Isaiah 40
Christian Standard Bible
God’s People Comforted
40 “Comfort, comfort my people,”(A)
says your God.
2 “Speak tenderly to[a] Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of hard service is over,
her iniquity(B) has been pardoned,(C)
and she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.”(D)
3 A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;(E)
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.(F)
4 Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.(G)
5 And the glory of the Lord will appear,(H)
and all humanity[b] together will see it,(I)
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(J)
6 A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
Another said,[c] “What should I cry out?”
“All humanity is grass,(K)
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.(L)
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath[d] of the Lord blows on them;[e]
indeed, the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flowers fade,(M)
but the word of our God remains forever.”(N)
9 Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain.(O)
Jerusalem, herald of good news,(P)
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!” (Q)
10 See, the Lord God comes with strength,
and his power establishes his rule.(R)
His wages are with him,(S)
and his reward accompanies him.
11 He protects his flock like a shepherd;(T)
he gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them in the fold of his garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?(U)
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains on a balance
and the hills on the scales?
13 Who has directed[f] the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave him counsel?(V)
14 Who did he consult?
Who gave him understanding(W)
and taught him the paths of justice?
Who taught him knowledge
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales;
he lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon’s cedars are not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.(X)
17 All the nations are as nothing before him;
they are considered by him
as empty nothingness.(Y)
18 With whom will you compare God?
What likeness will you set up for comparison with him?(Z)
19 An idol?—something that a smelter casts
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver chains for?(AA)
20 A poor person contributes wood for a pedestal
that will not rot.[g]
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.(AB)
21 Do you not know?(AC)
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?(AD)
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.(AE)
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth(AF)
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.(AG)
23 He reduces princes to nothing(AH)
and makes judges of the earth like a wasteland.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.(AI)
25 “To whom will you compare me,(AJ)
or who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up and see!
Who created(AK) these?
He brings out the stars by number;
he calls all of them by name.(AL)
Because of his great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?(AM)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,(AN)
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never becomes faint or weary;
there is no limit to his understanding.(AO)
29 He gives strength to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Youths may become faint and weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31 but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;(AP)
they will soar on wings like eagles;(AQ)
they will run and not become weary,
they will walk and not faint.
1 Corinthians 15:1-34
Christian Standard Bible
Resurrection Essential to the Gospel
15 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand(A) 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.(B) 3 For I passed on to you(C) as most important what I also received: that Christ died(D) for our sins according to the Scriptures,(E) 4 that he was buried,(F) that he was raised on the third day(G) according to the Scriptures,(H) 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,(I) then to the Twelve.(J) 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time;(K) most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James,(L) then to all the apostles.(M) 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time,[a](N) he also appeared to me.(O)
9 For I am the least of the apostles,(P) not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted(Q) the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.(R) 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.
Resurrection Essential to the Faith
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,(S) how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?(T) 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.[b] 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses(U) about God, because we have testified(V) wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ(W) have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.
Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours
20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits(X) of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death(Y) came through a man,(Z) the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.(AA) 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.(AB)
23 But each in his own order:(AC) Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end,(AD) when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father,(AE) when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.(AF) 25 For he must reign(AG) until he puts all his enemies under his feet.(AH) 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.(AI) 27 For God has put everything under his feet.[c](AJ) Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. 28 When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son(AK) himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.(AL)
Resurrection Supported by Christian Experience
29 Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead?[d] If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?[e] 30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I face death every day,(AM) as surely as I may boast about you, brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus(AN) as a mere man, what good did that do me?(AO) If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.[f](AP) 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 34 Come to your senses[g](AQ) and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.(AR)
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Psalm 106:6-12
Christian Standard Bible
6 Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
we have done wrong and have acted wickedly.(A)
7 Our ancestors in Egypt did not grasp
the significance of your wondrous works
or remember your many acts of faithful love;
instead, they rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.(B)
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
to make his power known.(C)
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
he led them through the depths as through a desert.(D)
10 He saved them from the power of the adversary;
he redeemed them from the power of the enemy.(E)
11 Water covered their foes;
not one of them remained.(F)
12 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.(G)
Proverbs 22:28-29
Christian Standard Bible
28 Don’t move an ancient boundary marker
that your ancestors set up.(A)
29 Do you see a person skilled in his work?
He will stand in the presence of kings.
He will not stand in the presence of the unknown.(B)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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