Isaiah 45:9-25
New King James Version
9 “Woe to him who strives with (A)his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
(B)Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”
11 Thus says the Lord,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
(C)“Ask Me of things to come concerning (D)My sons;
And concerning (E)the work of My hands, you command Me.
12 (F)I have made the earth,
And (G)created man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And (H)all their host I have commanded.
13 (I)I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will [a]direct all his ways;
He shall (J)build My city
And let My exiles go free,
(K)Not for price nor reward,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
The Lord, the Only Savior
14 Thus says the Lord:
(L)“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;
They shall walk behind you,
They shall come over (M)in chains;
And they shall bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying, (N)‘Surely God is in you,
And there is no other;
(O)There is no other God.’ ”
15 Truly You are God, (P)who hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!
16 They shall be (Q)ashamed
And also disgraced, all of them;
They shall go in confusion together,
Who are makers of idols.
17 (R)But Israel shall be saved by the Lord
With an (S)everlasting salvation;
You shall not be ashamed or (T)disgraced
Forever and ever.
18 For thus says the Lord,
(U)Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it [b]in vain,
Who formed it to be (V)inhabited:
(W)“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in (X)secret,
In a dark place of the earth;
I did not say to the seed of Jacob,
‘Seek Me [c]in vain’;
(Y)I, the Lord, speak righteousness,
I declare things that are right.
20 “Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
You who have escaped from the nations.
(Z)They have no knowledge,
Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
(AA)Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord?
(AB)And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.
22 “Look to Me, and be saved,
(AC)All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 (AD)I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every (AE)knee shall bow,
(AF)Every tongue shall take an oath.
24 He shall say,
[d]‘Surely in the Lord I have (AG)righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And (AH)all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
25 (AI)In the Lord all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and (AJ)shall glory.’ ”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 45:13 Or make all his ways straight
- Isaiah 45:18 Or empty, a waste
- Isaiah 45:19 Or in a waste place
- Isaiah 45:24 Or Only in the Lord are all righteousness and strength
Amos 5:6-24
New King James Version
6 (A)Seek the Lord and live,
Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
And devour it,
With no one to quench it in Bethel—
7 You who (B)turn justice to wormwood,
And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”
8 He made the (C)Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
(D)And makes the day dark as night;
He (E)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
(F)The Lord is His name.
9 He [a]rains ruin upon the strong,
So that fury comes upon the fortress.
10 (G)They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,
And they (H)abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
11 (I)Therefore, because you [b]tread down the poor
And take grain [c]taxes from him,
Though (J)you have built houses of hewn stone,
Yet you shall not dwell in them;
You have planted [d]pleasant vineyards,
But you shall not drink wine from them.
12 For I (K)know your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
(L)Afflicting the just and taking bribes;
(M)Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
13 Therefore (N)the prudent keep silent at that time,
For it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the Lord God of hosts will be with you,
(O)As you have spoken.
15 (P)Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
(Q)It may be that the Lord God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
The Day of the Lord
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this:
“There shall be wailing in all streets,
And they shall say in all the highways,
‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmer to mourning,
(R)And skillful lamenters to wailing.
17 In all vineyards there shall be wailing,
For (S)I will pass through you,”
Says the Lord.
18 (T)Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
For what good is (U)the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
19 It will be (V)as though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him!
Or as though he went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
21 “I(W) hate, I despise your feast days,
And (X)I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
22 (Y)Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24 (Z)But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.
Ephesians 2
New King James Version
By Grace Through Faith
2 And (A)you He made alive, (B)who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 (C)in which you once walked according to the [a]course of this world, according to (D)the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in (E)the sons of disobedience, 3 (F)among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in (G)the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and (H)were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, (I)who is rich in mercy, because of His (J)great love with which He loved us, 5 (K)even when we were dead in trespasses, (L)made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together (M)in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in (N)His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 (O)For by grace you have been saved (P)through faith, and that not of yourselves; (Q)it is the gift of God, 9 not of (R)works, lest anyone should (S)boast. 10 For we are (T)His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Brought Near by His Blood
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called (U)the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Christ Our Peace
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one (V)new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might (W)reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby (X)putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For (Y)through Him we both have access (Z)by one Spirit to the Father.
Christ Our Cornerstone
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been (AA)built (AB)on the foundation of the (AC)apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being (AD)the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into (AE)a holy temple in the Lord, 22 (AF)in whom you also are being built together for a (AG)dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Footnotes
- Ephesians 2:2 Gr. aion, aeon
John 6:41-71
New King James Version
Rejected by His Own
41 The Jews then [a]complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, (A)“Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, [b]“Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 (B)No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me (C)draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, (D)‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ (E)Therefore everyone who [c]has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 (F)Not that anyone has seen the Father, (G)except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, (H)he who believes [d]in Me has everlasting life. 48 (I)I am the bread of life. 49 (J)Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 (K)This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread (L)which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and (M)the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
52 The Jews therefore (N)quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless (O)you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 (P)Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is [e]food indeed, and My blood is [f]drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood (Q)abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 (R)This is the bread which came down from heaven—not (S)as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Turn Away
60 (T)Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a [g]hard saying; who can understand it?”
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples [h]complained about this, He said to them, “Does this [i]offend you? 62 (U)What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 (V)It is the Spirit who gives life; the (W)flesh profits nothing. The (X)words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But (Y)there are some of you who do not believe.” For (Z)Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore (AA)I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
66 (AB)From that time many of His disciples went [j]back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have (AC)the words of eternal life. 69 (AD)Also we have come to believe and know that You are the [k]Christ, the Son of the living God.”
70 Jesus answered them, (AE)“Did I not choose you, the twelve, (AF)and one of you is a devil?” 71 He spoke of (AG)Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would (AH)betray Him, being one of the twelve.
Read full chapterScripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Bible Gateway Recommends
