Isaiah 61

New American Standard Bible

Exaltation of the Afflicted

61 The ^(A)Spirit of the Lord ^[a]God is upon me,
Because the Lord anointed me
To ^(B)bring good news to the ^(C)humble;
He has sent me to ^(D)bind up the brokenhearted,
To ^(E)proclaim ^[b]release to captives
And ^[c]freedom to prisoners;
²To ^(F)proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the ^(G)day of vengeance of our God;
To ^(H)comfort all who mourn,
³To ^(I)grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The ^(J)oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The cloak of praise instead of a disheartened spirit.
So they will be called ^[d]^(K)oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

⁴Then they will ^(L)rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up the former devastations;
And they will repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
⁵^(M)Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,
And ^[e]foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
⁶But you will be called the ^(N)priests of the Lord;
You will be spoken of as ^(O)ministers of our God.
You will eat the ^(P)wealth of nations,
And you will boast in their ^[f]riches.
⁷Instead of your ^(Q)shame you will have a ^(R)double portion,
And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion.
Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,
^(S)Everlasting joy will be theirs.
⁸For I, the Lord, ^(T)love justice,
I hate robbery ^[g]in the burnt offering;
And I will faithfully give them their reward,
And make an ^(U)everlasting covenant with them.
⁹Then their offspring will be known among the nations,
And their descendants in the midst of the peoples.
All who see them will recognize them
Because they are the ^(V)offspring whom the Lord has blessed.

¹⁰I will ^(W)rejoice greatly in the Lord,
My soul will be joyful in ^(X)my God;
For He has ^(Y)clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,
As a groom puts on a turban,
And ^(Z)as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹For as the ^(AA)earth produces its sprouts,
And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up,
So the Lord ^[h]God will ^(AB)cause ^(AC)righteousness and praise
To spring up before all the nations.

Footnotes

Isaiah 61:1 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 61:1 Or liberty
Isaiah 61:1 Lit opening to those who are bound
Isaiah 61:3 Or terebinths
Isaiah 61:5 Lit sons of the foreigner
Isaiah 61:6 Or glory
Isaiah 61:8 Or with malice
Isaiah 61:11 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord

Isaiah 43:1-13

New American Standard Bible

Israel Redeemed

43 But now, this is what the Lord says, He who is your ^(A)Creator, Jacob,
And He who ^(B)formed you, Israel:
“Do not ^(C)fear, for I have ^(D)redeemed you;
I have ^(E)called you by name; you are ^(F)Mine!
²When you ^(G)pass through the waters, ^(H)I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you ^(I)walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
³For ^(J)I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your ^(K)Savior;
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
^[a]^(L)Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
⁴Since you are ^(M)precious in My sight,
Since you are ^(N)honored and I ^(O)love you,
I will give other people in your place and other nations in exchange for your life.
⁵Do not fear, for ^(P)I am with you;
I will bring ^(Q)your offspring from the east,
And ^(R)gather you from the west.
⁶I will say to the ^(S)north, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring My ^(T)sons from afar
And My daughters from the ^(U)ends of the earth,
⁷Everyone who is ^(V)called by My name,
And whom I have ^(W)created for My ^(X)glory,
^(Y)Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

Israel Is God’s Witness

⁸Bring out the people who are ^(Z)blind, even though they have eyes,
And those who are deaf, even though they have ears.
⁹All the nations have ^(AA)gathered together
So that the peoples may be assembled.
Who among them can ^(AB)declare this
And proclaim to us the former things?
Let them present ^(AC)their witnesses so ^(AD)that they may be justified,
Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”
¹⁰“You are ^(AE)My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And ^(AF)My servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that ^(AG)I am He.
^(AH)Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.
¹¹I, only I, am the Lord,
And there is no ^(AI)savior ^(AJ)besides Me.
¹²It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,
And there was no ^(AK)strange god among you;
So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“And I am God.
¹³Even ^[b]^(AL)from eternity ^(AM)I am He,
And there is ^(AN)no one who can rescue from My hand;
^(AO)I act, and who can reverse it?”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Isaiah 43:3 Or Ethiopia
Isaiah 43:13 As in LXX; MT from the day

Matthew 2

New American Standard Bible

The Visit of the Magi

2 Now after Jesus was ^(A)born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of ^(B)Herod the king, behold, ^[a]magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ²“Where is He who has been born ^(C)King of the Jews? For we saw ^(D)His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” ³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the ^[b]Messiah was to be born. ⁵They said to him, “^(E)In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written ^[c]by ^[d]the prophet:

⁶‘^(F)And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;
For from you will come forth a Ruler
Who will ^(G)shepherd My people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the magi and determined from them the exact ^[e]time ^(H)the star appeared. ⁸And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” ⁹After hearing the king, they went on their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on ahead of them until it came to a stop over the place where the Child was to be found. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹And after they came into the house, they saw the Child with ^(I)His mother Mary; and they fell down and ^[f]^(J)worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And after being ^(K)warned by God ^(L)in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³Now when they had gone, behold, an ^(M)angel of the Lord *^(N)appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”

¹⁴So ^[g]Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵He ^[h]stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through ^[i]the prophet would be fulfilled: “^(O)Out of Egypt I called ^(P)My Son.”

Herod Slaughters Babies

¹⁶Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by ^(Q)the magi, he became very enraged, and sent men and ^(R)killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity ^[j]who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. ¹⁷Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁸“^(S)A voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”

¹⁹But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *^(T)appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, ²⁰“Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” ²¹So ^[k]Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being ^(U)warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, ²³and came and settled in a city called ^(V)Nazareth. This happened so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He will be called a ^(W)Nazarene.”

Footnotes

Matthew 2:1 A caste of educated men specializing in astronomy, astrology, and natural science
Matthew 2:4 From Gr Christos, which means Messiah (Heb for Anointed One)
Matthew 2:5 Or through
Matthew 2:5 I.e., Micah
Matthew 2:7 Lit time of the appearing star
Matthew 2:11 Lit prostrated themselves to; i.e., lay face down in a prone position to indicate worship
Matthew 2:14 Lit he
Matthew 2:15 Lit was
Matthew 2:15 I.e., Hosea
Matthew 2:16 Lit from two...and under
Matthew 2:21 Lit he

John 12:20-36

New American Standard Bible

Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰Now there were some ^(A)Greeks among those who were going up to worship at ^(B)the feast; ²¹these people then came to ^(C)Philip, who was from ^(D)Bethsaida of Galilee, and were making a request of him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip *came and *told ^(E)Andrew; then Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus. ²³But Jesus *answered them by saying, “^(F)The hour has come for the Son of Man to ^(G)be glorified. ²⁴Truly, truly I say to you, ^(H)unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵^(I)The one who loves his ^[a]life loses it, and the one who ^(J)hates his ^[b]life in this world will keep it ^[c]to eternal life. ²⁶If anyone ^[d]serves Me, he must follow Me; and ^(K)where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone ^[e]serves Me, the Father will ^(L)honor him.

Jesus Foretells His Death

²⁷“^(M)Now My soul has become troubled; and what am I to say? ‘^(N)Father, save Me from ^(O)this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸^(P)Father, glorify Your name.” Then a ^(Q)voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “^(R)An angel has spoken to Him!” ³⁰Jesus responded and said, “^(S)This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours. ³¹^(T)Now judgment is upon this world; now ^(U)the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³²And I, if I ^(V)am lifted up from the earth, will ^(W)draw all people to Myself.” ³³Now He was saying this ^(X)to indicate what kind of death He was going to die. ³⁴The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard from ^(Y)the Law that ^(Z)the ^[f]Christ is to remain forever; and how is it that You say, ‘The ^(AA)Son of Man must be ^(AB)lifted up’? Who is this ^(AC)Son of Man?” ³⁵So Jesus said to them, “^(AD)For a little while longer ^(AE)the Light is among you. ^(AF)Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; also, the one who ^(AG)walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the Light, ^(AH)believe in the Light, so that you may become ^(AI)sons of Light.”