Isaiah 43:14-44:5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
14 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I will send to Babylon
and break down all the bars,
and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.[a](A)
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.
16 Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,(B)
17 who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down; they cannot rise;
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:(C)
18 Do not remember the former things
or consider the things of old.(D)
19 I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.(E)
20 The wild animals will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,(F)
21 the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.(G)
22 Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but you have been weary of me, O Israel!(H)
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings
or wearied you with frankincense.(I)
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
Rather, you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.(J)
25 I alone am the one
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.(K)
26 Accuse me; let us go to trial;
set forth your case, so that you may be proved right.(L)
27 Your first ancestor sinned,
and your mediators rebelled against me.
28 Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary;
I delivered Jacob to utter destruction
and Israel to reviling.(M)
God’s Blessing on Israel
44 But now hear, O Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!(N)
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
who formed you in the womb and will help you:
Do not fear, O Jacob my servant,
Jeshurun whom I have chosen.(O)
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my spirit upon your descendants
and my blessing on your offspring.(P)
4 They shall spring up like a green tamarisk,[b]
like willows by flowing streams.
5 This one will say, “I am the Lord’s”;
another will be called by the name of Jacob;
yet another will write on the hand, “The Lord’s,”
and adopt the name of Israel.(Q)
Amos 3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
3 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:(A)
2 You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.(B)
3 Do two walk together
unless they have made an appointment?(C)
4 Does a lion roar in the forest
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den
if it has caught nothing?(D)
5 Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground
when it has taken nothing?
6 Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster befall a city
unless the Lord has done it?(E)
7 Surely the Lord God does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.(F)
8 The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?(G)
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on Mount[a] Samaria,
and see what great tumults are within it
and what oppressions are in its midst.”(H)
10 They do not know how to do right, says the Lord,
those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.(I)
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
An adversary shall surround the land
and strip you of your defense,
and your strongholds shall be plundered.(J)
12 Thus says the Lord: As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who live in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part[b] of a bed.(K)
13 Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,
says the Lord God, the God of hosts:(L)
14 On the day I punish Israel for its transgressions,
I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house,
and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses[c] shall come to an end,
says the Lord.(M)
Ephesians 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Salutation
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful[a] in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,[b](A) 4 just as he chose us in Christ[c] before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.(B) 5 He destined us[d] for adoption as his children[e] through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,(C) 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace(D) 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,(E) 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.(F) 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,[f] having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,(G) 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;(H) 14 this[g] is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.(I)
Paul’s Prayer
15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[h] toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers,(J) 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,(K) 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God[i] put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,[j](L) 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.(M) 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,(N) 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.(O)
Footnotes
- 1.1 Other ancient authorities lack in Ephesus, reading saints who are also faithful
- 1.3 Gk heavenlies
- 1.4 Gk in him
- 1.5 Or before him; he destined us in love
- 1.5 Or sonship
- 1.11 Or been made a heritage
- 1.14 Other ancient authorities read who
- 1.15 Other ancient authorities lack and your love
- 1.20 Gk He
- 1.20 Gk heavenlies
John 6:22-40
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Bread from Heaven
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not gotten into the boat with his disciples but that his disciples had gone away alone.(A) 23 But some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.(B) 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.(C)
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves.(D) 27 Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”(E) 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”(F) 30 So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us, then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?(G) 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”(H) 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which[a] comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”(I) 34 They said to him, “Sir,[b] give us this bread always.”(J)
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.(K) 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.(L) 37 Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away,(M) 38 for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.(N) 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me but raise it up on the last day.(O) 40 This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.”(P)
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