Isaiah 48
New King James Version
Israel Refined for God’s Glory
48 “Hear this, O house of Jacob,
Who are called by the name of Israel,
And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah;
Who swear by the name of the Lord,
And make mention of the God of Israel,
But (A)not in truth or in righteousness;
2 For they call themselves (B)after the holy city,
And (C)lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
3 “I have (D)declared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.
Suddenly I did them, (E)and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that you were [a]obstinate,
And (F)your neck was an iron sinew,
And your brow bronze,
5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;
Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,
Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my carved image and my molded image
Have commanded them.’
6 “You have heard;
See all this.
And will you not declare it?
I have made you hear new things from this time,
Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7 They are created now and not from the beginning;
And before this day you have not heard them,
Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
8 Surely you did not hear,
Surely you did not know;
Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
And were called (G)a transgressor from the womb.
9 “For(H) My name’s sake (I)I will [b]defer My anger,
And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
10 Behold, (J)I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the (K)furnace of affliction.
11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
For (L)how should My name be profaned?
And (M)I will not give My glory to another.
God’s Ancient Plan to Redeem Israel
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob,
And Israel, My called:
I am He, (N)I am the (O)First,
I am also the Last.
13 Indeed (P)My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;
When (Q)I call to them,
They stand up together.
14 “All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
(R)The Lord loves him;
(S)He shall do His pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken;
Yes, (T)I have called him,
I have brought him, and his way will prosper.
16 “Come near to Me, hear this:
(U)I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
From the time that it was, I was there.
And now (V)the Lord God and His Spirit
[c]Have sent Me.”
17 Thus says (W)the Lord, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
Who teaches you to profit,
(X)Who leads you by the way you should go.
18 (Y)Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
(Z)Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 (AA)Your descendants also would have been like the sand,
And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand;
His name would not have been cut off
Nor destroyed from before Me.”
20 (AB)Go forth from Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With a voice of singing,
Declare, proclaim this,
Utter it to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has (AC)redeemed
His servant Jacob!”
21 And they (AD)did not thirst
When He led them through the deserts;
He (AE)caused the waters to flow from the rock for them;
He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22 “There(AF) is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 48:4 Heb. hard
- Isaiah 48:9 delay
- Isaiah 48:16 Heb. verb is sing.; or Has sent Me and His Spirit
Mark 9:33-50
New King James Version
Who Is the Greatest?(A)
33 (B)Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you [a]disputed among yourselves on the road?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had (C)disputed among themselves who would be the (D)greatest. 35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, (E)“If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then (F)He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and (G)whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.”
Jesus Forbids Sectarianism(H)
38 (I)Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.”
39 But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, (J)for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 40 For (K)he who is not against [b]us is on [c]our side. 41 (L)For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.
Jesus Warns of Offenses(M)
42 (N)“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me [d]to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. 43 (O)If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life [e]maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to [f]hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 44 [g]where
(P)‘Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’
45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into [h]hell, [i]into the fire that shall never be quenched— 46 where
(Q)‘Their worm does not die
And the fire is not quenched.’
47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into [j]hell fire— 48 where
Tasteless Salt Is Worthless
49 “For everyone will be (T)seasoned with fire, (U)and[k] every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. 50 (V)Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? (W)Have salt in yourselves, and (X)have peace with one another.”
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Isaiah 49:1-13
New King James Version
The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles
49 “Listen, (A)O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
(B)The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the [a]matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
2 And He has made (C)My mouth like a sharp sword;
(D)In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me (E)a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”
3 “And He said to me,
(F)‘You are My servant, O Israel,
(G)In whom I will be glorified.’
4 (H)Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my [b]just reward is with the Lord,
And my [c]work with my God.’ ”
5 “And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel (I)is [d]gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
6 Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a (J)light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
7 Thus says the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel, [e]their Holy One,
(K)To Him [f]whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
(L)“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”
8 Thus says the Lord:
“In an (M)acceptable[g] time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will [h]preserve You (N)and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate [i]heritages;
9 That You may say (O)to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither (P)hunger nor thirst,
(Q)Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them (R)will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 (S)I will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12 Surely (T)these shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”
13 (U)Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 49:1 Lit. inward parts
- Isaiah 49:4 justice
- Isaiah 49:4 recompense
- Isaiah 49:5 Qr., DSS, LXX gathered to Him; Kt. not gathered
- Isaiah 49:7 Lit. his or its
- Isaiah 49:7 Lit. who is despised of soul
- Isaiah 49:8 favorable
- Isaiah 49:8 keep
- Isaiah 49:8 inheritances
Revelation 21:15-22:5
New King James Version
15 And he who talked with me (A)had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand [a]furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 (B)The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve (C)pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. (D)And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
The Glory of the New Jerusalem
22 (E)But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 (F)The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine [b]in it, for the [c]glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 (G)And the nations [d]of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor [e]into it. 25 (H)Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (I)(there shall be no night there). 26 (J)And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into [f]it. 27 But (K)there shall by no means enter it anything [g]that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s (L)Book of Life.
The River of Life
22 And he showed me (M)a [h]pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 (N)In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was (O)the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were (P)for the healing of the nations. 3 And (Q)there shall be no more curse, (R)but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His (S)servants shall serve Him. 4 (T)They shall see His face, and (U)His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 (V)There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor (W)light of the sun, for (X)the Lord God gives them light. (Y)And they shall reign forever and ever.
Footnotes
- Revelation 21:16 Lit. stadia, about 1,380 miles in all
- Revelation 21:23 NU, M omit in it
- Revelation 21:23 M very glory
- Revelation 21:24 NU, M omit of those who are saved
- Revelation 21:24 M of the nations to Him
- Revelation 21:26 M adds that they may enter in.
- Revelation 21:27 NU, M profane, nor one who causes
- Revelation 22:1 NU, M omit pure
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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