Old/New Testament
Zion’s Glory and New Name
62 For Zion’s sake I (Isaiah) will not be silent,
And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,
Until her righteousness and vindication go forth as brightness,
And her salvation goes forth like a burning torch.
2
The nations will see your righteousness and vindication [by God],
And all kings [will see] your glory;
And you will be called by a new name
Which the mouth of the Lord will designate.(A)
3
You will also be [considered] a crown of glory and splendor in the hand of the Lord,
And a royal [a]diadem [exceedingly beautiful] in the hand of your God.
4
It will no longer be said of you [Judah], “Azubah (Abandoned),”
Nor will it any longer be said of your land, “Shemamah (Desolate)”;
But you will be called, “Hephzibah (My Delight is in Her),”
And your land, “[b]Married”;
For the Lord delights in you,
And to Him your land will be married [owned and protected by the Lord].
5
For as a young man marries a virgin [O Jerusalem],
[c]So your sons will marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So your God will rejoice over you.
6
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed and stationed watchmen (prophets),
Who will never keep silent day or night;
You who profess the Lord, take no rest for yourselves,
7
And give Him no rest [from your prayers] until He establishes Jerusalem
And makes her a praise on the earth.
8
The Lord has sworn [an oath] by His right hand and by His mighty arm,
“I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies,
Nor will [the invading] foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.”
9
But they who have harvested it will eat it and praise the Lord,
And they who have gathered it will drink it [at the feasts celebrated] in the courtyards of My sanctuary.
10
Go through, go through the gates,
Clear the way for the people;
Build up, build up the highway,
Remove the stones, lift up a banner over the peoples.
11
Listen carefully, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth,
Say to the Daughter of Zion, “Look now, your salvation is coming [in the Lord];
Indeed, His reward is with Him, and His restitution accompanies Him.”(B)
12
And they will call them “The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord”;
And you will be called “Sought Out, A City Not Deserted.”
God’s Vengeance on the Nations
63 Who is this who comes from Edom,
With crimson-stained garments from Bozrah [in Edom],
This One (the Messiah) who is majestic in His apparel,
Marching in the greatness of His might?
“It is I, [the One] who speaks in righteousness [proclaiming vindication], mighty to save.”
2
Why is Your apparel red,
And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?
3
“I have trodden the wine trough alone,
And of the peoples there was no one with Me.
I also trod them in My anger
And trampled them in My wrath;
And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,
And I stained all My clothes.
4
“For the day of vengeance [against ungodliness] was in My heart,
And My year of redemption [of those who put their trust in Me—the year of My redeemed] has come.
5
“I looked, but there was no one to help,
And I was amazed and appalled that there was no one to uphold [truth and right].
So My own arm brought salvation to Me,
And My wrath sustained Me.
6
“I trampled the peoples in My anger
And made them drunk with [the cup of] My wrath,
And I spilled their lifeblood on the earth.”
God’s Ancient Mercies Recalled
7
I will tell of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
According to all that the Lord has done for us,
And His great goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has shown them according to His compassion
And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.
8
For He said, “Be assured, they are My people,
Sons who will not be faithless.”
So He became their Savior [in all their distresses].
9
In all their distress He was distressed,
And the [d]angel of His presence saved them,
In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them;
And He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.(C)
10
But they rebelled
And grieved His Holy Spirit;
Therefore He changed into their enemy,
And He fought against them.
11
Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses [and they said],
Where is He who brought our fathers up out of the [Red] Sea, with the shepherds of His flock [Moses and Aaron]?
Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in their midst,
12
Who caused His glorious arm and infinite power to go at the right hand of Moses,
Dividing the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name,
13
Who led them through the depths [of the Red Sea],
Like a horse in the wilderness, [so that] they did not stumble?
14
Like the cattle that go down into the valley [to find better pasture and rest],
The Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So You led Your people [O Lord]
To make for Yourself a beautiful and glorious name [preparing the way for the acknowledgment of Your name by all nations].
“You Are Our Father”
15
Look down from heaven and see from Your lofty dwelling place, holy and glorious.
Where are Your zeal and Your mighty acts [Your miracles which you did for Your people]?
The stirring of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained and withheld from me.
16
For [most certainly] You are our Father, even though Abraham [our ancestor] does not know us
And Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O Lord, are [still] our Father,
Our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
17
O Lord, why do You cause us to stray from Your ways
And harden our heart from fearing You [with reverence and awe]?
Return for Your servants’ sake, the tribes of Your heritage.
18
Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for [only] a little while;
Our adversaries have trampled it down.
19
We have become like those over whom You have never ruled,
Like those who were not called by Your name.
Prayer for Mercy and Help
64 Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down,
That the mountains might quake at Your presence—
2
As [sure as] fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
3
When You did awesome and amazing things which we did not expect,
You came down [at Sinai]; the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4
For from days of old no one has heard, nor has ear perceived,
Nor has the eye [e]seen a God besides You,
Who works and acts in behalf of the one who [gladly] waits for Him.
5
You meet him who rejoices in doing that which is morally right,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
Indeed, You were angry, for we sinned;
We have long continued in our sins [prolonging Your anger].
And shall we be saved [under such circumstances]?
6
For we all have become like one who is [ceremonially] unclean [like a leper],
And all our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags;
We all wither and decay like a leaf,
And our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing], like the wind, takes us away [carrying us far from God’s favor, toward destruction].(D)
7
There is no one who calls on Your name,
Who awakens and causes himself to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us
And have handed us over to the [consuming and destructive] power of our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing].(E)
8
Yet, O Lord, You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our Potter,
And we all are the work of Your hand.
9
Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord,
Do not remember our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing] forever.
Now look, consider, for we are all Your people.
10
[f]Your holy cities have become a wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11
Our holy and beautiful house [the temple built by Solomon],
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And all our precious objects are in ruins.
12
Considering these [tragedies], will You restrain Yourself, O Lord [and not help us]?
Will You keep silent and humiliate and oppress us beyond measure?
Correcting False Teaching
1 Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus by the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) our Hope [the fulfillment of our salvation],
2 to Timothy, my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain individuals not to teach any different doctrines, 4 nor to pay attention to legends (fables, myths) and endless genealogies, which give rise to useless speculation and meaningless arguments rather than advancing God’s program of instruction which is grounded in faith [and requires surrendering the entire self to God in absolute trust and confidence]. 5 But the goal of our instruction is love [which springs] from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some individuals have wandered away from these things into empty arguments and useless discussions, 7 wanting to be teachers of the Law [of Moses], even though they do not understand the terms they use or the subjects about which they make [such] confident declarations.
8 Now we know [without any doubt] that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully and appropriately, 9 understanding the fact that law is not enacted for the righteous person [the one in right standing with God], but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinful, for the irreverent and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for sexually immoral persons, for homosexuals, for [a]kidnappers and slave traders, for liars, for perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has granted me [the needed] strength and made me able for this, because He considered me faithful and trustworthy, putting me into service [for this ministry], 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer [of our Lord] and a persecutor [of His church] and a shameful and outrageous and violent aggressor [toward believers]. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord [His amazing, unmerited favor and blessing] flowed out in superabundance [for me, together] with the faith and love which are [realized] in Christ Jesus. 15 [b]This is a faithful and trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance and approval, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost. 16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost [of sinners], Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example or pattern for those who [c]would believe in Him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King of the ages [eternal], immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
18 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, so that [inspired and aided] by them you may fight the good fight [in contending with false teachers], 19 keeping your faith [leaning completely on God with absolute trust and confidence in His guidance] and having a good conscience; for some [people] have rejected [their moral compass] and have made a shipwreck of their faith. 20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have [d]handed over to Satan, so that they will be disciplined and taught not to blaspheme.
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