Isaiah 51:3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
Isaiah 49:13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
Isaiah 52:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 Break forth; shout together for joy,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.(A)
Joel 2:3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 Fire devours in front of them,
and behind them a flame burns.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
but after them a desolate wilderness,
and nothing escapes them.(A)
Jeremiah 31:25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
25 I will satisfy the weary,
and all who are faint I will replenish.(A)
Genesis 13:10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
10 Lot looked about him and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar; this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.(A)
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1 Peter 1:8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 Although you have not seen[a] him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,(A)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1.8 Other ancient authorities read known
Ezekiel 31:8-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it
nor the fir trees equal its boughs;
the plane trees were as nothing
compared with its branches;
no tree in the garden of God
was like it in beauty.(A)
9 I made it beautiful
with its mass of branches,
the envy of all the trees of Eden
that were in the garden of God.
10 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it[a] towered high and set its top among the clouds and its heart was proud of its height,(B)
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- 31.10 Syr Vg: Heb you
Jeremiah 33:11-13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
11 the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord:
“Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,
for the Lord is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!”
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.(A)
12 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without humans or animals, and in all its towns there shall again be pasture for shepherds resting their flocks.(B) 13 In the towns of the hill country, of the Shephelah, and of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord.(C)
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Jeremiah 31:12-14
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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.(A)
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.(B)
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
says the Lord.(C)
Footnotes
- 31.13 Cn: Heb old together
Revelation 19:1-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Rejoicing in Heaven
19 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power to our God,(A)
2 for his judgments are true and just;
he has judged the great whore[a]
who corrupted the earth with her prostitution,
and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”(B)
3 Once more they said,
“Hallelujah!
The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.”(C)
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying,
“Amen. Hallelujah!”(D)
5 And from the throne came a voice saying,
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord[c] God
the Almighty reigns.(F)
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready;(G)
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Paul’s Thanksgiving after Affliction
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation,(A) 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 3:14-20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
18 as on a day of festival.”[b]
I will remove disaster from you,[c]
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19 I will deal with all your oppressors
at that time.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.(E)
20 At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes, says the Lord.(F)
Isaiah 66:10-14
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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
Isaiah 61:1-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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,(A)
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,(B)
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.(C)
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.(D)
Isaiah 54:6-8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 For the Lord has called you
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,
says your God.(A)
7 For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.(B)
8 In overflowing wrath for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
says the Lord, your Redeemer.(C)
Isaiah 51:12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
Isaiah 49:8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Zion’s Children to Be Brought Home
8 Thus says the Lord:
In a time of favor I have answered you;
on a day of salvation I have helped you;
I have kept you and given you
as a covenant to the people,[a]
to establish the land,
to apportion the desolate heritages,(A)
Footnotes
- 49.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Isaiah 44:26
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
26 who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;
who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,
and I will raise up their ruins”;(A)
Isaiah 41:18-19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 I will open rivers on the bare heights
and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water
and the dry land springs of water.(A)
19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
Isaiah 40:1-2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God’s People Are Comforted
40 Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.(A)
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.(B)
Isaiah 35:7-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
7 the burning sand shall become a pool
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp;[a]
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.(A)
8 A highway shall be there,[b]
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,[c]
but it shall be for God’s people;[d]
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.(B)
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.(C)
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.(D)
Isaiah 35:1-2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Return of the Redeemed to Zion
35 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus(A) 2 it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and shouting.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.]][a](B)
Footnotes
- 34.17–35.2 Q ms lacks 34.17–35.2
Isaiah 25:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 It will be said on that day,
“See, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”(A)
Isaiah 12:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.