Isaiah 35-36

New International Version

Joy of the Redeemed

35 The desert^(A) and the parched land will be glad;
    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.^(B)
Like the crocus,^(C) ²it will burst into bloom;
    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.^(D)
The glory of Lebanon^(E) will be given to it,
    the splendor of Carmel^(F) and Sharon;^(G)
they will see the glory^(H) of the Lord,
    the splendor of our God.^(I)

³Strengthen the feeble hands,
    steady the knees^(J) that give way;
⁴say^(K) to those with fearful hearts,^(L)
    “Be strong, do not fear;^(M)
your God will come,^(N)
    he will come with vengeance;^(O)
with divine retribution
    he will come to save^(P) you.”

⁵Then will the eyes of the blind be opened^(Q)
    and the ears of the deaf^(R) unstopped.
⁶Then will the lame^(S) leap like a deer,^(T)
    and the mute tongue^(U) shout for joy.^(V)
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
    and streams^(W) in the desert.
⁷The burning sand will become a pool,
    the thirsty ground^(X) bubbling springs.^(Y)
In the haunts where jackals^(Z) once lay,
    grass and reeds^(AA) and papyrus will grow.

⁸And a highway^(AB) will be there;
    it will be called the Way of Holiness;^(AC)
    it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean^(AD) will not journey on it;
    wicked fools will not go about on it.
⁹No lion^(AE) will be there,
    nor any ravenous beast;^(AF)
    they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed^(AG) will walk there,
¹⁰    and those the Lord has rescued^(AH) will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;^(AI)
    everlasting joy^(AJ) will crown their heads.
Gladness^(AK) and joy will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.^(AL)

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(AM)

36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s^(AN) reign, Sennacherib^(AO) king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.^(AP) ²Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish^(AQ) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,^(AR) ³Eliakim^(AS) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator,^(AT) Shebna^(AU) the secretary,^(AV) and Joah^(AW) son of Asaph the recorder^(AX) went out to him.

⁴The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? ⁵You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel^(AY) against me? ⁶Look, I know you are depending^(AZ) on Egypt,^(BA) that splintered reed^(BB) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. ⁷But if you say to me, “We are depending^(BC) on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed,^(BD) saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?^(BE)

⁸“‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses^(BF)—if you can put riders on them! ⁹How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt^(BG) for chariots^(BH) and horsemen^[a]?^(BI) ¹⁰Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told^(BJ) me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

¹¹Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah^(BK) said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,^(BL) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

¹²But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?^(BM)”

¹³Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,^(BN) “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!^(BO) ¹⁴This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive^(BP) you. He cannot deliver you! ¹⁵Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver^(BQ) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’^(BR)

¹⁶“Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree^(BS) and drink water from your own cistern,^(BT) ¹⁷until I come and take you to a land like your own^(BU)—a land of grain and new wine,^(BV) a land of bread and vineyards.

¹⁸“Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?^(BW) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?^(BX) Have they rescued Samaria^(BY) from my hand? ²⁰Who of all the gods^(BZ) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”^(CA)

²¹But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”^(CB)

²²Then Eliakim^(CC) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder^(CD) went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,^(CE) and told him what the field commander had said.

Footnotes

Isaiah 36:9 Or charioteers

Ephesians 2

New International Version

Made Alive in Christ

2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,^(A) ²in which you used to live^(B) when you followed the ways of this world^(C) and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,^(D) the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.^(E) ³All of us also lived among them at one time,^(F) gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a]^(G) and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴But because of his great love for us,^(H) God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions^(I)—it is by grace you have been saved.^(J) ⁶And God raised us up with Christ^(K) and seated us with him^(L) in the heavenly realms^(M) in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,^(N) expressed in his kindness^(O) to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace^(P) you have been saved,^(Q) through faith^(R)—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works,^(S) so that no one can boast.^(T) ¹⁰For we are God’s handiwork,^(U) created^(V) in Christ Jesus to do good works,^(W) which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ

¹¹Therefore, remember that formerly^(X) you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)^(Y)— ¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners^(Z) to the covenants of the promise,^(AA) without hope^(AB) and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once^(AC) were far away have been brought near^(AD) by the blood of Christ.^(AE)

¹⁴For he himself is our peace,^(AF) who has made the two groups one^(AG) and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵by setting aside in his flesh^(AH) the law with its commands and regulations.^(AI) His purpose was to create in himself one^(AJ) new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross,^(AK) by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷He came and preached peace^(AL) to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.^(AM) ¹⁸For through him we both have access^(AN) to the Father^(AO) by one Spirit.^(AP)

¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers,^(AQ) but fellow citizens^(AR) with God’s people and also members of his household,^(AS) ²⁰built^(AT) on the foundation^(AU) of the apostles and prophets,^(AV) with Christ Jesus himself^(AW) as the chief cornerstone.^(AX) ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple^(AY) in the Lord. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.^(AZ)

Footnotes

Ephesians 2:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.