Isaiah 64

New King James Version

A Prayer for Help

64 Oh, that You would ^[a]rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your ^(A)presence—
²As fire burns brushwood,
As fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
³When ^(B)You did awesome things for which we did not look,
You came down,
The mountains shook at Your presence.
⁴For since the beginning of the world
^(C)Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
⁵You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—
^(D)In these ways we continue;
And we need to be saved.

⁶But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all ^(E)our righteousnesses are like ^[b]filthy rags;
We all ^(F)fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.
⁷And there is no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself up to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us,
And have ^[c]consumed us because of our iniquities.

⁸But now, O Lord,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our ^(G)potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand.
⁹Do not be furious, O Lord,
Nor remember iniquity forever;
Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!
¹⁰Your holy cities are a wilderness,
Zion is a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
¹¹Our holy and beautiful ^[d]temple,
Where our fathers praised You,
Is burned up with fire;
And all ^(H)our pleasant things ^[e]are laid waste.
¹²^(I)Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O Lord?
^(J)Will You ^[f]hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?

Footnotes

Isaiah 64:1 tear open
Isaiah 64:6 Lit. a filthy garment
Isaiah 64:7 Lit. caused us to melt
Isaiah 64:11 Lit. house
Isaiah 64:11 have become a ruin
Isaiah 64:12 keep silent

Matthew 2:19-23

New King James Version

The Home in Nazareth^(A)

¹⁹Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰^(B)saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who ^(C)sought the young Child’s life are dead.” ²¹Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a ^(D)dream, he turned aside ^(E)into the region of Galilee. ²³And he came and dwelt in a city called ^(F)Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled ^(G)which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

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Isaiah 65:1-16

New King James Version

The Righteousness of God’s Judgment

65 “I was ^(A)sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation that ^(B)was not called by My name.
²^(C)I have stretched out My hands all day long to a ^(D)rebellious people,
Who ^(E)walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
³A people ^(F)who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
^(G)Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;
⁴^(H)Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
^(I)Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of ^[a]abominable things is in their vessels;
⁵^(J)Who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These ^[b]are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.

⁶“Behold, ^(K)it is written before Me:
^(L)I will not keep silence, ^(M)but will repay—
Even repay into their bosom—
⁷Your iniquities and ^(N)the iniquities of your fathers together,”
Says the Lord,
^(O)“Who have burned incense on the mountains
^(P)And blasphemed Me on the hills;
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”

⁸Thus says the Lord:

“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it,
For ^(Q)a blessing is in it,’
So will I do for My servants’ sake,
That I may not destroy them ^(R)all.
⁹I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My ^(S)elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
¹⁰^(T)Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
And ^(U)the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
For My people who have ^(V)sought Me.

¹¹“But you are those who forsake the Lord,
Who forget ^(W)My holy mountain,
Who prepare ^(X)a table for ^[c]Gad,
And who furnish a drink offering for ^[d]Meni.
¹²Therefore I will number you for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;
^(Y)Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”

¹³Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, My servants shall eat,
But you shall be hungry;
Behold, My servants shall drink,
But you shall be thirsty;
Behold, My servants shall rejoice,
But you shall be ashamed;
¹⁴Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart,
But you shall cry for sorrow of heart,
And ^(Z)wail for ^[e]grief of spirit.
¹⁵You shall leave your name ^(AA)as a curse to ^(AB)My chosen;
For the Lord God will slay you,
And ^(AC)call His servants by another name;
¹⁶^(AD)So that he who blesses himself in the earth
Shall bless himself in the God of truth;
And ^(AE)he who swears in the earth
Shall swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten,
And because they are hidden from My eyes.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 65:4 Unclean meats, Lev. 7:18; 19:7
Isaiah 65:5 Cause My wrath to smoke
Isaiah 65:11 Lit. Troop or Fortune; a pagan deity
Isaiah 65:11 Lit. Number or Destiny; a pagan deity
Isaiah 65:14 Or a broken spirit

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

New King James Version

Paul’s Conduct^(A)

2 For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. ²But ^[a]even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at ^(B)Philippi, as you know, we were ^(C)bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. ³^(D)For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.

⁴But as ^(E)we have been approved by God ^(F)to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, ^(G)not as pleasing men, but God ^(H)who tests our hearts. ⁵For ^(I)neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a ^[b]cloak for covetousness—^(J)God is witness. ⁶^(K)Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when ^(L)we might have ^(M)made demands ^(N)as apostles of Christ. ⁷But ^(O)we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. ⁸So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased ^(P)to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also ^(Q)our own lives, because you had become dear to us. ⁹For you remember, brethren, our ^(R)labor and toil; for laboring night and day, ^(S)that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

¹⁰^(T)You are witnesses, and God also, ^(U)how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; ¹¹as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and ^[c]charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, ¹²^(V)that you would walk worthy of God ^(W)who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

Their Conversion

¹³For this reason we also thank God ^(X)without ceasing, because when you ^(Y)received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it ^(Z)not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively ^(AA)works in you who believe. ¹⁴For you, brethren, became imitators ^(AB)of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For ^(AC)you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, ¹⁵^(AD)who killed both the Lord Jesus and ^(AE)their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God ^(AF)and are ^[d]contrary to all men, ¹⁶^(AG)forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always ^(AH)to fill up the measure of their sins; ^(AI)but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.