Isaiah 47-49

New International Version

The Fall of Babylon

47 “Go down, sit in the dust,^(A)
    Virgin Daughter^(B) Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
    queen city of the Babylonians.^[a]^(C)
No more will you be called
    tender or delicate.^(D)
²Take millstones^(E) and grind^(F) flour;
    take off your veil.^(G)
Lift up your skirts,^(H) bare your legs,
    and wade through the streams.
³Your nakedness^(I) will be exposed
    and your shame^(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;^(K)
    I will spare no one.^(L)”

⁴Our Redeemer^(M)—the Lord Almighty^(N) is his name^(O)—
is the Holy One^(P) of Israel.

⁵“Sit in silence,^(Q) go into darkness,^(R)
    queen city of the Babylonians;^(S)
no more will you be called
    queen^(T) of kingdoms.^(U)
⁶I was angry^(V) with my people
    and desecrated my inheritance;^(W)
I gave them into your hand,^(X)
    and you showed them no mercy.^(Y)
Even on the aged
    you laid a very heavy yoke.
⁷You said, ‘I am forever^(Z)—
    the eternal queen!’^(AA)
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect^(AB) on what might happen.^(AC)

⁸“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
    lounging in your security^(AD)
and saying to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.^(AE)
I will never be a widow^(AF)
    or suffer the loss of children.’
⁹Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,^(AG) on a single day:
    loss of children^(AH) and widowhood.^(AI)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries^(AJ)
    and all your potent spells.^(AK)
¹⁰You have trusted^(AL) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’^(AM)
Your wisdom^(AN) and knowledge mislead^(AO) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
¹¹Disaster^(AP) will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly^(AQ) come upon you.

¹²“Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,^(AR)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.
¹³All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^(AS)
    Let your astrologers^(AT) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save^(AU) you from what is coming upon you.
¹⁴Surely they are like stubble;^(AV)
    the fire^(AW) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
    from the power of the flame.^(AX)
These are not coals for warmth;
    this is not a fire to sit by.
¹⁵That is all they are to you—
    these you have dealt with
    and labored^(AY) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
    there is not one that can save^(AZ) you.

Stubborn Israel

48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
    you who are called by the name of Israel^(BA)
    and come from the line of Judah,^(BB)
you who take oaths^(BC) in the name of the Lord^(BD)
    and invoke^(BE) the God of Israel—
    but not in truth^(BF) or righteousness—
²you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city^(BG)
    and claim to rely^(BH) on the God of Israel—
    the Lord Almighty is his name:^(BI)
³I foretold the former things^(BJ) long ago,
    my mouth announced^(BK) them and I made them known;
    then suddenly^(BL) I acted, and they came to pass.
⁴For I knew how stubborn^(BM) you were;
    your neck muscles^(BN) were iron,
    your forehead^(BO) was bronze.
⁵Therefore I told you these things long ago;
    before they happened I announced^(BP) them to you
so that you could not say,
    ‘My images brought them about;^(BQ)
    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
⁶You have heard these things; look at them all.
    Will you not admit them?

“From now on I will tell you of new things,^(BR)
    of hidden things unknown to you.
⁷They are created^(BS) now, and not long ago;^(BT)
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    ‘Yes, I knew^(BU) of them.’
⁸You have neither heard nor understood;^(BV)
    from of old your ears^(BW) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous^(BX) you are;
    you were called a rebel^(BY) from birth.
⁹For my own name’s sake^(BZ) I delay my wrath;^(CA)
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.^(CB)
¹⁰See, I have refined^(CC) you, though not as silver;
    I have tested^(CD) you in the furnace^(CE) of affliction.
¹¹For my own sake,^(CF) for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?^(CG)
    I will not yield my glory to another.^(CH)

Israel Freed

¹²“Listen^(CI) to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I have called:^(CJ)
I am he;^(CK)
    I am the first and I am the last.^(CL)
¹³My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,^(CM)
    and my right hand spread out the heavens;^(CN)
when I summon them,
    they all stand up together.^(CO)

¹⁴“Come together,^(CP) all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold^(CQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally^(CR)
    will carry out his purpose^(CS) against Babylon;^(CT)
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.^[b]
¹⁵I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called^(CU) him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed^(CV) in his mission.

¹⁶“Come near^(CW) me and listen^(CX) to this:

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;^(CY)
at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord^(CZ) has sent^(DA) me,
endowed with his Spirit.^(DB)

¹⁷This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer,^(DC) the Holy One^(DD) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches^(DE) you what is best for you,
    who directs^(DF) you in the way^(DG) you should go.
¹⁸If only you had paid attention^(DH) to my commands,
    your peace^(DI) would have been like a river,^(DJ)
    your well-being^(DK) like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹Your descendants^(DL) would have been like the sand,^(DM)
    your children like its numberless grains;^(DN)
their name would never be blotted out^(DO)
    nor destroyed from before me.”

²⁰Leave Babylon,
    flee^(DP) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy^(DQ)
    and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;^(DR)
    say, “The Lord has redeemed^(DS) his servant Jacob.”
²¹They did not thirst^(DT) when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow^(DU) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
    and water gushed out.^(DV)

²²“There is no peace,”^(DW) says the Lord, “for the wicked.”^(DX)

The Servant of the Lord

49 Listen^(DY) to me, you islands;^(DZ)
    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born^(EA) the Lord called^(EB) me;
    from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.^(EC)
²He made my mouth^(ED) like a sharpened sword,^(EE)
    in the shadow of his hand^(EF) he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow^(EG)
    and concealed me in his quiver.
³He said to me, “You are my servant,^(EH)
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.^(EI)”
⁴But I said, “I have labored in vain;^(EJ)
    I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,^(EK)
    and my reward^(EL) is with my God.”^(EM)

⁵And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb^(EN) to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel^(EO) to himself,
for I am^[c] honored^(EP) in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength^(EQ)—
⁶he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant^(ER)
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.^(ES)
I will also make you a light^(ET) for the Gentiles,^(EU)
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”^(EV)

⁷This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel^(EW)—
to him who was despised^(EX) and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings^(EY) will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,^(EZ)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,^(FA)
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen^(FB) you.”

Restoration of Israel

⁸This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor^(FC) I will answer you,
    and in the day of salvation I will help you;^(FD)
I will keep^(FE) you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people,^(FF)
to restore the land^(FG)
    and to reassign its desolate inheritances,^(FH)
⁹to say to the captives,^(FI) ‘Come out,’
    and to those in darkness,^(FJ) ‘Be free!’

“They will feed beside the roads
    and find pasture on every barren hill.^(FK)
¹⁰They will neither hunger nor thirst,^(FL)
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.^(FM)
He who has compassion^(FN) on them will guide^(FO) them
    and lead them beside springs^(FP) of water.
¹¹I will turn all my mountains into roads,
    and my highways^(FQ) will be raised up.^(FR)
¹²See, they will come from afar^(FS)—
    some from the north, some from the west,^(FT)
    some from the region of Aswan.^[d]”

¹³Shout for joy,^(FU) you heavens;
    rejoice, you earth;^(FV)
    burst into song, you mountains!^(FW)
For the Lord comforts^(FX) his people
    and will have compassion^(FY) on his afflicted ones.^(FZ)

¹⁴But Zion^(GA) said, “The Lord has forsaken^(GB) me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child^(GC) she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!^(GD)
¹⁶See, I have engraved^(GE) you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls^(GF) are ever before me.
¹⁷Your children hasten back,
    and those who laid you waste^(GG) depart from you.
¹⁸Lift up your eyes and look around;
    all your children gather^(GH) and come to you.
As surely as I live,^(GI)” declares the Lord,
    “you will wear^(GJ) them all as ornaments;
    you will put them on, like a bride.

¹⁹“Though you were ruined and made desolate^(GK)
    and your land laid waste,^(GL)
now you will be too small for your people,^(GM)
    and those who devoured^(GN) you will be far away.
²⁰The children born during your bereavement
    will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
    give us more space to live in.’^(GO)
²¹Then you will say in your heart,
    ‘Who bore me these?^(GP)
I was bereaved^(GQ) and barren;
    I was exiled and rejected.^(GR)
    Who brought these^(GS) up?
I was left^(GT) all alone,^(GU)
    but these—where have they come from?’”

²²This is what the Sovereign Lord^(GV) says:

“See, I will beckon to the nations,
    I will lift up my banner^(GW) to the peoples;
they will bring^(GX) your sons in their arms
    and carry your daughters on their hips.^(GY)
²³Kings^(GZ) will be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.^(HA)
They will bow down^(HB) before you with their faces to the ground;
    they will lick the dust^(HC) at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;^(HD)
    those who hope^(HE) in me will not be disappointed.^(HF)”

²⁴Can plunder be taken from warriors,^(HG)
or captives be rescued from the fierce^[e]?

²⁵But this is what the Lord says:

“Yes, captives^(HH) will be taken from warriors,^(HI)
    and plunder retrieved from the fierce;^(HJ)
I will contend with those who contend with you,^(HK)
    and your children I will save.^(HL)
²⁶I will make your oppressors^(HM) eat^(HN) their own flesh;
    they will be drunk on their own blood,^(HO) as with wine.
Then all mankind will know^(HP)
    that I, the Lord, am your Savior,^(HQ)
    your Redeemer,^(HR) the Mighty One of Jacob.^(HS)”

Footnotes

Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5
Isaiah 48:14 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 20
Isaiah 49:5 Or him, / but Israel would not be gathered; / yet I will be
Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text Sinim
Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scrolls, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint and verse 25); Masoretic Text righteous

Mark 12:1-27

New International Version

The Parable of the Tenants^(A)

12 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard.^(B) He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. ²At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

⁶“He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all,^(C) saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷“But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹“What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;^(D)
¹¹the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’^[a]?”^(E)

¹²Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd;^(F) so they left him and went away.^(G)

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar^(H)

¹³Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians^(I) to Jesus to catch him^(J) in his words. ¹⁴They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[b] to Caesar or not? ¹⁵Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” ¹⁶They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”^(K)

And they were amazed at him.

Marriage at the Resurrection^(L)

¹⁸Then the Sadducees,^(M) who say there is no resurrection,^(N) came to him with a question. ¹⁹“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.^(O) ²⁰Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²²In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³At the resurrection^[c] whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

²⁴Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures^(P) or the power of God? ²⁵When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.^(Q) ²⁶Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^[d]?^(R) ²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”