Isaiah 65:17-25

New American Standard Bible

New Heavens and a New Earth

¹⁷“For behold, I create ^(A)new heavens and a new earth;
And the ^(B)former things will not be remembered or come to ^[a]mind.
¹⁸But be ^(C)glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
¹⁹I will also ^(D)rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of ^(E)weeping and the sound of crying.
²⁰No longer will there be ^[b]in it an infant who lives only a few days,
Or an old person who does ^(F)not ^[c]live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of a hundred,
And the ^[d]^(G)one who does not reach the age of a hundred
Will be thought accursed.
²¹They will ^(H)build houses and inhabit them;
They will also ^(I)plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²²They will not build and ^(J)another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For ^(K)as the ^[e]lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will ^(L)fully enjoy the work of their hands.
²³They will ^(M)not labor in vain,
Or give birth to children for disaster;
For they are the ^[f]^(N)descendants of those blessed by the Lord,
And their descendants with them.

²⁴It will also come to pass that before they call, I will ^(O)answer; while they are still speaking, I will listen. ²⁵The ^(P)wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the ^(Q)lion will eat straw like the ox; and ^(R)dust will be the serpent’s food. They will ^(S)do no evil or harm on all My ^(T)holy mountain,” says the Lord.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 65:17 Lit heart
Isaiah 65:20 Lit from there
Isaiah 65:20 Lit fill out
Isaiah 65:20 Lit one who misses the mark
Isaiah 65:22 Lit days
Isaiah 65:23 Lit seed

Matthew 3:1-4:11

New American Standard Bible

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now ^(A)in those days ^(B)John the Baptist *^[a]came, ^[b]preaching in the ^(C)wilderness of Judea, saying, ²“^(D)Repent, for ^(E)the kingdom of heaven ^[c]is at hand.” ³For this is the ^(F)one referred to ^[d]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

“^(G)The voice of one ^[e]calling ^[f]out in the wilderness,
‘^(H)Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”

⁴Now John himself had ^[g]^(I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(J)locusts and wild honey. ⁵At that time Jerusalem ^(K)was going out to him, and all Judea and all ^(L)the region around the Jordan; ⁶and they were being ^(M)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷But when he saw many of the ^(N)Pharisees and ^(O)Sadducees coming for ^[h]baptism, he said to them, “You ^[i]^(P)offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from ^(Q)the wrath to come? ⁸^(R)Therefore produce fruit ^(S)consistent with repentance; ⁹and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘^(T)We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰And the ^(U)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, ^(V)every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“As for me, ^(W)I baptize you ^[j]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; ^(X)He will baptize you ^[k]with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²His ^(Y)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will ^(Z)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the ^(AA)chaff with ^(AB)unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³^(AC)Then Jesus *arrived ^(AD)from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. ¹⁴But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” ¹⁵But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us ^(AE)to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *allowed Him. ¹⁶After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and ^[l]^(AF)he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and ^[m]settling on Him, ¹⁷and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “^(AG)This is ^[n]My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(AH)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^(AI)to be tempted by the devil. ²And after He had ^(AJ)fasted for forty days and forty nights, He ^[o]then became hungry. ³And ^(AK)the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the ^(AL)Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘^(AM)Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”

⁵Then the devil *took Him along into ^(AN)the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶and he *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:

‘^(AO)He will give His angels orders concerning You’;

and

‘On their hands they will lift You up,
So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

⁷Jesus said to him, “^[p]On the other hand, it is written: ‘^(AP)You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸^(AQ)Again, the devil *took Him along to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; ⁹and he said to Him, “^(AR)All these things I will give You, if You fall down and ^[q]worship me.” ¹⁰Then Jesus *said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘^(AS)You shall worship the Lord your God, and ^[r]serve Him only.’” ¹¹Then the devil *left Him; and behold, ^(AT)angels came and began to serve Him.

Footnotes

Matthew 3:1 Or arrived; or appeared
Matthew 3:1 Or proclaiming as a herald
Matthew 3:2 Lit has come near
Matthew 3:3 Or through
Matthew 3:3 Or shouting
Matthew 3:3 Or out, Prepare in the wilderness the way
Matthew 3:4 Lit his garment
Matthew 3:7 Later mss his baptism
Matthew 3:7 Or brood
Matthew 3:11 The Gr here can be translated in, with, or by
Matthew 3:11 The Gr here can be translated in, with, or by
Matthew 3:16 Or He
Matthew 3:16 Lit coming upon Him
Matthew 3:17 Or My Son, the Beloved
Matthew 4:2 Or later became; or afterward became
Matthew 4:7 Or Again
Matthew 4:9 Lit prostrate Yourself to
Matthew 4:10 Or fulfill religious duty to Him

Isaiah 66:1-9

New American Standard Bible

Heaven Is God’s Throne

66 This is what the Lord says:

“^(A)Heaven is My throne and the earth is the footstool for My feet.
Where then is a ^(B)house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that ^[a]I may rest?
²For ^(C)My hand made all these things,
So all these things came into being,” declares the Lord.
“But I will look to this one,
At one who is humble and ^(D)contrite in spirit, and who ^(E)trembles at My word.

Hypocrisy Rebuked

³“But the one who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a person;
The one who sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
One who offers a grain offering is like one who offers ^(F)pig’s blood;
One who ^[b]^(G)burns incense is like one who blesses an idol.
As they have chosen their ^(H)own ways,
And their souls delight in their ^(I)abominations,
⁴So I will ^(J)choose their ^[c]punishments
And ^(K)bring on them what they dread.
Because I called, but ^(L)no one answered;
I spoke, but they did not listen.
Instead, they did ^(M)evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.”
⁵Hear the word of the Lord, you who ^(N)tremble at His word:
“Your brothers who ^(O)hate you, who ^(P)exclude you on account of My name,
Have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, so that we may see your joy.’
But ^(Q)they will be put to shame.
⁶A sound of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple,
The voice of the Lord who is ^(R)dealing retribution to His enemies.

⁷“Before she was in labor, ^(S)she delivered;
Before her pain came, ^(T)she gave birth to a boy.
⁸^(U)Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?
Can a land be ^[d]born in one day?
Can a nation be given birth all at once?
As soon as Zion was in labor, she also delivered her sons.
⁹Shall I bring to the point of birth but ^(V)not give delivery?” says the Lord.
“Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.