Isaiah 26:1-19
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Lord’s People Praise Him for Salvation
26 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city.
Its walls and fortifications provide safety.
2 Open the gates, and let the righteous nation come in,
the nation that remains faithful.
3 With perfect peace you will protect those whose minds cannot be changed,
because they trust you.
4 Trust the Lord always,
because the Lord, the Lord alone, is an everlasting rock.
5 He has brought down those who live high in the towering city.
He levels it.
He levels it to the ground and throws it into the dust.
6 Feet trample it,
the feet of the oppressed,
the footsteps of the poor.
7 The path of the righteous is level.
O Upright One, you make the road of the righteous smooth.
8 Certainly, we wait with hope for you, O Lord,
⌞as we follow⌟ the path of your guiding principles.
We want to remember you and your name.
9 With my soul I long for you at night.
Yes, with my spirit I eagerly look for you.
When your guiding principles are on earth,
those who live in the world learn to do what is right.
10 Although the wicked are shown pity,
they do not learn to do what is right.
They do what is wrong in the upright land
and do not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, your power is visible, but they do not see it.
They will see how devoted your people are,
and they will be put to shame.
Your burning anger will destroy your enemies.
12 O Lord, you will establish peace for us,
since you have done everything for us.
13 O Lord, our God, you are not the only master to rule us,
but we acknowledge only you.
14 The wicked are dead.
They are no longer alive.
The spirits of the dead won’t rise.
You have punished them, destroyed them,
and wiped out all memory of them.
15 You have expanded the nation, O Lord.
You have expanded the nation.
You are honored.
You have extended all the land’s boundaries.
16 O Lord, the people have come to you in trouble.
They were humbled by oppression, by your discipline upon them.
17 O Lord, when we are with you,
we are like pregnant women ready to give birth.
They writhe and cry out in their labor pains.
18 We were pregnant; we writhed with labor pains
only to give birth to the wind.
We weren’t able to bring salvation to the land,
and no new people were born on earth.
19 Your dead will live.
Their corpses will rise.
Those who lie dead in the dust will wake up and shout for joy,
because your dew is a refreshing dew,
and the earth will revive the spirits of the dead.
Isaiah 26:1-19
English Standard Version
You Keep Him in Perfect Peace
26 In that day (A)this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
he sets up (B)salvation
as walls and bulwarks.
2 (C)Open the gates,
that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
3 (D)You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.
5 (E)For he has humbled
the inhabitants of the height,
the lofty city.
He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,
casts it to the dust.
6 The foot tramples it,
the feet of (F)the poor,
the steps of (G)the needy.”
7 The path of the righteous is level;
(H)you make level the way of the righteous.
8 In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we wait for you;
(I)your name and (J)remembrance
are the desire of our soul.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.
(K)For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
10 (L)If favor is shown to the wicked,
he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, (M)your hand is lifted up,
but (N)they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.
Let (O)the fire for your adversaries consume them.
12 O Lord, you will ordain (P)peace for us,
for you have indeed done for us all our works.
13 O Lord our God,
(Q)other lords besides you have ruled over us,
(R)but your name alone we bring to remembrance.
14 They are dead, they will not live;
they are shades, they will not arise;
to that end you have visited them with destruction
and wiped out all remembrance of them.
15 (S)But you have increased the nation, O Lord,
you have increased the nation; you are glorified;
(T)you have enlarged all the borders of the land.
16 O Lord, (U)in distress they sought you;
they poured out a whispered prayer
when your discipline was upon them.
17 (V)Like a pregnant woman
who writhes and cries out in her pangs
when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
18 (W)we were pregnant, we writhed,
but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
19 (X)Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For (Y)your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.
1 John 3
GOD’S WORD Translation
3 Consider this: The Father has given us his love. He loves us so much that we are actually called God’s dear children. And that’s what we are. For this reason the world doesn’t recognize us, and it didn’t recognize him either. 2 Dear friends, now we are God’s children. What we will be isn’t completely clear yet. We do know that when Christ appears we will be like him because we will see him as he is. 3 So all people who have this confidence in Christ keep themselves pure, as Christ is pure.
4 Those who live sinful lives are disobeying God. Sin is disobedience. 5 You know that Christ appeared in order to take away our sins. He isn’t sinful. 6 Those who live in Christ don’t go on sinning. Those who go on sinning haven’t seen or known Christ.
7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you. Whoever does what God approves of has God’s approval as Christ has God’s approval. 8 The person who lives a sinful life belongs to the devil, because the devil has been committing sin since the beginning. The reason that the Son of God appeared was to destroy what the devil does. 9 Those who have been born from God don’t live sinful lives. What God has said lives in them, and they can’t live sinful lives. They have been born from God. 10 This is the way God’s children are distinguished from the devil’s children. Everyone who doesn’t do what is right or love other believers isn’t God’s child.
Love One Another
11 The message that you have heard from the beginning is to love each other. 12 Don’t be like Cain. He was a child of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain murder his brother? Because the things Cain did were evil and the things his brother did had God’s approval. 13 Brothers and sisters, don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love other believers. The person who doesn’t grow in love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates another believer is a murderer, and you know that a murderer doesn’t have eternal life.
16 We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers. 17 Now, suppose a person has enough to live on and notices another believer in need. How can God’s love be in that person if he doesn’t bother to help the other believer? 18 Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.
19 This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we will be reassured in his presence. 20 Whenever our conscience condemns us, we will be reassured that God is greater than our conscience and knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our conscience doesn’t condemn us, we can boldly look to God 22 and receive from him anything we ask. We receive it because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 This is his commandment: to believe in his Son, the one named Jesus Christ, and to love each other as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey Christ’s commandments live in God, and God lives in them. We know that he lives in us because he has given us the Spirit.
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1 John 3
English Standard Version
3 See (A)what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called (B)children of God; and so we are. The reason why (C)the world does not know us is that (D)it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are (E)God's children (F)now, and what we will be (G)has not yet appeared; but we know that (H)when he appears[a] (I)we shall be like him, because (J)we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who (K)thus hopes in him (L)purifies himself as he is pure.
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; (M)sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that (N)he appeared in order to (O)take away sins, and (P)in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; (Q)no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, (R)let no one deceive you. (S)Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 (T)Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was (U)to destroy the works of the devil. 9 (V)No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's[b] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, (W)nor is the one who (X)does not love his brother.
Love One Another
11 For (Y)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, (Z)that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like (AA)Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? (AB)Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,[c] (AC)that the world hates you. 14 We know that (AD)we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 (AE)Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that (AF)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16 By this we know love, that (AG)he laid down his life for us, and (AH)we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But (AI)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet (AJ)closes his heart against him, (AK)how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not (AL)love in word or talk but in deed and (AM)in truth.
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, (AN)if our heart does not condemn us, (AO)we have confidence before God; 22 and (AP)whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and (AQ)do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, (AR)that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and (AS)love one another, (AT)just as he has commanded us. 24 (AU)Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,[d] and God[e] in him. And (AV)by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 John 3:2 Or when it appears
- 1 John 3:9 Greek his
- 1 John 3:13 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 14, 16
- 1 John 3:24 Greek him
- 1 John 3:24 Greek he
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
