Isaiah 44:24-45:13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who by myself spread out the earth;(A)
25 who frustrates the omens of soothsayers
and makes fools of diviners;
who turns back the wise
and makes their knowledge foolish;(B)
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”;(C)
27 who says to the deep, “Be dry—
I will dry up your rivers”;(D)
28 who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
and he shall carry out all my purpose”;
and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,”
and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”(E)
Cyrus, God’s Instrument
45 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
and to strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
and the gates shall not be closed:(F)
2 I will go before you
and level the mountains;[a]
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron;(G)
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.(H)
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name;
I give you a title, though you do not know me.(I)
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,(J)
6 so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.(K)
7 I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things.(L)
8 Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,[b]
and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;
I the Lord have created it.(M)
9 Woe to those who strive with their Maker,
earthen vessels with the potter![c]
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”?
or “Your work has no handles”?(N)
10 Woe to anyone who says to a father, “What are you fathering?”
or to a woman, “With what are you in labor?”
11 Thus says the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel and its Maker:
Will you question me[d] about my children
or command me concerning the work of my hands?(O)
12 I made the earth
and created humankind upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.(P)
13 I have aroused Cyrus[e] in righteousness,
and I will make all his paths straight;
he shall build my city
and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,
says the Lord of hosts.(Q)
Mark 8:11-9:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Demand for a Sign
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him.(A) 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”(B) 13 And he left them, and getting into the boat again he went across to the other side.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod
14 Now the disciples[a] had forgotten to bring any bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”[b](C) 16 They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” 17 And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?(D) 18 Do you have eyes and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.”(E) 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.”(F) 21 Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”(G)
Jesus Cures a Blind Man at Bethsaida
22 They came to Bethsaida. Some people[c] brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him.(H) 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?”(I) 24 And the man[d] looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” 25 Then Jesus[e] laid his hands on his eyes again, and he looked intently, and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”[f](J)
Peter’s Declaration about Jesus
27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”(K) 28 And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”(L) 29 He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”[g](M) 30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.(N)
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.(O) 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”(P)
34 He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come[h] after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.(Q) 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel,[i] will save it.(R) 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words[j] in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”(S) 9 1
Footnotes
- 8.14 Gk they
- 8.15 Other ancient authorities read the Herodians
- 8.22 Gk They
- 8.24 Gk he
- 8.25 Gk he
- 8.26 Other ancient authorities add or tell anyone in the village
- 8.29 Or the Christ
- 8.34 Other ancient authorities read follow
- 8.35 Other ancient authorities read lose their life for the sake of the gospel
- 8.38 Other ancient authorities read and of mine
- 9.1 Or in
Isaiah 45:14-25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
14 Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush
and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours;
they shall follow you;
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
“God is with you alone, and there is no other;
there is no god besides him.”(A)
15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.(B)
16 All of them are put to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in disgrace together.(C)
17 But Israel is saved by the Lord
with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
ever again.(D)
18 For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he did not create it a chaos;
he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.(E)
19 I did not speak in secret
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
“Seek me in chaos.”
I the Lord speak the truth;
I declare what is right.(F)
Idols Cannot Save Babylon
20 Assemble yourselves and come together;
draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
those who carry about their wooden idols
and keep on praying to a god
that cannot save.(G)
21 Declare and present your case;
take counsel together![a]
Who told this long ago?
Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is no one besides me.(H)
22 Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.(I)
23 By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
“To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear.”(J)
24 Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and strength;
all who were incensed against him
shall come to him and be ashamed.(K)
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall triumph and glory.(L)
Footnotes
- 45.21 Syr Vg: Heb let them take counsel
Revelation 20
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Thousand Years
20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years(A) 3 and threw him into the pit and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while.(B)
4 Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus[a] and for the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its brand on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.(C) 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.(D)
Satan’s Doom
7 When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea.(E) 9 They marched up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven[b] and consumed them.(F) 10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The Dead Are Judged
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his[c] presence, and no place was found for them.(G) 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books.(H) 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done.(I) 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire,(J) 15 and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
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.