Isaiah 57:14-21

English Standard Version

Comfort for the Contrite

¹⁴And it shall be said,
^(A)“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
    remove every obstruction from my people's way.”
¹⁵For thus says ^(B)the One who is high and lifted up,
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is ^(C)Holy:
^(D)“I dwell in the high and holy place,
    and also ^(E)with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
^(F)to revive the spirit of the lowly,
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.
¹⁶^(G)For I will not contend forever,
    nor will I always be angry;
for the spirit would grow faint before me,
    and the breath of life that I made.
¹⁷Because of the iniquity of his ^(H)unjust gain I was angry,
    I struck him; I hid my face and was angry,
    but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
¹⁸I have seen his ways, ^(I)but I will heal him;
    I will lead him ^(J)and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
¹⁹    ^(K)creating ^(L)the fruit of the lips.
^(M)Peace, peace, ^(N)to the far and to the near,” says the Lord,
    ^(O)“and I will heal him.
²⁰^(P)But the wicked are like the tossing sea;
    for it cannot be quiet,
    and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
²¹^(Q)There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Read full chapter

Psalm 22:23-31

English Standard Version

²³You who ^(A)fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, ^(B)glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
²⁴For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of ^(C)the afflicted,
and he has not ^(D)hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he ^(E)cried to him.

²⁵From you comes my praise in the great ^(F)congregation;
    my ^(G)vows I will ^(H)perform before those who fear him.
²⁶^(I)The afflicted^[a] shall ^(J)eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
    May your hearts ^(K)live forever!

²⁷All ^(L)the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all ^(M)the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
²⁸For ^(N)kingship belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

²⁹All ^(O)the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
    before him shall ^(P)bow all who go down to the dust,
    even the one who could not ^(Q)keep himself alive.
³⁰Posterity shall serve him;
    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming ^(R)generation;
³¹they shall ^(S)come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet ^(T)unborn,
    that he has done it.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Psalm 22:26 Or The meek

Ephesians 2:11-22

English Standard Version

One in Christ

¹¹Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^(A)the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹²remember ^(B)that you were at that time separated from Christ, ^(C)alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to ^(D)the covenants of promise, ^(E)having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were ^(F)far off have been brought near ^(G)by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For ^(H)he himself is our peace, ^(I)who has made us both one and has broken down ^(J)in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ^(K)ordinances, that he might create in himself one ^(L)new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶and might ^(M)reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷And he came and ^(N)preached peace to you who were ^(O)far off and peace to those who were ^(P)near. ¹⁸For ^(Q)through him we both have ^(R)access in ^(S)one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer ^(T)strangers and aliens,^[a] but you are ^(U)fellow citizens with the saints and ^(V)members of the household of God, ²⁰^(W)built on the foundation of the ^(X)apostles and prophets, ^(Y)Christ Jesus himself being ^(Z)the cornerstone, ²¹^(AA)in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into ^(AB)a holy temple in the Lord. ²²In him ^(AC)you also are being built together ^(AD)into a dwelling place for God by^[b] the Spirit.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Ephesians 2:19 Or sojourners
Ephesians 2:22 Or in

Mark 6:30-44

English Standard Version

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

³⁰^(A)^(B)The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and ^(C)they had no leisure even to eat. ³²^(D)And they went away in ^(E)the boat to a desolate place by themselves. ³³Now many saw them going and ^(F)recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴When he went ashore he ^(G)saw a great crowd, and ^(H)he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. ³⁵And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. ³⁶^(I)Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷But he answered them, ^(J)“You give them something to eat.” And ^(K)they said to him, ^(L)“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii^[a] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, ^(M)“Five, and two fish.” ³⁹Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ^(N)looked up to heaven and ^(O)said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.