Isaiah Called to Be a Prophet(A)

In the year that (B)King Uzziah died, I (C)saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, (D)with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:

(E)“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
(F)The whole earth is full of His glory!”

And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am [a]undone!
Because I am a man of (G)unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from (H)the altar. And he (I)touched my mouth with it, and said:

“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin [b]purged.”

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for (J)Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

And He said, “Go, and (K)tell this people:

‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

10 “Make (L)the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
(M)Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”

11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?”

And He answered:

(N)“Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,
The houses are without a man,
The land is utterly desolate,
12 (O)The Lord has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 But yet a tenth will be in it,
And will return and be for consuming,
As a terebinth tree or as an oak,
Whose stump remains when it is cut down.
So (P)the holy seed shall be its stump.”

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz(Q)

Now it came to pass in the days of (R)Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against (S)it, but could not [c]prevail against it. And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are [d]deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and [e]Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, and say to him: [f]‘Take heed, and [g]be (T)quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and [h]trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”— thus says the Lord God:

(U)“It shall not stand,
Nor shall it come to pass.
(V)For the head of Syria is Damascus,
And the head of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be [i]broken,
So that it will not be a people.
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.
(W)If you will not believe,
Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”

The Immanuel Prophecy

10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 (X)“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; [j]ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”

13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: (Y)Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear (Z)a Son, and shall call His name (AA)Immanuel.[k] 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 (AB)For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by (AC)both her kings. 17 (AD)The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that (AE)Ephraim departed from Judah.”

18 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord (AF)will whistle for the fly
That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt,
And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 They will come, and all of them will rest
In the desolate valleys and in (AG)the clefts of the rocks,
And on all thorns and in all pastures.

20 In the same day the Lord will shave with a (AH)hired (AI)razor,
With those from beyond [l]the River, with the king of Assyria,
The head and the hair of the legs,
And will also remove the beard.

21 It shall be in that day
That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;
22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give,
That he will eat curds;
For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.

23 It shall happen in that day,
That wherever there could be a thousand vines
Worth a thousand shekels of silver,
(AJ)It will be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and bows men will come there,
Because all the land will become briers and thorns.

25 And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,
You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;
But it will become a range for oxen
And a place for sheep to roam.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 6:5 destroyed, cut off
  2. Isaiah 6:7 atoned for
  3. Isaiah 7:1 conquer it
  4. Isaiah 7:2 Lit. settled upon
  5. Isaiah 7:3 Lit. A Remnant Shall Return
  6. Isaiah 7:4 Be careful
  7. Isaiah 7:4 be calm
  8. Isaiah 7:6 cause a sickening dread
  9. Isaiah 7:8 Lit. shattered
  10. Isaiah 7:11 Lit. make the request deep or make it high above
  11. Isaiah 7:14 Lit. God-With-Us
  12. Isaiah 7:20 The Euphrates

Isaiah’s Commission

In the year that King Uzziah(A) died,(B) I saw the Lord,(C) high and exalted,(D) seated on a throne;(E) and the train of his robe(F) filled the temple. Above him were seraphim,(G) each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,(H) and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy(I), holy is the Lord Almighty;(J)
    the whole earth(K) is full of his glory.”(L)

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.(M)

“Woe(N) to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!(O) For I am a man of unclean lips,(P) and I live among a people of unclean lips,(Q) and my eyes have seen(R) the King,(S) the Lord Almighty.”(T)

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal(U) in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips;(V) your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.(W)

Then I heard the voice(X) of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?(Y) And who will go for us?(Z)

And I said, “Here am I.(AA) Send me!”

He said, “Go(AB) and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’(AC)
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;(AD)
    make their ears dull
    and close their eyes.[a](AE)
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,(AF)
    understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”(AG)

11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”(AH)

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined(AI)
    and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted(AJ)
    and the fields ruined and ravaged,(AK)
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away(AL)
    and the land is utterly forsaken.(AM)
13 And though a tenth remains(AN) in the land,
    it will again be laid waste.(AO)
But as the terebinth and oak
    leave stumps(AP) when they are cut down,
    so the holy(AQ) seed will be the stump in the land.”(AR)

The Sign of Immanuel

When Ahaz(AS) son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin(AT) of Aram(AU) and Pekah(AV) son of Remaliah(AW) king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.

Now the house of David(AX) was told, “Aram has allied itself with[b] Ephraim(AY)”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken,(AZ) as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub,[c](BA) to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.(BB) Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm(BC) and don’t be afraid.(BD) Do not lose heart(BE) because of these two smoldering stubs(BF) of firewood—because of the fierce anger(BG) of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.(BH) Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s(BI) son have plotted(BJ) your ruin, saying, “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:(BK)

“‘It will not take place,
    it will not happen,(BL)
for the head of Aram is Damascus,(BM)
    and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.(BN)
Within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be too shattered(BO) to be a people.
The head of Ephraim is Samaria,(BP)
    and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand(BQ) firm in your faith,(BR)
    you will not stand at all.’”(BS)

10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign,(BT) whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.(BU)

12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.(BV)

13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David!(BW) Is it not enough(BX) to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience(BY) of my God(BZ) also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[d] a sign:(CA) The virgin[e](CB) will conceive and give birth to a son,(CC) and[f] will call him Immanuel.[g](CD) 15 He will be eating curds(CE) and honey(CF) when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows(CG) enough to reject the wrong and choose the right,(CH) the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.(CI) 17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away(CJ) from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.(CK)

Assyria, the Lord’s Instrument

18 In that day(CL) the Lord will whistle(CM) for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.(CN) 19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices(CO) in the rocks, on all the thornbushes(CP) and at all the water holes. 20 In that day(CQ) the Lord will use(CR) a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River(CS)—the king of Assyria(CT)—to shave your head and private parts, and to cut off your beard(CU) also.(CV) 21 In that day,(CW) a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats.(CX) 22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds(CY) and honey.(CZ) 23 In that day,(DA) in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels,[h](DB) there will be only briers and thorns.(DC) 24 Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers(DD) and thorns. 25 As for all the hills(DE) once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns;(DF) they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.(DG)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 6:10 Hebrew; Septuagint ‘You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; / you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ / 10 This people’s heart has become calloused; / they hardly hear with their ears, / and they have closed their eyes
  2. Isaiah 7:2 Or has set up camp in
  3. Isaiah 7:3 Shear-Jashub means a remnant will return.
  4. Isaiah 7:14 The Hebrew is plural.
  5. Isaiah 7:14 Or young woman
  6. Isaiah 7:14 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls son, and he or son, and they
  7. Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel means God with us.
  8. Isaiah 7:23 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms

Reluctant Boasting

16 I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little. 17 What I speak, (A)I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. 18 Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast. 19 For you put up with fools gladly, (B)since you yourselves are wise! 20 For you put up with it (C)if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. 21 To our shame (D)I say that we were too weak for that! But (E)in whatever anyone is bold—I speak foolishly—I am bold also.

Suffering for Christ

22 Are they (F)Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: (G)in labors more abundant, (H)in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, (I)in deaths often. 24 From the Jews five times I received (J)forty (K)stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was (L)beaten with rods; (M)once I was stoned; three times I (N)was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, (O)in perils of my own countrymen, (P)in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, (Q)in sleeplessness often, (R)in hunger and thirst, in (S)fastings often, in cold and nakedness— 28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: (T)my deep concern for all the churches. 29 (U)Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

30 If I must boast, (V)I will boast in the things which concern my [a]infirmity. 31 (W)The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (X)who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 (Y)In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 11:30 weakness

Paul Boasts About His Sufferings

16 I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool.(A) But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. 17 In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would,(B) but as a fool.(C) 18 Since many are boasting in the way the world does,(D) I too will boast.(E) 19 You gladly put up with(F) fools since you are so wise!(G) 20 In fact, you even put up with(H) anyone who enslaves you(I) or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 21 To my shame I admit that we were too weak(J) for that!

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.(K) 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I.(L) Are they Israelites? So am I.(M) Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I.(N) 23 Are they servants of Christ?(O) (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder,(P) been in prison more frequently,(Q) been flogged more severely,(R) and been exposed to death again and again.(S) 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes(T) minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods,(U) once I was pelted with stones,(V) three times I was shipwrecked,(W) I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews,(X) in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city,(Y) in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.(Z) 27 I have labored and toiled(AA) and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;(AB) I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.(AC) 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak?(AD) Who is led into sin,(AE) and I do not inwardly burn?

30 If I must boast, I will boast(AF) of the things that show my weakness.(AG) 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever,(AH) knows(AI) that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me.(AJ) 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.(AK)

Read full chapter

Answered Prayer for Deliverance from Adversaries

To the Chief Musician. With [a]stringed instruments. A [b]Contemplation of David (A)when the Ziphites went and said to Saul, “Is David not hiding with us?”

54 Save me, O God, by Your name,
And vindicate me by Your strength.
Hear my prayer, O God;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen up against me,
And oppressors have sought after my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah

Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is with those who [c]uphold my life.
He will repay my enemies for their evil.
[d]Cut them off in Your [e]truth.

I will freely sacrifice to You;
I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good.
For He has delivered me out of all trouble;
(B)And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 54:1 Heb. neginoth
  2. Psalm 54:1 Heb. Maschil
  3. Psalm 54:4 sustain my soul
  4. Psalm 54:5 Destroy them
  5. Psalm 54:5 Or faithfulness

Psalm 54[a]

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil[b] of David. When the Ziphites(A) had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?”

Save me(B), O God, by your name;(C)
    vindicate me by your might.(D)
Hear my prayer, O God;(E)
    listen to the words of my mouth.

Arrogant foes are attacking me;(F)
    ruthless people(G) are trying to kill me(H)
    people without regard for God.[c](I)

Surely God is my help;(J)
    the Lord is the one who sustains me.(K)

Let evil recoil(L) on those who slander me;
    in your faithfulness(M) destroy them.

I will sacrifice a freewill offering(N) to you;
    I will praise(O) your name, Lord, for it is good.(P)
You have delivered me(Q) from all my troubles,
    and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.(R)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 54:1 In Hebrew texts 54:1-7 is numbered 54:3-9.
  2. Psalm 54:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
  3. Psalm 54:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

Listen to Your Father

23 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
Consider carefully what is before you;
And put a knife to your throat
If you are a man given to appetite.
Do not desire his delicacies,
For they are deceptive food.

Read full chapter

Saying 7

23 When you sit to dine with a ruler,
    note well what[a] is before you,
and put a knife to your throat
    if you are given to gluttony.
Do not crave his delicacies,(A)
    for that food is deceptive.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:1 Or who