Isaiah 41-43
English Standard Version
Fear Not, for I Am with You
41 (A)Listen to me in silence, (B)O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak;
let us together draw near for judgment.
2 (C)Who stirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every (D)step?[a]
(E)He gives up nations before him,
so that he tramples kings underfoot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
(F)like driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes on safely,
by paths his feet have not trod.
4 (G)Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
(H)I, the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am he.
5 (I)The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
6 Everyone helps his neighbor
and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 (J)The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they strengthen it with nails (K)so that it cannot be moved.
8 But you, Israel, (L)my servant,
Jacob, (M)whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, (N)my friend;
9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called (O)from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are (P)my servant,
(Q)I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
10 fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with (R)my righteous right hand.
11 (S)Behold, all who are incensed against you
shall be put to shame and confounded;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.
12 (T)You shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
(U)those who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.
13 For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I am the one who helps you.”
14 Fear not, you (V)worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord;
your (W)Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 (X)Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh (Y)the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
16 (Z)you shall winnow them, and (AA)the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
(AB)And you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
17 (AC)When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them;
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 (AD)I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
(AE)I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
19 (AF)I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
I will set in the desert (AG)the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
20 that they may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that (AH)the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
The Futility of Idols
21 Set forth your case, says the Lord;
bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them, and (AI)tell us
what is to happen.
Tell us the former things, what they are,
that we may consider them,
that we may know their outcome;
or declare to us the things to come.
23 (AJ)Tell us what is to come hereafter,
that we may know that you are gods;
(AK)do good, or do harm,
that we may be dismayed and terrified.[b]
24 Behold, (AL)you are nothing,
and your work is less than nothing;
an abomination is he who chooses you.
25 (AM)I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
(AN)from the rising of the sun, (AO)and he shall call upon my name;
he shall trample on rulers as on mortar,
as the potter treads clay.
26 (AP)Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know,
and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”?
There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,
none who heard your words.
27 (AQ)I was the first to say[c] to Zion, “Behold, here they are!”
and (AR)I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.
28 (AS)But when I look, there is no one;
among these there is no counselor
who, when I ask, gives an answer.
29 (AT)Behold, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;
their metal images are empty wind.
The Lord's Chosen Servant
42 (AU)Behold (AV)my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, (AW)in whom my soul delights;
(AX)I have put my Spirit upon him;
(AY)he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 (AZ)a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
(BA)he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged[d]
till he has established justice in the earth;
and (BB)the coastlands wait for his law.
5 Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens (BC)and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
(BD)who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the Lord; (BE)I have called you[e] in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you (BF)as a covenant for the people,
(BG)a light for the nations,
7 (BH)to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
(BI)from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the Lord; that is my name;
(BJ)my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
(BK)and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
Sing to the Lord a New Song
10 (BL)Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth,
(BM)you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
(BN)the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that (BO)Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of (BP)Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in (BQ)the coastlands.
13 (BR)The Lord goes out like a mighty man,
like a man of war (BS)he stirs up his zeal;
he cries out, (BT)he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.
14 For a long time I have held my peace;
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out (BU)like a woman in labor;
I will gasp and pant.
15 (BV)I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands,[f]
and dry up the pools.
16 (BW)And I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
(BX)the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.
17 (BY)They are turned back and utterly put to shame,
who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
“You are our gods.”
Israel's Failure to Hear and See
18 Hear, you deaf,
and look, you blind, that you may see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,[g]
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 (BZ)He sees many things, but does not observe them;
(CA)his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21 The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes
(CB)and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
23 Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, (CC)but he did not understand;
it burned him up, (CD)but he did not take it to heart.
Israel's Only Savior
43 But now thus says the Lord,
(CE)he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
(CF)“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
(CG)I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 (CH)When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
(CI)when you walk through fire (CJ)you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For (CK)I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
(CL)I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and (CM)Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
5 (CN)Fear not, for I am with you;
(CO)I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring (CP)my sons from afar
and (CQ)my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
8 Bring out (CR)the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
9 (CS)All the nations gather together,
and the peoples assemble.
Who among them can declare this,
and show us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,
and let them hear and say, It is true.
10 (CT)“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and (CU)my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
(CV)Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
11 (CW)I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.
12 I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and (CX)you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.
13 Also (CY)henceforth I am he;
there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can turn it back?”
14 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
(CZ)“For your sake I send to Babylon
and (DA)bring them all down as fugitives,
(DB)even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.”
16 Thus says the Lord,
(DC)who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
17 who (DD)brings forth chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
(DE)they are extinguished, (DF)quenched like a wick:
18 (DG)“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
19 (DH)Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
(DI)I will make a way in the wilderness
(DJ)and rivers in the desert.
20 The wild beasts will honor me,
(DK)the jackals and the ostriches,
(DL)for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself
(DM)that they might declare my praise.
22 “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but (DN)you have been weary of me, O Israel!
23 (DO)You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
(DP)or wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25 “I, I am he
(DQ)who blots out (DR)your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance; (DS)let us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
27 (DT)Your first father sinned,
and (DU)your mediators transgressed against me.
28 Therefore (DV)I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,
and (DW)deliver Jacob to utter destruction
and Israel to reviling.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 41:2 Or whom righteousness calls to follow?
- Isaiah 41:23 Or that we may both be dismayed and see
- Isaiah 41:27 Or Formerly I said
- Isaiah 42:4 Or bruised
- Isaiah 42:6 The Hebrew for you is singular; four times in this verse
- Isaiah 42:15 Or into coastlands
- Isaiah 42:19 Or as the one at peace with me
John 1
English Standard Version
The Word Became Flesh
1 (A)In the beginning was (B)the Word, and (C)the Word was with God, and (D)the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 (E)All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 (F)In him was life,[a] and (G)the life was the light of men. 5 (H)The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man (I)sent from God, whose name was (J)John. 7 He came as a (K)witness, to bear witness about the light, (L)that all might believe through him. 8 (M)He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9 (N)The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet (O)the world did not know him. 11 He came to (P)his own,[b] and (Q)his own people[c] (R)did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, (S)who believed in his name, (T)he gave the right (U)to become (V)children of God, 13 who (W)were born, (X)not of blood (Y)nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And (Z)the Word (AA)became flesh and (AB)dwelt among us, (AC)and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[d] from the Father, full of (AD)grace and (AE)truth. 15 ((AF)John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, (AG)‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from (AH)his fullness we have all received, (AI)grace upon grace.[e] 17 For (AJ)the law was given through Moses; (AK)grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 (AL)No one has ever seen God; (AM)the only God,[f] who is at the Father's side,[g] (AN)he has made him known.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 And this is the (AO)testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, (AP)“Who are you?” 20 (AQ)He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? (AR)Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you (AS)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am (AT)the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight[h] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, (AU)“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, (AV)“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even (AW)he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Behold, the Lamb of God
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, (AX)the Lamb of God, who (AY)takes away the sin (AZ)of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, (BA)‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but (BB)for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John (BC)bore witness: (BD)“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and (BE)it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but (BF)he who sent me to baptize (BG)with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, (BH)this is he who baptizes (BI)with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son[i] of God.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, (BJ)the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, (BK)“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, (BL)“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.[j] 40 (BM)One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus[k] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found (BN)the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of (BO)John. You shall be called (BP)Cephas” (which means (BQ)Peter[l]).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 (BR)The next day Jesus decided (BS)to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now (BT)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found (BU)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom (BV)Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus (BW)of Nazareth, (BX)the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, (BY)“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, (BZ)an Israelite indeed, (CA)in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How (CB)do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, (CC)“Rabbi, (CD)you are the Son of God! You are the (CE)King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,[m] you will see (CF)heaven opened, and (CG)the angels of God ascending and descending on (CH)the Son of Man.”
Footnotes
- John 1:4 Or was not any thing made. That which has been made was life in him
- John 1:11 Greek to his own things; that is, to his own domain, or to his own people
- John 1:11 People is implied in Greek
- John 1:14 Or only One, or unique One
- John 1:16 Or grace in place of grace
- John 1:18 Or the only One, who is God; some manuscripts the only Son
- John 1:18 Greek in the bosom of the Father
- John 1:23 Or crying out, ‘In the wilderness make straight
- John 1:34 Some manuscripts the Chosen One
- John 1:39 That is, about 4 p.m.
- John 1:40 Greek him
- John 1:42 Cephas and Peter are from the word for rock in Aramaic and Greek, respectively
- John 1:51 The Greek for you is plural; twice in this verse
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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