Isaiah 39-40

New American Standard Bible

Hezekiah Shows His Treasures

39 ^(A)At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. ²Hezekiah ^[a]was ^(B)pleased, and let them see all his treasure house, the ^(C)silver, the gold, the balsam oil, the excellent olive oil, his entire armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not let them see. ³Then Isaiah the ^(D)prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a far ^(E)country, from Babylon.” ⁴Then he said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah ^[b]answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not let them see.”

⁵Isaiah then said to Hezekiah, “Hear the ^(F)word of the Lord of armies, ⁶‘Behold, the days are coming when ^(G)everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ⁷‘And some of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, ^(H)will be taken away, and ^(I)they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” ⁸^(J)Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he ^[c]thought, “For there will be peace and truth ^(K)in my days.”

The Greatness of God

40 “^(L)Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
²“^(M)Speak ^[d]kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her ^[e]^(N)warfare has ended,
That her ^[f]^(O)guilt has been removed,
That she has received of the Lord’s hand
^(P)Double for all her sins.”

³^(Q)The voice of one calling out,
“^(R)Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make ^[g]straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the uneven ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
⁵^[h]Then the ^(S)glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And ^(T)all flesh will see it together;
For the ^(U)mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
⁶A voice says, “Call out.”
Then ^[i]he answered, “What shall I call out?”
^(V)All flesh is grass, and all its ^[j]loveliness is like the flower of the field.
⁷The ^(W)grass withers, the flower fades,
^[k]When the ^(X)breath of the Lord blows upon it;
The people are indeed grass!
⁸The grass withers, the flower fades,
But ^(Y)the word of our God stands forever.

⁹Go up on a ^(Z)high mountain,
Zion, messenger of ^(AA)good news,
Raise your voice forcefully,
Jerusalem, messenger of good news;
Raise it up, do not fear.
Say to the ^(AB)cities of Judah,
“^(AC)Here is your God!”
¹⁰Behold, the Lord ^[l]God will come ^(AD)with might,
With His ^(AE)arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His ^(AF)compensation is with Him,
And His reward before Him.
¹¹Like a shepherd He will ^(AG)tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in the fold of His robe;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

¹²Who has ^(AH)measured the ^[m]waters in the hollow of His hand,
And measured the heavens with a ^[n]span,
And ^[o]calculated the dust of the earth with a measure,
And weighed the mountains in a balance
And the hills in a pair of scales?
¹³^(AI)Who has ^[p]directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His ^(AJ)counselor has informed Him?
¹⁴^(AK)With whom did He consult and who ^(AL)gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge,
And informed Him of the way of understanding?
¹⁵Behold, the ^(AM)nations are like a drop from a bucket,
And are regarded as a speck of ^(AN)dust on the scales;
Behold, He lifts up the ^[q]islands like fine dust.
¹⁶Even Lebanon is not enough to ^[r]burn,
Nor its ^(AO)animals enough for a burnt offering.
¹⁷^(AP)All the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and ^[s]meaningless.

¹⁸^(AQ)To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
¹⁹As for the ^[t]^(AR)idol, a craftsman casts it,
A goldsmith ^(AS)plates it with gold,
And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
²⁰He who is too impoverished for such an offering
Selects a ^(AT)tree that does not rot;
He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman
To ^[u]prepare ^[v]an idol that ^(AU)will not totter.

²¹^(AV)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood ^(AW)from the foundations of the earth?
²²It is He who ^[w]sits above the ^[x]^(AX)circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like ^(AY)grasshoppers,
Who ^(AZ)stretches out the heavens like a ^(BA)curtain
And spreads them out like a ^(BB)tent to live in.
²³It is He who reduces ^(BC)rulers to nothing,
Who ^(BD)makes the judges of the earth ^[y]meaningless.
²⁴^[z]Scarcely have they been planted,
^[aa]Scarcely have they been sown,
^[ab]Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the ^(BE)storm carries them away like stubble.
²⁵“^(BF)To whom then will you compare Me
That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶^(BG)Raise your eyes on high
And see ^(BH)who has created these stars,
The ^(BI)One who brings out their ^[ac]multitude by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the ^(BJ)greatness of His might and the ^[ad]strength of His power,
^(BK)Not one of them is missing.

²⁷^(BL)Why do you say, Jacob, and you assert, Israel,
“My way is ^(BM)hidden from the Lord,
And the ^(BN)justice due me ^[ae]escapes the notice of ^(BO)my God”?
²⁸^(BP)Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The ^(BQ)Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is ^(BR)unsearchable.
²⁹He gives strength to the ^(BS)weary,
And to the one who lacks might He ^(BT)increases power.
³⁰Though ^(BU)youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous ^(BV)young men stumble badly,
³¹Yet those who ^[af]wait for the Lord
Will ^(BW)gain new strength;
They will ^[ag]^(BX)mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Footnotes

Isaiah 39:2 Lit rejoiced over them
Isaiah 39:4 Lit said
Isaiah 39:8 Lit said
Isaiah 40:2 Lit to the heart of
Isaiah 40:2 Or hard service
Isaiah 40:2 Or penalty of guilt accepted as paid off
Isaiah 40:3 Or smooth
Isaiah 40:5 Or In order that the
Isaiah 40:6 Another reading is I said
Isaiah 40:6 Or constancy
Isaiah 40:7 Or Because
Isaiah 40:10 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 40:12 DSS reads waters of the sea
Isaiah 40:12 Or half cubit (9 in. or 22.8 cm)
Isaiah 40:12 Lit contained; or comprehended
Isaiah 40:13 Or measured, marked off
Isaiah 40:15 Or coastlands
Isaiah 40:16 I.e., for fire on an altar
Isaiah 40:17 Or void
Isaiah 40:19 Or carved image
Isaiah 40:20 Or set up
Isaiah 40:20 Or a carved image
Isaiah 40:22 Or is enthroned
Isaiah 40:22 Or vault
Isaiah 40:23 Or void
Isaiah 40:24 Or Not even
Isaiah 40:24 Or Not even
Isaiah 40:24 Or Not even
Isaiah 40:26 Lit host
Isaiah 40:26 As in DSS and ancient versions; MT strong
Isaiah 40:27 Lit passes by my God
Isaiah 40:31 Or hope in
Isaiah 40:31 Or sprout wings

Colossians 4

New American Standard Bible

4 Masters, grant your slaves justice and fairness, ^(A)knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

²^(B)Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; ³praying at the same time ^(C)for us as well, that God will open up to us a ^(D)door for ^(E)the word, so that we may proclaim ^(F)the mystery of Christ, for which I have also ^(G)been imprisoned; ⁴that I may make it clear ^(H)in the way that I ought to proclaim it.

⁵^[a]^(I)Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward ^(J)outsiders, ^[b]^(K)making the most of the opportunity. ⁶^(L)Your speech must always be ^[c]with grace, as though seasoned with ^(M)salt, so that you will know how you should ^(N)respond to each person.

⁷^(O)As to all my affairs, ^(P)Tychicus, our ^(Q)beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. ⁸^(R)For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may ^(S)encourage your hearts; ⁹^[d]and with him is ^(T)Onesimus, our faithful and ^(U)beloved brother, ^(V)who is one of your own. They will inform you about the whole situation here.

¹⁰^(W)Aristarchus, my ^(X)fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also ^(Y)Barnabas’ cousin Mark (about whom you received ^[e]instructions; ^(Z)if he comes to you, welcome him); ¹¹and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only ^(AA)fellow workers for the kingdom of God ^(AB)who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me. ¹²^(AC)Epaphras, ^(AD)who is one of your own, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings, always ^(AE)striving earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may ^[f]stand ^[g]^(AF)mature and ^[h]fully assured in all the will of God. ¹³For I testify for him that he has ^[i]a deep concern for you and for those who are in ^(AG)Laodicea and Hierapolis. ¹⁴^(AH)Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and ^(AI)Demas does also. ¹⁵Greet the brothers and sisters who are in ^(AJ)Laodicea and also ^[j]Nympha and ^(AK)the church that is in ^[k]her house. ¹⁶^(AL)When ^[l]this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part, ^(AM)read ^[m]my letter that is coming from ^(AN)Laodicea. ¹⁷Tell ^(AO)Archippus, “See to the ^(AP)ministry which you have received in the Lord, so that you may ^[n]fulfill it.”