who believe. 11 As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his own children, 12 exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you live in a way worthy of God who calls you to his own kingdom and his glory. 13 And so[m] we too constantly thank God that when you received God’s message that you heard from us,[n] you accepted it not as a human message,[o] but as it truly is, God’s message, which is at work among you who believe. 14 For you became imitators, brothers and sisters,[p] of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets[q] and persecuted us severely.[r] They are displeasing to God and are opposed to all people, 16 because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins,[s] but wrath[t] has come upon them completely.[u]
Forced Absence from Thessalonica
17 But when we were separated from you, brothers and sisters,[v] for a short time (in presence, not in affection)[w] we became all the more fervent in our great desire[x] to see you in person.[y] 18 For we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, in fact tried again and again)[z] but Satan thwarted us. 19 For who is our hope or joy or crown to boast of[aa] before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not of course you? 20 For you are our glory and joy!
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