Isaiah 49-51

English Standard Version

The Servant of the Lord

49 Listen to me, ^(A)O coastlands,
    and give attention, you peoples ^(B)from afar.
^(C)The Lord called me from the womb,
    from the body of my mother he named my name.
²^(D)He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
    ^(E)in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
    in his quiver he hid me away.
³And he said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, ^(F)in whom I will be glorified.”^[a]
⁴^(G)But I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
    and my recompense with my God.”

⁵^(H)And now the Lord says,
    he ^(I)who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
    and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for ^(J)I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
    and my God has become my strength—
⁶he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
    to raise up the tribes of Jacob
    and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
^(K)I will make you ^(L)as a light for the nations,
    that ^(M)my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

⁷Thus says the Lord,
    ^(N)the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
^(O)to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
    the servant of rulers:
^(P)“Kings shall see and arise;
    princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

The Restoration of Israel

⁸Thus says the Lord:
^(Q)“In a ^(R)time of favor I have answered you;
    in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you ^(S)and give you
    as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
    ^(T)to apportion the desolate heritages,
⁹^(U)saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
    to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
^(V)They shall feed along the ways;
    on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
¹⁰^(W)they shall not hunger or thirst,
    neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them ^(X)will lead them,
    and by springs of water will guide them.
¹¹^(Y)And I will make all my mountains a road,
    and my highways shall be raised up.
¹²^(Z)Behold, these shall come from afar,
    and behold, ^(AA)these from the north and from the west,^[b]
    and these from the land of Syene.”^[c]

¹³^(AB)Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord ^(AC)has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.

¹⁴But Zion said, ^(AD)“The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵^(AE)“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
    that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
    yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶Behold, ^(AF)I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.
¹⁷Your builders make haste;^[d]
    ^(AG)your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
¹⁸^(AH)Lift up your eyes around and see;
    they all gather, they come to you.
^(AI)As I live, declares the Lord,
    ^(AJ)you shall put them all on as an ornament;
    you shall bind them on as a bride does.

¹⁹“Surely your waste and your desolate places
    and your devastated land—
^(AK)surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
    and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
²⁰^(AL)The children of your bereavement
    will yet say in your ears:
^(AM)‘The place is too narrow for me;
    make room for me to dwell in.’
²¹Then you will say in your heart:
    ‘Who has borne me these?
^(AN)I was bereaved and barren,
    exiled and put away,
    but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
    from where have these come?’”

²²Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
    ^(AO)and raise my signal to the peoples;
^(AP)and they shall bring your sons in their arms,^[e]
    and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
²³^(AQ)Kings shall be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.
^(AR)With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
    and ^(AS)lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
    ^(AT)those who wait for me ^(AU)shall not be put to shame.”

²⁴Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
    or the captives of a tyrant^[f] be rescued?
²⁵For thus says the Lord:
^(AV)“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
    and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
    and I will save your children.
²⁶^(AW)I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
    and they shall be drunk ^(AX)with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
    that ^(AY)I am the Lord your Savior,
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience

50 Thus says the Lord:
“Where is ^(AZ)your mother's certificate of divorce,
    with which ^(BA)I sent her away?
Or ^(BB)which of my creditors is it
    to whom I have sold you?
^(BC)Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
    and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
²^(BD)Why, when I came, was there no man;
    why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
^(BE)Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?
    Or have I no power to deliver?
^(BF)Behold, by my rebuke ^(BG)I dry up the sea,
    ^(BH)I make the rivers a desert;
^(BI)their fish stink for lack of water
    and die of thirst.
³^(BJ)I clothe the heavens with blackness
    and make sackcloth their covering.”

⁴The Lord God has given ^(BK)me
    the tongue of those who are taught,
that ^(BL)I may know how to sustain with a word
    ^(BM)him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
    he awakens my ear
    to hear as those who are taught.
⁵^(BN)The Lord God has opened my ear,
    ^(BO)and I was not rebellious;
    I turned not backward.
⁶^(BP)I gave my back to those who strike,
    and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
    from disgrace and spitting.

⁷But the Lord God helps me;
    therefore I have not been disgraced;
^(BQ)therefore I have set my face like a flint,
    and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
⁸    ^(BR)He who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
    Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
    Let him come near to me.
⁹^(BS)Behold, the Lord God helps me;
    who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
    the moth will eat them up.

¹⁰Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys ^(BT)the voice of his servant?
^(BU)Let him who walks in darkness
    and has no light
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on his God.
¹¹Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
    who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire,
    and by the torches that you have kindled!
^(BV)This you have from my hand:
    you shall lie down in torment.

The Lord's Comfort for Zion

51 ^(BW)“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 ^(BX)he was but one when I called him,
    that I might bless him and multiply him.
³For the Lord ^(BY)comforts Zion;
    he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like ^(BZ)Eden,
    her desert like ^(CA)the garden of the Lord;
^(CB)joy and gladness will be found in her,
    thanksgiving and the voice of song.

⁴^(CC)“Give attention to me, my people,
    and give ear to me, my nation;
^(CD)for a law^[g] will go out from me,
    and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
⁵^(CE)My righteousness draws near,
    my salvation has gone out,
    and my arms will judge the peoples;
^(CF)the coastlands hope for me,
    and for my arm they wait.
⁶^(CG)Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    and look at the earth beneath;
^(CH)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;^[h]
^(CI)but my salvation will be forever,
    and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

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

⁹^(CO)Awake, awake, ^(CP)put on strength,
    O ^(CQ)arm of the Lord;
awake, ^(CR)as in days of old,
    the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut ^(CS)Rahab in pieces,
    who pierced ^(CT)the dragon?
¹⁰^(CU)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^(CV)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 ^(CW)who comforts you;
    who are you that you are afraid of ^(CX)man who dies,
    of the son of man who is made ^(CY)like grass,
¹³and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
    ^(CZ)who stretched out the heavens
    and ^(DA)laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
    because of the wrath of ^(DB)the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
    And where is the wrath of ^(DC)the oppressor?
¹⁴^(DD)He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
    he shall not die and go down ^(DE)to the pit,
    neither shall his bread be lacking.
¹⁵I am the Lord your God,
    ^(DF)who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    the Lord of hosts is his name.
¹⁶^(DG)And I have put my words in your mouth
    ^(DH)and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
^(DI)establishing^[i] the heavens
    and ^(DJ)laying the foundations of the earth,
    and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”

¹⁷^(DK)Wake yourself, wake yourself,
    stand up, O Jerusalem,
^(DL)you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
    the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
    the bowl, ^(DM)the cup of staggering.
¹⁸^(DN)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^(DO)These two things have happened to you—
    who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
    who will comfort you?^[j]
²⁰^(DP)Your sons have fainted;
    they lie at the head of every street
    like an ^(DQ)antelope ^(DR)in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the Lord,
    the rebuke of your God.

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

Footnotes

Isaiah 49:3 Or I will display my beauty
Isaiah 49:12 Hebrew from the sea
Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim
Isaiah 49:17 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste
Isaiah 49:22 Hebrew in their bosom
Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man
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

Philippians 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 Paul and Timothy, servants^[a] of Christ Jesus,

To all the ^(A)saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the ^(B)overseers^[b] and ^(C)deacons:^[c]

²^(D)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³^(E)I thank my God ^(F)in all my remembrance of you, ⁴always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵^(G)because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶And I am sure of this, that he who began ^(H)a good work in you ^(I)will bring it to completion at ^(J)the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you ^(K)in my heart, for you are all ^(L)partakers with me of grace,^[d] both ^(M)in my imprisonment and in ^(N)the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸For ^(O)God is my witness, ^(P)how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹And it is my prayer that ^(Q)your love may abound more and more, ^(R)with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰so that you may approve what is excellent, ^(S)and so be pure and blameless ^(T)for the day of Christ, ¹¹filled ^(U)with the fruit of righteousness that comes ^(V)through Jesus Christ, ^(W)to the glory and praise of God.

The Advance of the Gospel

¹²I want you to know, brothers,^[e] that what has happened to me has really ^(X)served to advance the gospel, ¹³so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard^[f] and ^(Y)to all the rest that ^(Z)my imprisonment is for Christ. ¹⁴And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold ^(AA)to speak the word^[g] without fear.

¹⁵^(AB)Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. ¹⁶The latter do it out of love, ^(AC)knowing that I am put here for ^(AD)the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷The former proclaim Christ ^(AE)out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. ¹⁸What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

To Live Is Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, ¹⁹for I know that ^(AF)through your prayers and ^(AG)the help of ^(AH)the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, ²⁰as it is my eager expectation and hope ^(AI)that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full ^(AJ)courage now as always Christ ^(AK)will be honored in my body, ^(AL)whether by life or by death. ²¹For to me ^(AM)to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³^(AN)I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is ^(AO)to depart and ^(AP)be with Christ, for that is far better. ²⁴But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. ²⁵^(AQ)Convinced of this, ^(AR)I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your ^(AS)progress and ^(AT)joy in the faith, ²⁶so that in me ^(AU)you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

²⁷Only ^(AV)let your manner of life be ^(AW)worthy^[h] of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you ^(AX)that you are standing firm in one spirit, with ^(AY)one mind ^(AZ)striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is ^(BA)a clear sign to them of their destruction, but ^(BB)of your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹For ^(BC)it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also ^(BD)suffer for his sake, ³⁰engaged in the same ^(BE)conflict that ^(BF)you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Footnotes

Philippians 1:1 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
Philippians 1:1 Or bishops; Greek episkopoi
Philippians 1:1 Or servants, or ministers; Greek diakonoi
Philippians 1:7 Or you all have fellowship with me in grace
Philippians 1:12 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 14
Philippians 1:13 Greek in the whole praetorium
Philippians 1:14 Some manuscripts add of God
Philippians 1:27 Greek Only behave as citizens worthy