Isaiah 40:1
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Isaiah 51:12
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12 I, I am he who comforts you;
why then are you afraid of a mere mortal who must die,
a human being who fades like grass?(A)
2 Corinthians 1:4
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4 who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.
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Zephaniah 3:14-17
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A Song of Joy
14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!(A)
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.(B)
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.(C)
17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will renew you[a] in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing(D)
Footnotes
- 3.17 Gk Syr: Heb he will be silent
Isaiah 51:3
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3 For the Lord will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.(A)
1 Thessalonians 4:18
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18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
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Jeremiah 31:10-14
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10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
and will keep him as a shepherd does a flock.”(A)
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.(B)
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
and they shall never languish again.(C)
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.[a]
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.(D)
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
says the Lord.(E)
Footnotes
- 31.13 Cn: Heb old together
Isaiah 66:10-14
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10 Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her—(A)
11 that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast,
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious bosom.(B)
12 For thus says the Lord:
I will extend prosperity to her like a river
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream,
and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm
and bounced on her knees.(C)
13 As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.(D)
The Reign and Indignation of God
14 You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bodies[a] shall flourish like the grass,
and it shall be known that the power of the Lord is with his servants,
and his indignation is against his enemies.(E)
Footnotes
- 66.14 Heb bones
Zechariah 9:9
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The Coming Ruler of God’s People
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(A)
Zechariah 1:13
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13 Then the Lord replied with gracious and comforting words to the angel who spoke with me.(A)
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Isaiah 65:13-14
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13 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
My servants shall eat,
but you shall be hungry;
my servants shall drink,
but you shall be thirsty;
my servants shall rejoice,
but you shall be put to shame;(A)
14 my servants shall sing with gladness of heart,
but you shall cry out in pain of heart
and shall wail in anguish of spirit.(B)
Isaiah 60:1-61:3
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The Ingathering of the Dispersed
60 Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.(A)
2 For darkness shall cover the earth
and thick darkness the peoples,
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.(B)
3 Nations shall come to your light
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.(C)
4 Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together; they come to you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried in their nurses’ arms.(D)
5 Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice,[a]
because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you;
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.(E)
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense
and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord.(F)
7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;
the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
they shall be acceptable on my altar,[b]
and I will glorify my glorious house.(G)
8 Who are these that fly like a cloud
and like doves to their windows?
9 For the coastlands shall wait for me,
the ships of Tarshish first,
to bring your children from far away,
their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God
and for the Holy One of Israel,
because he has glorified you.(H)
10 Foreigners shall build up your walls,
and their kings shall minister to you,
for in my wrath I struck you down,
but in my favor I have had mercy on you.(I)
11 Your gates shall always be open;
day and night they shall not be shut,
so that nations shall bring you their wealth,
with their kings led in procession.(J)
12 For the nation and kingdom
that will not serve you shall perish;
those nations shall be utterly laid waste.(K)
13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
the cypress, the plane, and the pine,
to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
and I will glorify where my feet rest.(L)
14 The descendants of those who oppressed you
shall come bending low to you,
and all who despised you
shall bow down at your feet;
they shall call you the City of the Lord,
the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.(M)
15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
with no one passing through,
I will make you majestic forever,
a joy from age to age.(N)
16 You shall suck the milk of nations;
you shall suck the breasts of kings,
and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.(O)
17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold;
instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze;
instead of stones, iron.
I will appoint Peace as your overseer
and Righteousness as your taskmaster.
18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
devastation or destruction within your borders;
you shall call your walls Salvation
and your gates Praise.(P)
God the Glory of Zion
19 The sun shall no longer be
your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
give light to you by night,[c]
but the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.(Q)
20 Your sun shall no more go down
or your moon withdraw itself,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of mourning shall be ended.(R)
21 Your people shall all be righteous;
they shall possess the land forever.
They are the shoot that I planted, the work of my hands,
so that I might be glorified.(S)
22 The least of them shall become a clan
and the smallest one a mighty nation;
I am the Lord;
in its time I will accomplish it quickly.(T)
The Good News of Deliverance
61 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,(U)
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,(V)
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.(W)
Isaiah 49:13-16
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13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his suffering ones.(A)
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”(B)
15 Can a woman forget her nursing child
or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these might forget,
yet I will not forget you.(C)
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.(D)
Psalm 85:8
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8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.[a](A)
Footnotes
- 85.8 Gk: Heb but let them not turn back to folly
Isaiah 62:11-12
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11 The Lord has proclaimed
to the end of the earth:
Say to daughter Zion,
“Look, your savior comes;
his reward is with him
and his recompense before him.”(A)
12 They shall be called, “The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord,”
and you shall be called, “Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.”(B)
Isaiah 52:9
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9 Break forth; shout together for joy,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.(A)
Isaiah 50:10
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10 Who among you fears the Lord
and obeys the voice of his servant,
who walks in darkness
and has no light,
yet trusts in the name of the Lord
and relies upon his God?(A)
Isaiah 41:27
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Footnotes
- 41.27 Cn Compare Q ms: Heb First to Zion—Behold, behold them
Isaiah 41:10-14
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10 do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.(A)
11 All who are incensed against you
shall be ashamed and disgraced;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.(B)
12 You shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
those who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.(C)
13 For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Do not fear,
I will help you.”(D)
14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you maggot[a] Israel!
I will help you, says the Lord;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.(E)
Footnotes
- 41.14 Cn: Heb men of
Isaiah 35:3-4
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3 Strengthen the weak hands
and make firm the feeble knees.(A)
4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.”(B)
Isaiah 12:1
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Thanksgiving and Praise
12 You will say on that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
and you comforted me.(A)
Isaiah 57:15-19
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15 For thus says the high and lofty one
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place
and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble
and to revive the heart of the contrite.(A)
16 For I will not continually accuse,
nor will I always be angry,
for then the spirits would grow faint before me,
even the souls that I have made.(B)
17 Because of their wicked covetousness I was angry;
I struck them; I hid and was angry,
but they kept turning back to their own ways.(C)
18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;
I will lead them and repay them with comfort,
19 creating for their mourners the fruit of the lips.[a]
Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord,
and I will heal them.(D)
Footnotes
- 57.19 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 3:10
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10 Tell the innocent how fortunate they are,
for they shall eat the fruit of their labors.(A)
Nehemiah 8:10
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10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord, and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”(A)
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Hebrews 6:17-18
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17 In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath,(A) 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us.(B)
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