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Isaiah 43

Israel's Only Savior

 ² When you pass through the waters,
       I will be with you;
       and when you pass through the rivers,
       they will not sweep over you.
       When you walk through the fire,
       you will not be burned;
       the flames will not set you ablaze.

 ³ For I am the LORD, your God,
       the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
       I give Egypt for your ransom,
       Cush ^[a] and Seba in your stead.

 ⁴ Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
       and because I love you,
       I will give men in exchange for you,
       and people in exchange for your life.

 ⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
       I will bring your children from the east
       and gather you from the west.

 ⁶ I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
       and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.'
       Bring my sons from afar
       and my daughters from the ends of the earth-

 ⁷ everyone who is called by my name,
       whom I created for my glory,
       whom I formed and made."

 ⁸ Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
       who have ears but are deaf.

 ⁹ All the nations gather together
       and the peoples assemble.
       Which of them foretold this
       and proclaimed to us the former things?
       Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
       so that others may hear and say, "It is true."

 ¹⁰ "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
       "and my servant whom I have chosen,
       so that you may know and believe me
       and understand that I am he.
       Before me no god was formed,
       nor will there be one after me.

 ¹¹ I, even I, am the LORD,
       and apart from me there is no savior.

 ¹² I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
       I, and not some foreign god among you.
       You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God.

 ¹³ Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
       No one can deliver out of my hand.
       When I act, who can reverse it?"

God's Mercy and Israel's Unfaithfulness

 ¹⁵ I am the LORD, your Holy One,
       Israel's Creator, your King."

 ¹⁶ This is what the LORD says—
       he who made a way through the sea,
       a path through the mighty waters,

 ¹⁷ who drew out the chariots and horses,
       the army and reinforcements together,
       and they lay there, never to rise again,
       extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

 ¹⁸ "Forget the former things;
       do not dwell on the past.

 ¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
       Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
       I am making a way in the desert
       and streams in the wasteland.

 ²⁰ The wild animals honor me,
       the jackals and the owls,
       because I provide water in the desert
       and streams in the wasteland,
       to give drink to my people, my chosen,

 ²¹ the people I formed for myself
       that they may proclaim my praise.

 ²² "Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob,
       you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.

 ²³ You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings,
       nor honored me with your sacrifices.
       I have not burdened you with grain offerings
       nor wearied you with demands for incense.

 ²⁴ You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me,
       or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices.
       But you have burdened me with your sins
       and wearied me with your offenses.

 ²⁵ "I, even I, am he who blots out
       your transgressions, for my own sake,
       and remembers your sins no more.

 ²⁶ Review the past for me,
       let us argue the matter together;
       state the case for your innocence.

 ²⁷ Your first father sinned;
       your spokesmen rebelled against me.

 ²⁸ So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple,
       and I will consign Jacob to destruction ^[c]
       and Israel to scorn.

Isaiah 44

Israel the Chosen

 ² This is what the LORD says—
       he who made you, who formed you in the womb,
       and who will help you:
       Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant,
       Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

 ³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
       and streams on the dry ground;
       I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
       and my blessing on your descendants.

 ⁴ They will spring up like grass in a meadow,
       like poplar trees by flowing streams.

 ⁵ One will say, 'I belong to the LORD ';
       another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
       still another will write on his hand, 'The LORD's,'
       and will take the name Israel.

The LORD, Not Idols

 ⁷ Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
       Let him declare and lay out before me
       what has happened since I established my ancient people,
       and what is yet to come—
       yes, let him foretell what will come.

 ⁸ Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
       Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
       You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
       No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."

 ⁹ All who make idols are nothing,
       and the things they treasure are worthless.
       Those who would speak up for them are blind;
       they are ignorant, to their own shame.

 ¹⁰ Who shapes a god and casts an idol,
       which can profit him nothing?

 ¹¹ He and his kind will be put to shame;
       craftsmen are nothing but men.
       Let them all come together and take their stand;
       they will be brought down to terror and infamy.

 ¹² The blacksmith takes a tool
       and works with it in the coals;
       he shapes an idol with hammers,
       he forges it with the might of his arm.
       He gets hungry and loses his strength;
       he drinks no water and grows faint.

 ¹³ The carpenter measures with a line
       and makes an outline with a marker;
       he roughs it out with chisels
       and marks it with compasses.
       He shapes it in the form of man,
       of man in all his glory,
       that it may dwell in a shrine.

 ¹⁴ He cut down cedars,
       or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
       He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
       or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.

 ¹⁵ It is man's fuel for burning;
       some of it he takes and warms himself,
       he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
       But he also fashions a god and worships it;
       he makes an idol and bows down to it.

 ¹⁶ Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
       over it he prepares his meal,
       he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
       He also warms himself and says,
       "Ah! I am warm; I see the fire."

 ¹⁷ From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
       he bows down to it and worships.
       He prays to it and says,
       "Save me; you are my god."

 ¹⁸ They know nothing, they understand nothing;
       their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
       and their minds closed so they cannot understand.

 ¹⁹ No one stops to think,
       no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
       "Half of it I used for fuel;
       I even baked bread over its coals,
       I roasted meat and I ate.
       Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?
       Shall I bow down to a block of wood?"

 ²⁰ He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him;
       he cannot save himself, or say,
       "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?"

 ²¹ "Remember these things, O Jacob,
       for you are my servant, O Israel.
       I have made you, you are my servant;
       O Israel, I will not forget you.

 ²² I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
       your sins like the morning mist.
       Return to me,
       for I have redeemed you."

 ²³ Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this;
       shout aloud, O earth beneath.
       Burst into song, you mountains,
       you forests and all your trees,
       for the LORD has redeemed Jacob,
       he displays his glory in Israel.

Jerusalem to Be Inhabited

 ²⁵ who foils the signs of false prophets
       and makes fools of diviners,
       who overthrows the learning of the wise
       and turns it into nonsense,

 ²⁶ who carries out the words of his servants
       and fulfills the predictions of his messengers,
       who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,'
       of the towns of Judah, 'They shall be built,'
       and of their ruins, 'I will restore them,'

 ²⁷ who says to the watery deep, 'Be dry,
       and I will dry up your streams,'

 ²⁸ who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd
       and will accomplish all that I please;
       he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt,"
       and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid." '

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1 Thessalonians 2

Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica

   As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, ⁷but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. ⁸We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. ⁹Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.

 ¹⁰You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. ¹¹For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, ¹²encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

 ¹³And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. ¹⁴For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, ¹⁵who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men ¹⁶in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.^[a]

Paul's Longing to See the Thessalonians