Isaiah 1-3

New American Standard Bible

Rebellion of God’s People

1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning ^(A)Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the ^[a]reigns of ^(B)Uzziah, ^(C)Jotham, ^(D)Ahaz, and ^(E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

²^(F)Listen, heavens, and hear, ^(G)earth;
For the Lord has spoken:
“^(H)Sons I have raised and brought up,
But they have ^(I)revolted against Me.
³An ox knows its owner,
And a donkey its master’s manger,
But Israel ^(J)does not know,
My people ^(K)do not understand.”

⁴Oh, sinful nation,
People weighed down with guilt,
^[b]^(L)Offspring of evildoers,
Sons who ^(M)act corruptly!
They have ^(N)abandoned the Lord,
They have ^(O)despised the Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away ^[c]from Him.

⁵Where will you be stricken again,
As you ^(P)continue in your rebellion?
The entire head is ^(Q)sick
And the entire heart is faint.
⁶^(R)From the sole of the foot even to the head
There is ^(S)nothing healthy in it,
Only bruises, slashes, and raw wounds;
^(T)Not pressed out nor bandaged,
Nor softened with oil.

⁷Your ^(U)land is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
As for your fields, strangers are devouring them in front of you;
It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers.
⁸The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard,
Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a city under watch.
⁹^(V)If the Lord of armies
Had not left us a few ^(W)survivors,
We would be like ^(X)Sodom,
We would be like Gomorrah.

God Has Had Enough

¹⁰Hear ^(Y)the word of the Lord,
You rulers of ^(Z)Sodom;
Listen to the instruction of our God,
You people of Gomorrah!
¹¹“^(AA)What are your many sacrifices to Me?”
Says the Lord.
“I ^[d]have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fattened cattle;
And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats.
¹²When you come ^(AB)to appear before Me,
Who requires ^[e]of you this trampling of My courtyards?
¹³Do not go on bringing your worthless offerings,
^(AC)Incense is an abomination to Me.
^(AD)New moon and Sabbath, the ^(AE)proclamation of an assembly—
I cannot ^(AF)endure wrongdoing and the festive assembly.
¹⁴^[f]I hate your new moon festivals and your ^(AG)appointed feasts,
They have become a burden to Me;
I am ^(AH)tired of bearing them.
¹⁵So when you ^(AI)spread out your hands in prayer,
^(AJ)I will hide My eyes from you;
Yes, even though you ^(AK)offer many prayers,
I will not be listening.
^(AL)Your hands are ^[g]covered with blood.

¹⁶“^(AM)Wash yourselves, ^(AN)make yourselves clean;
^(AO)Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.
^(AP)Stop doing evil,
¹⁷Learn to do good;
^(AQ)Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor,
^(AR)Obtain justice for the orphan,
Plead for the widow’s case.

Invitation to Debate

¹⁸“Come now, and ^(AS)let us ^[h]debate your case,”
Says the Lord,
“^(AT)Though your sins are as scarlet,
They shall become as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be like wool.
¹⁹^(AU)If you are willing and obedient,
You will ^(AV)eat the best of the land;
²⁰But if you refuse and rebel,
You will be ^(AW)devoured by the sword.”
For ^(AX)the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Zion Corrupted; Will Be Redeemed

²¹How the faithful city has become a ^(AY)prostitute,
She who was full of justice!
Righteousness once dwelt in her,
But now murderers.
²²Your silver has become ^[i]waste matter,
Your drink diluted with water.
²³Your ^(AZ)rulers are rebels
And companions of thieves;
Everyone ^(BA)loves a bribe
And chases after gifts.
They ^(BB)do not obtain justice for the ^[j]orphan,
Nor does the widow’s case come before them.

²⁴Therefore the Lord ^[k]God of armies,
The ^(BC)Mighty One of Israel, declares,
“Ah, I will have satisfaction against My adversaries,
And ^(BD)avenge Myself on My enemies.
²⁵I will also turn My hand against you,
And ^(BE)smelt away your impurities as with lye;
And I will remove all your slag.
²⁶Then I will restore your ^(BF)judges as at first,
And your counselors as at the beginning;
After that you will be called the ^(BG)city of righteousness,
A faithful city.”

²⁷Zion will be ^(BH)redeemed with justice
And her ^[l]repentant ones with righteousness.
²⁸But ^[m]wrongdoers and sinners together will be ^(BI)broken,
And those who abandon the Lord will come to an end.
²⁹^[n]You certainly will be ashamed of the ^[o]^(BJ)oaks which you have desired,
And you will be embarrassed by the ^(BK)gardens which you have chosen.
³⁰For you will be like an ^[p]oak whose ^(BL)leaf withers away,
Or like a garden that has no water.
³¹The strong man will become like ^[q]flax fiber,
And his work a spark.
So they shall both ^(BM)burn together
And there will be ^(BN)no one to extinguish them.

God’s Universal Reign

2 The word which ^(BO)Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

²Now it will come about that
^(BP)In the last days
The ^(BQ)mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be established ^[r]as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And ^(BR)all the nations will stream to it.
³And many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
So that He may teach us ^[s]about His ways,
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For ^[t]the law will go out ^(BS)from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴And He will judge between the nations,
And will mediate for many peoples;
And ^(BT)they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives.
^(BU)Nation will not lift up a sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.

⁵Come, ^(BV)house of Jacob, and let’s walk in the ^(BW)light of the Lord.
⁶For You have ^(BX)abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled with influences from the east,
And they are soothsayers ^(BY)like the Philistines.
They also ^[u]^(BZ)strike bargains with the children of foreigners.
⁷Their land has also been filled with silver and gold
And there is no end to their treasures;
Their land has also been filled with ^(CA)horses,
And there is no end to their chariots.
⁸Their land has also been ^(CB)filled with idols;
They worship the ^(CC)work of their hands,
That which their fingers have made.
⁹So ^(CD)the common person has been humbled
And the person of importance has been brought low,
But ^(CE)do not forgive them.
¹⁰^(CF)Enter the rocky place and hide in the dust
^(CG)From the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty.
¹¹The ^[v]^(CH)proud look of humanity will be brought low,
And the ^(CI)arrogance of people will be humbled;
And the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.

A Day of Reckoning Coming

¹²For the Lord of armies will have a day of reckoning
Against ^(CJ)everyone who is arrogant and haughty,
And against everyone who is lifted up,
That he may be brought low.
¹³And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up,
Against all the ^(CK)oaks of Bashan,
¹⁴Against all the ^(CL)lofty mountains,
Against all the hills that are lifted up,
¹⁵Against every ^(CM)high tower,
Against every fortified wall,
¹⁶Against all the ^(CN)ships of Tarshish
And against all the delightful ships.
¹⁷And the pride of humanity will be humbled
And the arrogance of people will be brought low;
And the Lord alone will be exalted on that day,
¹⁸And the ^(CO)idols will completely vanish.
¹⁹People will ^(CP)go into caves of the rocks
And into holes in the ^[w]ground
Away from the terror of the Lord
And the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises ^(CQ)to terrify the earth.
²⁰On that day people will ^(CR)throw away to the moles and the ^(CS)bats
Their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
Which they made for themselves to worship,
²¹In order to ^(CT)go into the clefts of the rocks and the crannies of the cliffs
Before the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty,
When He arises to terrify the earth.
²²^[x]^(CU)Take no account of man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils;
For ^[y]^(CV)why should he be esteemed?

God Will Remove the Leaders

3 For behold, the Lord ^[z]God of armies ^(CW)is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah
Both supply and support, the entire supply of bread
And the entire supply of water;
²^(CX)The mighty man and the warrior,
The judge and the prophet,
The diviner and the elder,
³The captain of fifty and the esteemed person,
The counselor and the expert artisan,
And the skillful enchanter.
⁴And I will make mere ^(CY)boys their leaders,
And ^[aa]mischievous children will rule over them,
⁵And the people will be ^(CZ)oppressed,
Each one by another, and each one by his ^(DA)neighbor;
The youth will assault the elder,
And the contemptible person will assault the one honored.
⁶When a man ^(DB)lays hold of his brother in his father’s house, saying,
“You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler!
And these ruins will be under your ^[ab]authority,”
⁷He will ^[ac]protest on that day, saying,
“I will not be your ^[ad]^(DC)healer,
For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
You should not appoint me ruler of the people.”
⁸For ^(DD)Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,
Because their ^[ae]^(DE)speech and their actions are against the Lord,
To ^(DF)rebel against ^[af]His glorious presence.
⁹^[ag]The expression of their faces testifies against them,
And they ^[ah]display their sin like ^(DG)Sodom;
They do not even conceal it.
Woe to ^[ai]them!
For they have ^(DH)done evil to themselves.
¹⁰Say to the ^(DI)righteous that it will go well for them,
For they will eat the fruit of their actions.
¹¹Woe to the wicked! It will go badly for him,
For ^[aj]^(DJ)what he deserves will be done to him.
¹²My people! Their oppressors ^(DK)treat them violently,
And women rule over them.
My people! ^(DL)Those who guide you lead you astray
And confuse the direction of your paths.

God Will Judge

¹³^(DM)The Lord arises to contend,
And stands to judge the people.
¹⁴The Lord ^(DN)enters into judgment with the elders and leaders of His people,
“It is you who have ^[ak]^(DO)devoured the vineyard;
The ^(DP)goods stolen from the poor are in your houses.
¹⁵What do you mean by ^(DQ)crushing My people
And ^[al]oppressing the face of the poor?”
Declares the Lord ^[am]God of armies.

Judah’s Women Denounced

¹⁶Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the ^(DR)daughters of Zion are haughty
And walk with ^[an]heads held high and seductive eyes,
And go along with mincing steps
And jingle the anklets on their feet,
¹⁷The Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs,
And the Lord will make their foreheads bare.”

¹⁸On that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, ^(DS)crescent ornaments, ¹⁹dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, ²⁰^(DT)headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, ²¹^[ao]finger rings, ^(DU)nose rings, ²²festive robes, outer garments, shawls, purses, ²³papyrus garments, undergarments, headbands, and veils.

²⁴Now it will come about that instead of ^(DV)balsam oil there will be a stench;
Instead of a belt, a rope;
Instead of ^(DW)well-set hair, a ^(DX)plucked-out scalp;
Instead of fine clothes, a ^(DY)robe of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty.
²⁵Your men will ^(DZ)fall by the sword
And your ^[ap]mighty ones in battle.
²⁶And her ^[aq]^(EA)gates will lament and mourn,
And she will ^(EB)sit deserted on the ground.

Footnotes

Isaiah 1:1 Lit days
Isaiah 1:4 Lit Seed
Isaiah 1:4 Lit backward
Isaiah 1:11 Or am sated with
Isaiah 1:12 Lit of your hand
Isaiah 1:14 Lit My soul hates
Isaiah 1:15 Lit full of
Isaiah 1:18 Or argue
Isaiah 1:22 Lit dross
Isaiah 1:23 Or fatherless
Isaiah 1:24 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 1:27 Or returning
Isaiah 1:28 Lit a breaking of wrongdoers and sinners together
Isaiah 1:29 As in some mss; MT They
Isaiah 1:29 Or terebinths
Isaiah 1:30 Or terebinth
Isaiah 1:31 Lit tow
Isaiah 2:2 Lit on
Isaiah 2:3 Or some of
Isaiah 2:3 Or instruction
Isaiah 2:6 Lit clap their hands
Isaiah 2:11 Lit eyes of the pride of man
Isaiah 2:19 Lit dust
Isaiah 2:22 Or Stop caring about
Isaiah 2:22 Lit in what
Isaiah 3:1 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 3:4 Or arbitrary power will rule
Isaiah 3:6 Lit hand
Isaiah 3:7 Lit lift up his voice
Isaiah 3:7 Lit binder of wounds
Isaiah 3:8 Lit tongue
Isaiah 3:8 Lit the eyes of His glory
Isaiah 3:9 Or Their partiality testifies
Isaiah 3:9 Lit proclaim
Isaiah 3:9 Lit their soul
Isaiah 3:11 Lit the accomplishment of his hands
Isaiah 3:14 Lit grazed over
Isaiah 3:15 Lit grinding the face of
Isaiah 3:15 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Isaiah 3:16 Lit outstretched necks
Isaiah 3:21 Or signet rings
Isaiah 3:25 Lit strength
Isaiah 3:26 Lit entrances

Psalm 9

New American Standard Bible

Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.

For the music director; on ^[a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

9 I will give thanks to the Lord with all ^(A)my heart;
I will ^(B)tell of all Your ^[b]wonders.
²I will rejoice and be ^(C)jubilant in You;
I will ^(D)sing praise to Your name, O ^(E)Most High.

³When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and ^(F)perish before You.
⁴For You have ^(G)maintained ^[c]my just cause;
You have sat on the throne ^[d]^(H)judging righteously.
⁵You have ^(I)rebuked the nations, You have eliminated the wicked;
You have ^(J)wiped out their name forever and ever.
⁶^[e]The enemy has come to an end in everlasting ruins,
And You have uprooted the cities;
The very ^(K)memory of them has perished.

⁷But the ^(L)Lord ^[f]sits as King forever;
He has established His ^(M)throne for judgment,
⁸And He will ^(N)judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples fairly.
⁹^[g]The Lord will also be a ^(O)stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
¹⁰And ^[h]those who ^(P)know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, Lord, have not ^(Q)abandoned those who seek You.

¹¹Sing praises to the Lord, who ^(R)dwells in Zion;
^(S)Declare His deeds among the peoples.
¹²For ^(T)He who ^[i]requires blood remembers them;
He does not forget ^(U)the cry of the needy.
¹³Be gracious to me, Lord;
See my oppression from those ^(V)who hate me,
You who ^(W)lift me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴So that I may tell of ^(X)all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may ^(Y)rejoice in Your ^[j]salvation.
¹⁵The nations have sunk down ^(Z)into the pit which they have made;
In the ^(AA)net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
¹⁶The Lord has ^(AB)made Himself known;
He has ^(AC)executed judgment.
A wicked one is ensnared in the work of his own hands. ^[k]Higgaion Selah

¹⁷The wicked will ^[l]^(AD)return to ^[m]Sheol,
All the nations who ^(AE)forget God.
¹⁸For the ^(AF)needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the ^(AG)hope of the afflicted perish forever.
¹⁹^(AH)Arise, Lord, do not let mankind prevail;
Let the nations be ^(AI)judged before You.
²⁰Put them ^(AJ)in fear, Lord;
Let the nations know that they are ^(AK)merely human. Selah

Footnotes

Psalm 9 Title Meaning of the Heb uncertain
Psalm 9:1 Or miracles
Psalm 9:4 Lit my right and my cause
Psalm 9:4 Or a righteous Judge
Psalm 9:6 Or O enemy, desolations are finished forever; And their cities You have uprooted
Psalm 9:7 Or remains forever
Psalm 9:9 Or Let the Lord also be
Psalm 9:10 Or let those...name put
Psalm 9:12 I.e., avenges bloodshed
Psalm 9:14 Or deliverance
Psalm 9:16 Perhaps, resounding music or meditation
Psalm 9:17 Or turn
Psalm 9:17 I.e., the netherworld

Matthew 22

New American Standard Bible

Parable of the Marriage Feast

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, ²“^(A)The kingdom of heaven ^[a]is like ^[b]a king who ^[c]held a ^(B)wedding feast for his son. ³And he ^(C)sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. ⁴Again he ^(D)sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ ⁵But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his own ^[d]farm, another to his business, ⁶and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them. ⁷Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹So go to ^(E)the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with ^[e]dinner guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to look over the ^[f]dinner guests, he saw ^(F)a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, ¹²and he *said to him, ‘^(G)Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. ¹³Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into ^(H)the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ ¹⁴For many are ^[g]^(I)called, but few are ^(J)chosen.”

Poll-tax to Caesar

¹⁵^(K)Then the Pharisees went and ^[h]plotted together how they might trap Him ^[i]in what He said. ¹⁶And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the ^(L)Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and ^[j]do not care what anyone thinks; for You ^[k]are not partial to anyone. ¹⁷Tell us then, what do You think? Is it ^[l]permissible to pay a ^[m]^(M)poll-tax to ^(N)Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸But Jesus perceived their ^[n]malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show Me the ^(O)coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a ^[o]denarius. ²⁰And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” ²¹They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “^(P)Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” ²²And hearing this, they were amazed; and ^(Q)they left Him and went away.

Jesus Answers the Sadducees

²³^(R)On that day some ^(S)Sadducees (who say ^(T)there is no resurrection) came to ^[p]Jesus and questioned Him, ²⁴saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘^(U)If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up ^[q]children for his brother.’ ²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us; and the first married and died, and having no ^[r]children, he left his wife to his brother. ²⁶It was the same also with the second brother, and the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷Last of all, the woman died. ²⁸In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her in marriage.”

²⁹But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, ^(V)since you do not ^[s]understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰For in the resurrection they neither ^(W)marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ³¹But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ³²‘^(X)I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” ³³When the crowds heard this, ^(Y)they were astonished at His teaching.

³⁴^(Z)But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced ^(AA)the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵And one of them, ^[t]^(AB)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him: ³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷And He said to him, “‘^(AC)You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the great and ^[u]foremost commandment. ³⁹The second is like it, ‘^(AD)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰^(AE)Upon these two commandments ^[v]hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

⁴¹^(AF)Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: ⁴²“What do you think about the ^[w]Christ? Whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “^(AG)The son of David.” ⁴³He *said to them, “Then ^[x]how does David ^[y]^(AH)in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁴‘^(AI)The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I put Your enemies under Your feet”’?

⁴⁵Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ ^[z]how is He his son?” ⁴⁶^(AJ)No one was able to offer Him a word in answer, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him any more questions.