Isaiah 51-53

English Standard Version

The Lord's Comfort for Zion

51 ^(A)“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
    you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
    and to the quarry from which you were dug.
²Look to Abraham your father
    and to Sarah who bore you;
for ^(B)he was but one when I called him,
    that I might bless him and multiply him.
³For the Lord ^(C)comforts Zion;
    he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like ^(D)Eden,
    her desert like ^(E)the garden of the Lord;
^(F)joy and gladness will be found in her,
    thanksgiving and the voice of song.

⁴^(G)“Give attention to me, my people,
    and give ear to me, my nation;
^(H)for a law^[a] will go out from me,
    and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
⁵^(I)My righteousness draws near,
    my salvation has gone out,
    and my arms will judge the peoples;
^(J)the coastlands hope for me,
    and for my arm they wait.
⁶^(K)Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    and look at the earth beneath;
^(L)for the heavens vanish like smoke,
    the earth will wear out like a garment,
    and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;^[b]
^(M)but my salvation will be forever,
    and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

⁷^(N)“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
    the people ^(O)in whose heart is my law;
^(P)fear not the reproach of man,
    nor be dismayed at their revilings.
⁸^(Q)For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
    and the worm will eat them like wool,
^(R)but my righteousness will be forever,
    and my salvation to all generations.”

⁹^(S)Awake, awake, ^(T)put on strength,
    O ^(U)arm of the Lord;
awake, ^(V)as in days of old,
    the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut ^(W)Rahab in pieces,
    who pierced ^(X)the dragon?
¹⁰^(Y)Was it not you who dried up the sea,
    the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
    for the redeemed to pass over?
¹¹^(Z)And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain gladness and joy,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

¹²“I, I am he ^(AA)who comforts you;
    who are you that you are afraid of ^(AB)man who dies,
    of the son of man who is made ^(AC)like grass,
¹³and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
    ^(AD)who stretched out the heavens
    and ^(AE)laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
    because of the wrath of ^(AF)the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
    And where is the wrath of ^(AG)the oppressor?
¹⁴^(AH)He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
    he shall not die and go down ^(AI)to the pit,
    neither shall his bread be lacking.
¹⁵I am the Lord your God,
    ^(AJ)who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    the Lord of hosts is his name.
¹⁶^(AK)And I have put my words in your mouth
    ^(AL)and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
^(AM)establishing^[c] the heavens
    and ^(AN)laying the foundations of the earth,
    and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

¹⁷^(AO)Wake yourself, wake yourself,
    stand up, O Jerusalem,
^(AP)you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
    the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
    the bowl, ^(AQ)the cup of staggering.
¹⁸^(AR)There is none to guide her
    among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
    among all the sons she has brought up.
¹⁹^(AS)These two things have happened to you—
    who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
    who will comfort you?^[d]
²⁰^(AT)Your sons have fainted;
    they lie at the head of every street
    like an ^(AU)antelope ^(AV)in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
    the rebuke of your God.

²¹^(AW)Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
    who are drunk, but not with wine:
²²Thus says your Lord, the Lord,
    your God ^(AX)who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand ^(AY)the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
²³^(AZ)and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
    ^(BA)who have said to you,
    ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and ^(BB)you have made your back like the ground
    and like the street for them to pass over.”

The Lord's Coming Salvation

52 ^(BC)Awake, awake,
    put on your strength, O Zion;
^(BD)put on your beautiful garments,
    O Jerusalem, ^(BE)the holy city;
^(BF)for there shall no more come into you
    the uncircumcised and the unclean.
²^(BG)Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
    be seated, O Jerusalem;
^(BH)loose the bonds from your neck,
    O captive daughter of Zion.

³For thus says the Lord: ^(BI)“You were sold for nothing, and ^(BJ)you shall be redeemed without money.” ⁴For thus says the Lord God: ^(BK)“My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.^[e] ⁵Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and ^(BL)continually all the day my name is despised. ⁶Therefore my people shall know my name. ^(BM)Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”

⁷^(BN)How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, ^(BO)who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
⁸The voice of ^(BP)your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
    together they sing for joy;
^(BQ)for eye to eye they see
    the return of the Lord to Zion.
⁹^(BR)Break forth together into singing,
    ^(BS)you waste places of Jerusalem,
for ^(BT)the Lord has comforted his people;
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰^(BU)The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
^(BV)and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God.

¹¹^(BW)Depart, depart, go out from there;
    touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
    ^(BX)you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
¹²For you shall not ^(BY)go out in haste,
    and you shall not go in flight,
^(BZ)for the Lord will go before you,
    ^(CA)and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

¹³Behold, ^(CB)my servant shall act wisely;^[f]
    he shall be high and lifted up,
    and shall be exalted.
¹⁴As many were astonished at you—
    ^(CC)his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
    and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
¹⁵so ^(CD)shall he sprinkle^[g] many nations.
    ^(CE)Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
^(CF)for that which has not been told them they see,
    and that which they have not heard they understand.
53 ^(CG)Who has believed what he has heard from us?^[h]
    And to whom has ^(CH)the arm of the Lord been revealed?
²For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    ^(CI)and like a root out of dry ground;
^(CJ)he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.
³^(CK)He was despised and rejected^[i] by men,
    a man of sorrows^[j] and acquainted with^[k] grief;^[l]
and as one from whom men hide their faces^[m]
    he was despised, and ^(CL)we esteemed him not.

⁴^(CM)Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    ^(CN)smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵^(CO)But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    ^(CP)and with his wounds we are healed.
⁶^(CQ)All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
^(CR)and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    ^(CS)yet he opened not his mouth;
^(CT)like a ^(CU)lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
⁸By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, ^(CV)who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
⁹And they made his grave with the wicked
    ^(CW)and with a rich man in his death,
although ^(CX)he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰Yet ^(CY)it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;^[n]
^(CZ)when his soul makes^[o] an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
^(DA)the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
¹¹Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see^[p] and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall ^(DB)the righteous one, my servant,
    ^(DC)make many to be accounted righteous,
    ^(DD)and he shall bear their iniquities.
¹²^(DE)Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,^[q]
    ^(DF)and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,^[r]
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
^(DG)yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Footnotes

Isaiah 51:4 Or for teaching; also verse 7
Isaiah 51:6 Or will die like gnats
Isaiah 51:16 Or planting
Isaiah 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you
Isaiah 52:4 Or the Assyrian has oppressed them of late
Isaiah 52:13 Or shall prosper
Isaiah 52:15 Or startle
Isaiah 53:1 Or Who has believed what we have heard?
Isaiah 53:3 Or forsaken
Isaiah 53:3 Or pains; also verse 4
Isaiah 53:3 Or and knowing
Isaiah 53:3 Or sickness; also verse 4
Isaiah 53:3 Or as one who hides his face from us
Isaiah 53:10 Or he has made him sick
Isaiah 53:10 Or when you make his soul
Isaiah 53:11 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll he shall see light
Isaiah 53:12 Or with the great
Isaiah 53:12 Or with the numerous

Ephesians 5

English Standard Version

Walk in Love

5 ^(A)Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ²And ^(B)walk in love, ^(C)as Christ loved us and ^(D)gave himself up for us, a ^(E)fragrant ^(F)offering and sacrifice to God.

³But ^(G)sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness ^(H)must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴Let there be ^(I)no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, ^(J)which are out of place, but instead ^(K)let there be thanksgiving. ⁵For you may be sure of this, that ^(L)everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (^(M)that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶^(N)Let no one ^(O)deceive you with empty words, for because of these things ^(P)the wrath of God comes upon ^(Q)the sons of disobedience. ⁷Therefore ^(R)do not become partners with them; ⁸for ^(S)at one time you were ^(T)darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. ^(U)Walk as children of light ⁹(for ^(V)the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰and ^(W)try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹^(X)Take no part in the ^(Y)unfruitful ^(Z)works of darkness, but instead ^(AA)expose them. ¹²For ^(AB)it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³But when ^(AC)anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

^(AD)“Awake, O sleeper,
and ^(AE)arise from the dead,
and ^(AF)Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵^(AG)Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶^(AH)making the best use of the time, because ^(AI)the days are evil. ¹⁷Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what ^(AJ)the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And ^(AK)do not get drunk with wine, for that is ^(AL)debauchery, but ^(AM)be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹addressing one another in ^(AN)psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰^(AO)giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father ^(AP)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹^(AQ)submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

²²^(AR)Wives, ^(AS)submit to your own husbands, ^(AT)as to the Lord. ²³For ^(AU)the husband is the head of the wife even as ^(AV)Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is ^(AW)himself its Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit ^(AX)in everything to their husbands.

²⁵^(AY)Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and ^(AZ)gave himself up for her, ²⁶that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ^(BA)the washing of water ^(BB)with the word, ²⁷so ^(BC)that he might present the church to himself in splendor, ^(BD)without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.^[a] ²⁸In the same way ^(BE)husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰because ^(BF)we are members of his body. ³¹^(BG)“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^(BH)the two shall become one flesh.” ³²This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³However, ^(BI)let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she ^(BJ)respects her husband.

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Footnotes

Ephesians 5:27 Or holy and blameless

Psalm 69:19-36

English Standard Version

¹⁹You know my ^(A)reproach,
    and my shame and my dishonor;
    my foes are all known to you.
²⁰^(B)Reproaches have broken my heart,
    so that I am in ^(C)despair.
I ^(D)looked for ^(E)pity, but there was none,
    and for ^(F)comforters, but I found none.
²¹They gave me ^(G)poison for food,
    and for my thirst they gave me ^(H)sour wine to drink.

²²^(I)Let their own ^(J)table before them become a snare;
    ^(K)and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.^[a]
²³^(L)Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
    ^(M)and make their loins tremble continually.
²⁴Pour out your indignation upon them,
    and let your burning anger overtake them.
²⁵^(N)May their camp be a desolation;
    let no one dwell in their tents.
²⁶For they ^(O)persecute him whom ^(P)you have struck down,
    and they recount the pain of ^(Q)those you have wounded.
²⁷^(R)Add to them punishment upon punishment;
    may they have no acquittal from you.^[b]
²⁸Let them be ^(S)blotted out of the book of the living;
    let them not be ^(T)enrolled among the righteous.

²⁹But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, ^(U)set me on high!

³⁰I will ^(V)praise the name of God with a song;
    I will ^(W)magnify him with ^(X)thanksgiving.
³¹This will ^(Y)please the Lord more than an ox
    or a bull ^(Z)with horns and hoofs.
³²When ^(AA)the humble see it they will be glad;
    you who seek God, ^(AB)let your hearts revive.
³³For the Lord hears the needy
    and ^(AC)does not despise his own people who are prisoners.

³⁴Let ^(AD)heaven and earth praise him,
    the seas and everything that moves in them.
³⁵For ^(AE)God will save Zion
    and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
³⁶    ^(AF)the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
    and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

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Footnotes

Psalm 69:22 Hebrew; a slight revocalization yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome) a snare, and retribution and a trap
Psalm 69:27 Hebrew may they not come into your righteousness