Isaiah 45:9-25

New International Version

⁹“Woe to those who quarrel^(A) with their Maker,^(B)
    those who are nothing but potsherds^(C)
    among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,^(D)
    ‘What are you making?’^(E)
Does your work say,
    ‘The potter has no hands’?^(F)
¹⁰Woe to the one who says to a father,
    ‘What have you begotten?’
or to a mother,
    ‘What have you brought to birth?’

¹¹“This is what the Lord says—
    the Holy One^(G) of Israel, and its Maker:^(H)
Concerning things to come,
    do you question me about my children,
    or give me orders about the work of my hands?^(I)
¹²It is I who made the earth^(J)
    and created mankind on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;^(K)
    I marshaled their starry hosts.^(L)
¹³I will raise up Cyrus^[a]^(M) in my righteousness:
    I will make all his ways straight.^(N)
He will rebuild my city^(O)
    and set my exiles free,
but not for a price or reward,^(P)
    says the Lord Almighty.”

¹⁴This is what the Lord says:

“The products^(Q) of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,^[b]
    and those tall Sabeans^(R)—
they will come over to you^(S)
    and will be yours;
they will trudge behind you,^(T)
    coming over to you in chains.^(U)
They will bow down before you
    and plead^(V) with you, saying,
‘Surely God is with you,^(W) and there is no other;
    there is no other god.^(X)’”

¹⁵Truly you are a God who has been hiding^(Y) himself,
    the God and Savior^(Z) of Israel.
¹⁶All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;^(AA)
    they will go off into disgrace together.
¹⁷But Israel will be saved^(AB) by the Lord
    with an everlasting salvation;^(AC)
you will never be put to shame or disgraced,^(AD)
    to ages everlasting.

¹⁸For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
    he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,^(AE)
    he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,^(AF)
    but formed it to be inhabited^(AG)—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
    and there is no other.^(AH)
¹⁹I have not spoken in secret,^(AI)
    from somewhere in a land of darkness;^(AJ)
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,^(AK)
    ‘Seek^(AL) me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.^(AM)

²⁰“Gather together^(AN) and come;
    assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant^(AO) are those who carry^(AP) about idols of wood,
    who pray to gods that cannot save.^(AQ)
²¹Declare what is to be, present it—
    let them take counsel together.
Who foretold^(AR) this long ago,
    who declared it from the distant past?^(AS)
Was it not I, the Lord?
    And there is no God apart from me,^(AT)
a righteous God^(AU) and a Savior;^(AV)
    there is none but me.

²²“Turn^(AW) to me and be saved,^(AX)
    all you ends of the earth;^(AY)
    for I am God, and there is no other.^(AZ)
²³By myself I have sworn,^(BA)
    my mouth has uttered in all integrity^(BB)
    a word that will not be revoked:^(BC)
Before me every knee will bow;^(BD)
    by me every tongue will swear.^(BE)
²⁴They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone
    are deliverance^(BF) and strength.^(BG)’”
All who have raged against him
    will come to him and be put to shame.^(BH)
²⁵But all the descendants^(BI) of Israel
    will find deliverance^(BJ) in the Lord
    and will make their boast in him.^(BK)

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Footnotes

Isaiah 45:13 Hebrew him
Isaiah 45:14 That is, the upper Nile region

Amos 5:6-24

New International Version

⁶Seek^(A) the Lord and live,^(B)
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;^(C)
it will devour them,
and Bethel^(D) will have no one to quench it.^(E)

⁷There are those who turn justice into bitterness^(F)
and cast righteousness^(G) to the ground.^(H)

⁸He who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(I)
    who turns midnight into dawn^(J)
    and darkens day into night,^(K)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(L)
⁹With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.^(M)

¹⁰There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court^(N)
and detest the one who tells the truth.^(O)

¹¹You levy a straw tax on the poor^(P)
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,^(Q)
    you will not live in them;^(R)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.^(S)
¹²For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.^(T)

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes^(U)
and deprive the poor^(V) of justice in the courts.^(W)
¹³Therefore the prudent keep quiet^(X) in such times,
for the times are evil.^(Y)

¹⁴Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.^(Z)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵Hate evil,^(AA) love good;^(AB)
    maintain justice in the courts.^(AC)
Perhaps^(AD) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy^(AE)
    on the remnant^(AF) of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing^(AG) in all the streets^(AH)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers^(AI) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
¹⁷There will be wailing^(AJ) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through^(AK) your midst,”
says the Lord.^(AL)

The Day of the Lord

¹⁸Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!^(AM)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?^(AN)
    That day will be darkness,^(AO) not light.^(AP)
¹⁹It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,^(AQ)
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.^(AR)
²⁰Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,^(AS) not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?^(AT)

²¹“I hate,^(AU) I despise your religious festivals;^(AV)
    your assemblies^(AW) are a stench to me.
²²Even though you bring me burnt offerings^(AX) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.^(AY)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.^(AZ)
²³Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(BA)
²⁴But let justice^(BB) roll on like a river,
    righteousness^(BC) like a never-failing stream!^(BD)

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Ephesians 2

New International Version

Made Alive in Christ

2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,^(A) ²in which you used to live^(B) when you followed the ways of this world^(C) and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,^(D) the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.^(E) ³All of us also lived among them at one time,^(F) gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a]^(G) and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴But because of his great love for us,^(H) God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions^(I)—it is by grace you have been saved.^(J) ⁶And God raised us up with Christ^(K) and seated us with him^(L) in the heavenly realms^(M) in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,^(N) expressed in his kindness^(O) to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For it is by grace^(P) you have been saved,^(Q) through faith^(R)—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works,^(S) so that no one can boast.^(T) ¹⁰For we are God’s handiwork,^(U) created^(V) in Christ Jesus to do good works,^(W) which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ

¹¹Therefore, remember that formerly^(X) you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)^(Y)— ¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners^(Z) to the covenants of the promise,^(AA) without hope^(AB) and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once^(AC) were far away have been brought near^(AD) by the blood of Christ.^(AE)

¹⁴For he himself is our peace,^(AF) who has made the two groups one^(AG) and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵by setting aside in his flesh^(AH) the law with its commands and regulations.^(AI) His purpose was to create in himself one^(AJ) new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross,^(AK) by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷He came and preached peace^(AL) to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.^(AM) ¹⁸For through him we both have access^(AN) to the Father^(AO) by one Spirit.^(AP)

¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers,^(AQ) but fellow citizens^(AR) with God’s people and also members of his household,^(AS) ²⁰built^(AT) on the foundation^(AU) of the apostles and prophets,^(AV) with Christ Jesus himself^(AW) as the chief cornerstone.^(AX) ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple^(AY) in the Lord. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.^(AZ)

Footnotes

Ephesians 2:3 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.

John 6:41-71

New International Version

⁴¹At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph,^(A) whose father and mother we know?^(B) How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”^(C)

⁴³“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. ⁴⁴“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them,^(D) and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’^[a]^(E) Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. ⁴⁶No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God;^(F) only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.^(G) ⁴⁸I am the bread of life.^(H) ⁴⁹Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.^(I) ⁵⁰But here is the bread that comes down from heaven,^(J) which anyone may eat and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread^(K) that came down from heaven.^(L) Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”^(M)

⁵²Then the Jews^(N) began to argue sharply among themselves,^(O) “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh^(P) of the Son of Man^(Q) and drink his blood,^(R) you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.^(S) ⁵⁵For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.^(T) ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me^(U) and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”^(V) ⁵⁹He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

⁶⁰On hearing it, many of his disciples^(W) said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”^(X)

⁶¹Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?^(Y) ⁶²Then what if you see the Son of Man^(Z) ascend to where he was before!^(AA) ⁶³The Spirit gives life;^(AB) the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit^[b] and life. ⁶⁴Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known^(AC) from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.^(AD) ⁶⁵He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”^(AE)

⁶⁶From this time many of his disciples^(AF) turned back and no longer followed him.

⁶⁷“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.^(AG)

⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him,^(AH) “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.^(AI) ⁶⁹We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”^(AJ)

⁷⁰Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you,^(AK) the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”^(AL) ⁷¹(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot,^(AM) who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)^(AN)