Isaiah 55

New American Standard Bible

The Free Offer of Mercy

55 “^[a]You there! Everyone who ^(A)thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have ^(B)no ^[b]money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy ^(C)wine and milk
^(D)Without money and without cost.
²Why do you ^[c]spend money for what is ^(E)not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and ^(F)eat what is good,
And ^(G)delight yourself in abundance.
³^(H)Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that ^[d]you may ^(I)live;
And I will make ^(J)an everlasting covenant with you,
According to the ^(K)faithful mercies ^[e]shown to David.
⁴Behold, I have made ^(L)him a witness to the peoples,
A ^(M)leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵Behold, you will call a ^(N)nation you do not know,
And a nation which does not know you will ^(O)run to you,
Because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel;
For He has ^(P)glorified you.”

⁶^(Q)Seek the Lord while He may be found;
^(R)Call upon Him while He is near.
⁷^(S)Let the wicked abandon his way,
And the unrighteous person his ^(T)thoughts;
And let him ^(U)return to the Lord,
And He will have ^(V)compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will ^(W)abundantly pardon.
⁸“For My thoughts are not ^(X)your thoughts,
Nor are ^(Y)your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
⁹“For ^(Z)as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
¹⁰For as the ^(AA)rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it produce and sprout,
And providing ^(AB)seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
¹¹So will My ^(AC)word be which goes out of My mouth;
It will ^(AD)not return to Me empty,
Without ^(AE)accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.
¹²For you will go out with ^(AF)joy
And be led in ^(AG)peace;
The ^(AH)mountains and the hills will break into shouts of joy before you,
And all the ^(AI)trees of the field will clap their hands.
¹³Instead of the ^(AJ)thorn bush, the ^(AK)juniper will come up,
And instead of the ^(AL)stinging nettle, the myrtle will come up;
And ^[f]it will be a ^[g]^(AM)memorial to the Lord,
An everlasting ^(AN)sign which ^(AO)will not be eliminated.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 55:1 Lit Hoy
Isaiah 55:1 Lit silver
Isaiah 55:2 Lit weigh out silver
Isaiah 55:3 Lit your soul
Isaiah 55:3 Lit of David
Isaiah 55:13 I.e., the transformation of the desert
Isaiah 55:13 Lit name

Luke 2:22-40

New American Standard Bible

²²^(A)And when the days for ^[a]their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “^(B)Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), ²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord: “^(C)A pair of turtledoves or two young doves.”

²⁵And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was ^(D)righteous and devout, ^(E)looking forward to the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶And ^(F)it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^(G)see death before he had seen the Lord’s ^[b]Christ. ²⁷And he came ^[c]by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, ^[d]^(H)to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, ²⁸then he took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

²⁹“Now, Lord, You are letting Your bond-servant depart in peace,
^(I)According to Your word;
³⁰For my eyes have ^(J)seen Your salvation,
³¹Which You have prepared in the presence of all the peoples:
³²^(K)A light for revelation ^[e]for the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

³³And His father and ^(L)mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. ³⁴And Simeon blessed them and said to ^(M)His mother Mary, “Behold, this Child is appointed for ^(N)the fall and ^[f]rise of many in Israel, and as a sign to be ^[g]opposed— ³⁵and a sword will pierce your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶And there was a ^(O)prophetess, ^[h]Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of ^(P)the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in ^[i]years ^(Q)and had lived with her husband for seven years after her ^[j]marriage, ³⁷and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the temple grounds, serving night and day with ^(R)fasts and prayers. ³⁸And at that very ^[k]moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak about Him to all those who were ^(S)looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Return to Nazareth

³⁹And when His parents had completed everything in accordance with the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to ^(T)their own city of Nazareth. ⁴⁰^(U)Now the Child continued to grow and to become strong, ^[l]increasing in wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him.

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