Isaiah 45:9-25

English Standard Version

⁹^(A)“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
    a pot among earthen pots!
^(B)Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
    or ‘Your work has no handles’?
¹⁰Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
    or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”

¹¹Thus says ^(C)the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
^(D)“Ask me of things to come;
    will you command me ^(E)concerning my children and ^(F)the work of my hands?^[a]
¹²^(G)I made the earth
    and created man on it;
it was my hands ^(H)that stretched out the heavens,
    and ^(I)I commanded all their host.
¹³^(J)I have stirred him up in righteousness,
    ^(K)and I will make all his ways level;
^(L)he shall build my city
    ^(M)and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,”
    says the Lord of hosts.

The Lord, the Only Savior

¹⁴Thus says the Lord:
^(N)“The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
    and the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over to you ^(O)and be yours;
    they shall follow you;
    they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will plead with you, saying:
    ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
    no god besides him.’”

¹⁵^(P)Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
    O God of Israel, the Savior.
¹⁶^(Q)All of them are put to shame and confounded;
    the makers of idols go in confusion together.
¹⁷But Israel is saved by the Lord
    with everlasting salvation;
^(R)you shall not be put to shame or confounded
    to all eternity.

¹⁸^(S)For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
    (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
    (he established it;
he ^(T)did not create it empty,
    ^(U)he formed it to be inhabited!):
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
¹⁹^(V)I did not speak in secret,
    in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
    ^(W)‘Seek me in vain.’^[b]
I the Lord speak ^(X)the truth;
    I declare what is right.

²⁰^(Y)“Assemble yourselves and come;
    draw near together,
    you survivors of the nations!
^(Z)They have no knowledge
    who ^(AA)carry about their wooden idols,
^(AB)and keep on praying to a god
    that cannot save.
²¹^(AC)Declare and present your case;
    let them take counsel together!
Who told this long ago?
    Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
    And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God ^(AD)and a Savior;
    there is none besides me.

²²“Turn to me and be saved,
    ^(AE)all the ends of the earth!
    For I am God, and there is no other.
²³^(AF)By myself I have sworn;
    from my mouth has gone out in ^(AG)righteousness
    a word that shall not return:
^(AH)‘To me every knee shall bow,
    every tongue shall swear allegiance.’^[c]

²⁴^(AI)“Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
    are righteousness and ^(AJ)strength;
to him shall come and be ashamed
    ^(AK)all who were incensed against him.
²⁵In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
    shall be justified and shall glory.”

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Footnotes

Isaiah 45:11 A slight emendation yields will you question me about my children, or command me concerning the work of my hands?
Isaiah 45:19 Hebrew in emptiness
Isaiah 45:23 Septuagint every tongue shall confess to God

Amos 5:6-24

English Standard Version

⁶^(A)Seek the Lord and live,
    ^(B)lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
    and it devour, with none to quench it for ^(C)Bethel,
⁷O ^(D)you who turn justice to wormwood^[a]
    and cast down righteousness to the earth!

⁸He who made the ^(E)Pleiades and Orion,
    and turns deep darkness into the morning
    and ^(F)darkens the day into night,
who ^(G)calls for the waters of the sea
    ^(H)and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
^(I)the Lord is his name;
⁹^(J)who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
    so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

¹⁰^(K)They hate him who reproves ^(L)in the gate,
    and they ^(M)abhor him who speaks the truth.
¹¹Therefore because you ^(N)trample on^[b] the poor
    and you exact taxes of grain from him,
^(O)you have built houses of hewn stone,
    but you shall not dwell in them;
^(P)you have planted pleasant vineyards,
    but you shall not drink their wine.
¹²For I know how many are your transgressions
    and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who ^(Q)take a bribe,
    and ^(R)turn aside the needy ^(S)in the gate.
¹³Therefore he who is prudent will ^(T)keep silent in such a time,
    ^(U)for it is an evil time.

¹⁴^(V)Seek good, and not evil,
    that you may live;
and so the Lord, ^(W)the God of hosts, will be with you,
    as you have said.
¹⁵^(X)Hate evil, and love good,
    and establish justice ^(Y)in the gate;
^(Z)it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord, ^(AA)the God of hosts, the Lord:

“In all the squares ^(AB)there shall be wailing,
    and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
    and ^(AC)to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
¹⁷and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
    for ^(AD)I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.

Let Justice Roll Down

¹⁸Woe to you who desire ^(AE)the day of the Lord!
    Why would you have the day of the Lord?
^(AF)It is darkness, and not light,
¹⁹    ^(AG)as if a man fled from a lion,
    and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
    and a serpent bit him.
²⁰^(AH)Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
    and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹^(AI)“I hate, I despise your feasts,
    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
²²^(AJ)Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
    I will not look upon them.
²³Take away from me the noise of your songs;
    to ^(AK)the melody of your harps I will not listen.
²⁴But let justice roll down like waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

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Footnotes

Amos 5:7 Or to bitter fruit
Amos 5:11 Or you tax

Ephesians 2

English Standard Version

By Grace Through Faith

2 ^(A)And you were ^(B)dead in the trespasses and sins ²^(C)in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following ^(D)the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in ^(E)the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in ^(F)the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body^[a] and the mind, and ^(G)were by nature ^(H)children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.^[b] ⁴But^[c] God, being ^(I)rich in mercy, ^(J)because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even ^(K)when we were dead in our trespasses, ^(L)made us alive together with Christ—^(M)by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and ^(N)seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable ^(O)riches of his grace in ^(P)kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For ^(Q)by grace you have been saved ^(R)through faith. And this is ^(S)not your own doing; ^(T)it is the gift of God, ⁹^(U)not a result of works, ^(V)so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For ^(W)we are his workmanship, ^(X)created in Christ Jesus ^(Y)for good works, ^(Z)which God prepared beforehand, ^(AA)that we should walk in them.

One in Christ

¹¹Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^(AB)the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹²remember ^(AC)that you were at that time separated from Christ, ^(AD)alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to ^(AE)the covenants of promise, ^(AF)having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were ^(AG)far off have been brought near ^(AH)by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For ^(AI)he himself is our peace, ^(AJ)who has made us both one and has broken down ^(AK)in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ^(AL)ordinances, that he might create in himself one ^(AM)new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶and might ^(AN)reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷And he came and ^(AO)preached peace to you who were ^(AP)far off and peace to those who were ^(AQ)near. ¹⁸For ^(AR)through him we both have ^(AS)access in ^(AT)one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer ^(AU)strangers and aliens,^[d] but you are ^(AV)fellow citizens with the saints and ^(AW)members of the household of God, ²⁰^(AX)built on the foundation of the ^(AY)apostles and prophets, ^(AZ)Christ Jesus himself being ^(BA)the cornerstone, ²¹^(BB)in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into ^(BC)a holy temple in the Lord. ²²In him ^(BD)you also are being built together ^(BE)into a dwelling place for God by^[e] the Spirit.

Footnotes

Ephesians 2:3 Greek flesh
Ephesians 2:3 Greek like the rest
Ephesians 2:4 Or And
Ephesians 2:19 Or sojourners
Ephesians 2:22 Or in

John 6:41-71

English Standard Version

⁴¹So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ^(A)“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²They said, ^(B)“Is not this Jesus, ^(C)the son of Joseph, whose father and mother ^(D)we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me ^(E)draws him. And ^(F)I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets, ^(G)‘And they will all be ^(H)taught by God.’ ^(I)Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ⁴⁶^(J)not that anyone has seen the Father except ^(K)he who is from God; he ^(L)has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(M)whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸^(N)I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹^(O)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and ^(P)they died. ⁵⁰^(Q)This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it ^(R)and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread ^(S)that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ^(T)for the life of the world is ^(U)my flesh.”

⁵²The Jews then ^(V)disputed among themselves, saying, ^(W)“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of ^(X)the Son of Man and drink his blood, you ^(Y)have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ^(Z)has eternal life, and ^(AA)I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood ^(AB)abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷As ^(AC)the living Father ^(AD)sent me, and ^(AE)I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ⁵⁸^(AF)This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread^[a] the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹Jesus^[b] said these things in the synagogue, as he taught ^(AG)at Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

⁶⁰^(AH)When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹But Jesus, ^(AI)knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? ⁶²Then what if you were to see ^(AJ)the Son of Man ^(AK)ascending to ^(AL)where he was before? ⁶³^(AM)It is the Spirit who gives life; ^(AN)the flesh is no help at all. ^(AO)The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But ^(AP)there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus ^(AQ)knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and ^(AR)who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵And he said, “This is why I told you ^(AS)that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

⁶⁶^(AT)After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus said to ^(AU)the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(AV)the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹and ^(AW)we have believed, and have come to know, that ^(AX)you are ^(AY)the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰Jesus answered them, ^(AZ)“Did I not choose you, ^(BA)the twelve? And yet one of you is ^(BB)a devil.” ⁷¹He spoke of Judas ^(BC)the son of Simon Iscariot, for ^(BD)he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.