Isaiah 64

New American Standard Bible

Prayer for Mercy and Help

64 ^[a]Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and ^(A)come down,
That the mountains would ^(B)quake at Your presence—
²^[b]As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the ^(C)nations may tremble at Your presence!
³When You did ^(D)awesome things which we did not expect,
You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
⁴For from days of old ^(E)they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of one who ^(F)waits for Him.
⁵You ^(G)meet him who rejoices in ^(H)doing righteousness,
Who ^(I)remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, ^(J)You were angry, for we sinned,
We continued in ^[c]our sins for a long time;
Yet shall we be saved?
⁶For all of us have become like one who is ^(K)unclean,
And all our ^(L)righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us ^(M)wither like a leaf,
And our ^(N)wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.
⁷There is ^(O)no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself to take hold of You;
For You have ^(P)hidden Your face from us
And have ^[d]surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.

⁸But now, Lord, ^(Q)You are our Father;
We are the ^(R)clay, and You our potter,
And all of us are the ^(S)work of Your hand.
⁹Do not be ^(T)angry beyond measure, Lord,
^(U)Nor remember wrongdoing forever.
Behold, please look, all of us are ^(V)Your people.
¹⁰Your ^(W)holy cities have become a ^(X)wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
¹¹Our holy and beautiful ^(Y)house,
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And ^(Z)all our precious things have become a ruin.
¹²Will You ^(AA)restrain Yourself at these things, Lord?
Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

Footnotes

Isaiah 64:1 Ch 63:19b in Heb
Isaiah 64:2 Ch 64:1 in Heb
Isaiah 64:5 Lit them
Isaiah 64:7 As in DSS and ancient versions; MT melted

Matthew 2:19-23

New American Standard Bible

¹⁹But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *^(A)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 ^[a]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 ^(B)warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, ²³and came and settled in a city called ^(C)Nazareth. This happened so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He will be called a ^(D)Nazarene.”

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Footnotes

Matthew 2:21 Lit he

Isaiah 65:1-16

New American Standard Bible

A Rebellious People

65 “I permitted Myself to be sought by ^(A)those who did not ask for Me;
I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To a nation which ^(B)did not call on My name.
²^(C)I have spread out My hands all day long to a ^(D)rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, ^[a]following their own ^(E)thoughts,
³A people who continually ^(F)provoke Me to My face,
Offering sacrifices in ^(G)gardens and ^(H)burning incense on bricks;
⁴Who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places;
Who ^(I)eat pig’s flesh,
And the broth of unclean meat is in their pots.
⁵Who say, ‘^(J)Keep to yourself, do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My ^[b]nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
⁶Behold, it is written before Me:
I will ^(K)not keep silent, but ^(L)I will repay;
I will even repay ^[c]into their laps,
⁷Both your own ^(M)wrongdoings and the wrongdoings of your fathers together,” says the Lord.
“Because they have ^(N)burned incense on the mountains
And ^(O)scorned Me on the hills,
Therefore I will ^(P)measure their former work ^[d]into their laps.”

⁸This is what the Lord says:

“Just as the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is ^[e]benefit in it,’
So I will act in behalf of My servants
In order ^(Q)not to destroy ^[f]all of them.
⁹I will bring forth ^[g]^(R)offspring from Jacob,
And an ^(S)heir of My mountains from Judah;
^(T)My chosen ones shall inherit it,
And ^(U)My servants will live there.
¹⁰^(V)Sharon will be a pasture land for flocks,
And the ^(W)Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
For My people who ^(X)seek Me.
¹¹But as for you who ^(Y)abandon the Lord,
Who forget My ^(Z)holy mountain,
Who set a table for ^[h]Fortune,
And fill a jug of mixed wine for ^[i]Destiny,
¹²I will destine you for the ^(AA)sword,
And all of you will bow down to the ^(AB)slaughter.
Because I called, but you ^(AC)did not answer;
I spoke, but you did not listen.
Instead, you did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”

¹³Therefore, this is what the Lord ^[j]God says:
“Behold, My servants will ^(AD)eat, but you will be ^(AE)hungry.
Behold, My servants will ^(AF)drink, but you will be ^(AG)thirsty.
Behold, My servants will ^(AH)rejoice, but you will be ^(AI)put to shame.
¹⁴Behold, My servants will ^(AJ)shout joyfully with a glad heart,
But you will ^(AK)cry out from a painful heart,
And you will wail from a broken spirit.
¹⁵You will leave your name as a ^(AL)curse to My chosen ones,
And the Lord ^[k]God will put you to death.
But ^[l]My servants will be called by ^(AM)another name.
¹⁶Because the one who ^[m]is blessed on the earth
Will ^[n]be blessed by the ^(AN)God of truth;
And the one who swears an oath on the earth
Will ^(AO)swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My sight!

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Footnotes

Isaiah 65:2 Lit after
Isaiah 65:5 Lit nose
Isaiah 65:6 I.e., individually and fully
Isaiah 65:7 I.e., individually and fully
Isaiah 65:8 Lit blessing
Isaiah 65:8 Lit the whole
Isaiah 65:9 Lit seed
Isaiah 65:11 Heb Gad
Isaiah 65:11 Heb Meni
Isaiah 65:13 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 65:15 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 65:15 As in LXX; MT He will call His servants
Isaiah 65:16 Or bless(es) himself
Isaiah 65:16 Or bless(es) himself

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

New American Standard Bible

Paul’s Ministry

2 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our ^[a]^(A)reception among you ^(B)was not in vain, ²but after we had already suffered and been ^(C)treated abusively in ^(D)Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God ^(E)to speak to you the ^(F)gospel of God ^[b]amid much ^[c]^(G)opposition. ³For our ^(H)exhortation does not come from ^(I)error or ^(J)impurity or ^[d]by way of ^(K)deceit; ⁴^(L)but just as we have been approved by God to be ^(M)entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, ^(N)not intending to please people, but to please God, who ^[e]^(O)examines our hearts. ⁵For we never came ^[f]with flattering speech, as you know, nor with ^(P)a pretext ^[g]for greed—^(Q)God is our witness— ⁶nor did we ^(R)seek honor from people, either from you or from others, though ^[h]we could have ^[i]asserted our authority as ^(S)apostles of Christ. ⁷But we ^[j]proved to be ^[k]^(T)gentle ^[l]among you. ^(U)As a nursing mother ^[m]tenderly cares for her own children, ⁸in the same way we had a fond affection for you and were delighted to ^(V)share with you not only the ^(W)gospel of God, but also our own ^[n]lives, because you had become ^[o]very dear to us.

⁹For you recall, brothers and sisters, our ^(X)labor and hardship: it was by ^(Y)working night and day so as not to be a ^(Z)burden to any of you, that we proclaimed to you the ^(AA)gospel of God. ¹⁰You are witnesses, and so is ^(AB)God, of ^(AC)how devoutly and rightly and blamelessly we ^[p]behaved toward you ^[q]believers; ¹¹just as you know how we were ^(AD)exhorting and encouraging and ^(AE)imploring each one of you as ^(AF)a father would his own children, ¹²so that you would ^(AG)walk in a manner worthy of the God who ^(AH)calls you into His own kingdom and ^(AI)glory.

¹³For this reason we also constantly ^(AJ)thank God that when you received the ^(AK)word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it ^(AL)not as the word of mere men, but as what it really is, the word of God, ^(AM)which also is at work in you who believe. ¹⁴For you, brothers and sisters, became ^(AN)imitators of ^(AO)the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are ^(AP)in Judea, for ^(AQ)you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, ^(AR)even as they did from the Jews, ¹⁵^(AS)who both killed the Lord Jesus and ^(AT)the prophets, and ^[r]drove us out. ^[s]They are not pleasing to God, ^[t]but hostile to all people, ¹⁶^(AU)hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles ^(AV)so that they may be saved; with the result that they always ^[u]^(AW)reach the limit of their sins. But ^(AX)wrath has come upon them ^[v]fully.