God’s Vengeance on the Nations

63 Who is this who comes from (A)Edom,
With (B)garments of [a]glowing colors from (C)Bozrah,
This One who is majestic in His apparel,
[b]Marching in the greatness of His strength?
“It is I, the One who speaks in righteousness, (D)mighty to save.”
Why is Your apparel red,
And Your garments like one who (E)treads in the wine press?
(F)I have trodden the wine trough alone,
And from the peoples there was no one with Me.
I also (G)trod them in My anger
And (H)trampled them in My wrath;
And (I)their [c]lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,
And I [d]stained all My clothes.
For the (J)day of vengeance was in My heart,
And My year of redemption has come.
I looked, but there was (K)no one to help,
And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold;
So My (L)own arm brought salvation to Me,
And My wrath upheld Me.
I (M)trampled down the peoples in My anger
And made them (N)drunk with My wrath,
And I [e]poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 63:1 Or crimson
  2. Isaiah 63:1 Lit Inclining
  3. Isaiah 63:3 Lit juice
  4. Isaiah 63:3 Lit defiled
  5. Isaiah 63:6 Lit brought down their juice to the earth

Conception and Birth of Jesus

18 Now the birth of Jesus the [a]Messiah was as follows: when His (A)mother Mary had been [b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was (B)found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to [c](C)send her away secretly. 20 But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “(D)Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for [d]the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a Son; and (E)you shall name Him Jesus, for [e]He (F)will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this [f]took place so that what was (G)spoken by the Lord through [g]the prophet would be fulfilled: 23 (H)Behold, the virgin will [h](I)conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him [i]Immanuel,” which translated means, “(J)God with us.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 [j]but kept her a virgin until she (K)gave birth to a Son; and (L)he named Him Jesus.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 1:18 See note v 16
  2. Matthew 1:18 Unlike engagement, a betrothed couple was considered married, but did not yet live together
  3. Matthew 1:19 Or divorce her
  4. Matthew 1:20 Lit that which
  5. Matthew 1:21 Lit He Himself
  6. Matthew 1:22 Lit has happened
  7. Matthew 1:22 I.e., Isaiah
  8. Matthew 1:23 Or be pregnant
  9. Matthew 1:23 Gr Emmanuel
  10. Matthew 1:25 Lit and did not know her intimately

God’s Ancient Mercies Recalled

I will make mention of the (A)mercies of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord,
According to all that the Lord has granted us,
And the great (B)goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has granted them according to His (C)compassion
And according to the abundance of His mercies.
For He said, “Certainly they are (D)My people,
Sons who will not deal falsely.”
So He became their (E)Savior.
In all their distress [a](F)He was distressed,
And the (G)angel of His presence saved them;
In His (H)love and in His mercy He (I)redeemed them,
And He (J)lifted them and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they (K)rebelled
And grieved His (L)Holy Spirit;
Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy,
He fought against them.
11 Then (M)His people remembered the days of old, of Moses.
Where is (N)He who brought them up out of the sea with the [b]shepherds of His flock?
Where is He who (O)put His Holy Spirit in the midst of [c]them,
12 Who caused His (P)glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses,
Who (Q)divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name,
13 Who led them through the depths?
Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not (R)stumble;
14 Like the cattle which go down into the valley,
The Spirit of the (S)Lord gave [d]them rest.
So You (T)led Your people,
To make for Yourself a glorious name.

You Are Our Father

15 (U)Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious (V)lofty habitation;
Where are Your (W)zeal and Your mighty deeds?
The (X)stirrings of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained toward me.
16 For You are our (Y)Father, though (Z)Abraham does not know us
And Israel does not recognize us.
You, Lord, are our Father,
Our (AA)Redeemer from ancient times is Your name.
17 Why, Lord, do You (AB)cause us to stray from Your ways
And (AC)harden our heart from fearing You?
(AD)Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
18 Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while,
Our adversaries have (AE)trampled it down.
19 We have become like those over whom You have never ruled,
Like those who were not called by Your name.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 63:9 Another reading is He was not an adversary
  2. Isaiah 63:11 Some mss shepherd
  3. Isaiah 63:11 Lit him
  4. Isaiah 63:14 Lit him

Giving Thanks for These Believers

(A)Paul, (B)Silvanus, and (C)Timothy,

To the (D)church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: (E)Grace to you and peace.

(F)We always give thanks to God for all of you, (G)making mention of you in our prayers; constantly keeping in mind your (H)work of faith and labor of (I)love and [a](J)perseverance of hope [b]in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of (K)our God and Father, knowing, (L)brothers and sisters, beloved by God, (M)His choice of you; for our (N)gospel did not come to you in word only, but also (O)in power and in the Holy Spirit and with (P)full conviction; just as you know (Q)what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sakes. You also became (R)imitators of us and of the Lord, (S)having received (T)the word during great affliction with the (U)joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in (V)Macedonia and (W)Achaia. For (X)the word of the Lord has (Y)sounded forth from you, not only in (Z)Macedonia and (AA)Achaia, but (AB)in every place the news of your faith toward God has gone out, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about us [c]as to the kind of (AC)reception we had with you, and how you (AD)turned to God (AE)from [d]idols to serve [e](AF)a living and true God, 10 and to (AG)wait for His Son from [f]heaven, whom He (AH)raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who (AI)rescues us from (AJ)the wrath to come.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Or steadfastness
  2. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Lit of
  3. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 Lit what kind of
  4. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 Or the idols
  5. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 Or the
  6. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 Lit the heavens

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