Isaiah 39-40

English Standard Version

Envoys from Babylon

39 ^(A)At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, ^(B)sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. ²And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, ^(C)the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. ^(D)There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. ³Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” ⁴He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

⁵Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: ⁶^(E)Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. ⁷^(F)And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” ⁸Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, ^(G)“There will be peace and security in my days.”

Comfort for God's People

40 ^(H)Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
²^(I)Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that ^(J)her warfare^[a] is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
    double for all her sins.

³^(K)A voice cries:^[b]
^(L)“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    ^(M)make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴^(N)Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
⁵^(O)And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    ^(P)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Word of God Stands Forever

⁶A voice says, “Cry!”
    And I said,^[c] “What shall I cry?”
^(Q)All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty^[d] is like the flower of the field.
⁷The grass withers, the flower fades
    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
    surely the people are grass.
⁸^(R)The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever.

The Greatness of God

⁹Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, ^(S)herald of good news;^[e]
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;^[f]
    lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Behold your God!”
¹⁰^(T)Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
^(U)behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
¹¹^(V)He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    ^(W)he will gather the lambs in his arms;
^(X)he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

¹²^(Y)Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
    and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
    and weighed the mountains in scales
    and the hills in a balance?
¹³^(Z)Who has measured^[g] the Spirit of the Lord,
    or what man shows him his counsel?
¹⁴Whom did he consult,
    and who made him understand?
^(AA)Who taught him the path of justice,
    and taught him knowledge,
    and showed him the way of understanding?
¹⁵Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
    and are accounted ^(AB)as the dust on the scales;
    behold, he takes up ^(AC)the coastlands like fine dust.
¹⁶Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
    nor are ^(AD)its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
¹⁷^(AE)All the nations are as nothing before him,
    they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

¹⁸^(AF)To whom then will you liken God,
    ^(AG)or what likeness compare with him?
¹⁹^(AH)An idol! A craftsman casts it,
    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
    and casts for it silver chains.
²⁰^(AI)He who is too impoverished for an offering
    chooses wood^[h] that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
    to set up an idol that will not move.

²¹^(AJ)Do you not know? Do you not hear?
    Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
²²It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
    and its inhabitants are ^(AK)like grasshoppers;
^(AL)who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
    and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
²³^(AM)who brings princes to nothing,
    and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

²⁴Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
^(AN)and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

²⁵^(AO)To whom then will you compare me,
    that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
²⁶Lift up your eyes on high and see:
    who created these?
^(AP)He who brings out their host by number,
    calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
    and because he is strong in power,
    not one is missing.

²⁷Why do you say, O Jacob,
    and speak, O Israel,
^(AQ)“My way is hidden from the Lord,
    ^(AR)and my right is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is ^(AS)the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    ^(AT)his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹but ^(AU)they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings ^(AV)like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Notas al pie

Isaiah 40:2 Or hardship
Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one crying
Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And someone says
Isaiah 40:6 Or all its constancy
Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Zion
Isaiah 40:9 Or O herald of good news to Jerusalem
Isaiah 40:13 Or has directed
Isaiah 40:20 Or He chooses valuable wood

Mark 10:1-31

English Standard Version

Teaching About Divorce

10 ^(A)And he left there and went ^(B)to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

²And Pharisees came up and in order ^(C)to test him asked, ^(D)“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴They said, ^(E)“Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” ⁵And Jesus said to them, “Because of your ^(F)hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶But ^(G)from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them ^(H)male and female.’ ⁷^(I)‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,^[a] ⁸and ^(J)the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. ⁹^(K)What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

¹⁰And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. ¹¹And he said to them, ^(L)“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, ¹²and ^(M)if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Let the Children Come to Me

¹³^(N)And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples ^(O)rebuked them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, ^(P)“Let the children come to me; ^(Q)do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. ¹⁵^(R)Truly, I say to you, whoever does not ^(S)receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” ¹⁶And ^(T)he took them in his arms and blessed them, ^(U)laying his hands on them.

The Rich Young Man

¹⁷^(V)And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and ^(W)knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to ^(X)inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: ^(Y)‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰And he said to him, “Teacher, ^(Z)all these I have kept from my youth.” ²¹And Jesus, ^(AA)looking at him, ^(AB)loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, ^(AC)sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have ^(AD)treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ²²^(AE)Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

²³And Jesus ^(AF)looked around and said to his disciples, ^(AG)“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter ^(AH)the kingdom of God!” ²⁴And the disciples ^(AI)were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, ^(AJ)“Children, ^(AK)how difficult it is^[b] to enter ^(AL)the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter ^(AM)the kingdom of God.” ²⁶And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,^[c] “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷Jesus ^(AN)looked at them and said, ^(AO)“With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” ²⁸Peter began to say to him, “See, ^(AP)we have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, ^(AQ)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and ^(AR)for the gospel, ³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold ^(AS)now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, ^(AT)with persecutions, and in ^(AU)the age to come eternal life. ³¹But ^(AV)many who are first will be last, and the last first.”