Isaiah 25

English Standard Version

God Will Swallow Up Death Forever

25 O Lord, ^(A)you are my God;
    ^(B)I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
    ^(C)plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
²For you have made the city ^(D)a heap,
    the fortified city a ruin;
the foreigners' palace is a city no more;
    it will never be rebuilt.
³^(E)Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
    cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
⁴^(F)For you have been a stronghold to the poor,
    a stronghold to the needy in his distress,
    ^(G)a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;
^(H)for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,
⁵    ^(I)like heat in a dry place.
You subdue the noise of the foreigners;
    as heat by the shade of a cloud,
    so the song of the ruthless is put down.

⁶^(J)On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
    ^(K)of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
⁷And he will swallow up ^(L)on this mountain
    the covering that is cast over all peoples,
    ^(M)the veil that is spread over all nations.
⁸    ^(N)He will swallow up death forever;
and ^(O)the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
    and ^(P)the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
    ^(Q)for the Lord has spoken.
⁹It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; ^(R)we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    ^(S)let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
¹⁰For the hand of the Lord will rest ^(T)on this mountain,
    and ^(U)Moab shall be trampled down in his place,
    as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.^[a]
¹¹^(V)And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it
    as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,
    but the Lord ^(W)will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill^[b] of his hands.
¹²And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,
    lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.

Footnotes

Isaiah 25:10 The Hebrew words for dunghill and for the Moabite town Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2) sound alike
Isaiah 25:11 Or in spite of the skill

Luke 1:1-23

English Standard Version

Dedication to Theophilus

1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that ^(A)have been accomplished among us, ²^(B)just as those who ^(C)from the beginning were ^(D)eyewitnesses and ^(E)ministers of ^(F)the word ^(G)have delivered them to us, ³it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write ^(H)an orderly account for you, ^(I)most excellent ^(J)Theophilus, ⁴that you may have ^(K)certainty concerning the things ^(L)you have been taught.

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵^(M)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,^[a] ^(N)of ^(O)the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶And they were both ^(P)righteous before God, walking ^(Q)blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷But they had no child, because ^(R)Elizabeth was barren, and ^(S)both were advanced in years.

⁸Now ^(T)while he was serving as priest before God when ^(U)his division was on duty, ⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ^(V)to enter ^(W)the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people ^(X)were praying ^(Y)outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^(Z)the altar of incense. ¹²And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^(AA)fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^(AB)your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(AC)you shall call his name John. ¹⁴And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^(AD)rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵for he will be ^(AE)great before the Lord. And ^(AF)he must not drink wine or strong ^(AG)drink, and ^(AH)he will be ^(AI)filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(AJ)even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷and ^(AK)he will go before him ^(AL)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(AM)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(AN)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(AO)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸And Zechariah said to the angel, ^(AP)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹And the angel answered him, “I am ^(AQ)Gabriel. ^(AR)I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰And behold, ^(AS)you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ^(AT)the temple. ²²And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^(AU)the temple. And ^(AV)he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³And ^(AW)when his time of ^(AX)service was ended, he went to his home.