Isaiah 43

New King James Version

The Redeemer of Israel

43 But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, ^(A)for I have redeemed you;
^(B)I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
²^(C)When you pass through the waters, ^(D)I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you ^(E)walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
³For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
^(F)I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
⁴Since you were precious in My sight,
You have been honored,
And I have ^(G)loved you;
Therefore I will give men for you,
And people for your life.
⁵^(H)Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your descendants from the east,
And ^(I)gather you from the west;
⁶I will say to the ^(J)north, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’
Bring My sons from afar,
And My daughters from the ends of the earth—
⁷Everyone who is ^(K)called by My name,
Whom ^(L)I have created for My glory;
I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

⁸^(M)Bring out the blind people who have eyes,
And the ^(N)deaf who have ears.
⁹Let all the nations be gathered together,
And let the people be assembled.
^(O)Who among them can declare this,
And show us former things?
Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified;
Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.”
¹⁰“You^(P) are My witnesses,” says the Lord,
^(Q)“And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and ^(R)believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
Nor shall there be after Me.
¹¹I, even I, ^(S)am the Lord,
And besides Me there is no savior.
¹²I have declared and saved,
I have proclaimed,
And there was no ^(T)foreign god among you;
^(U)Therefore you are My witnesses,”
Says the Lord, “that I am God.
¹³^(V)Indeed before the day was, I am He;
And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;
I work, and who will ^(W)reverse it?”

¹⁴Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I will send to Babylon,
And bring them all down as fugitives—
The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships.
¹⁵I am the Lord, your Holy One,
The Creator of Israel, your ^(X)King.”

¹⁶Thus says the Lord, who ^(Y)makes a way in the sea
And a ^(Z)path through the mighty waters,
¹⁷Who ^(AA)brings forth the chariot and horse,
The army and the power
(They shall lie down together, they shall not rise;
They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):
¹⁸“Do^(AB) not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
¹⁹Behold, I will do a ^(AC)new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
^(AD)I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
²⁰The beast of the field will honor Me,
The jackals and the ostriches,
Because ^(AE)I give waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My people, My chosen.
²¹^(AF)This people I have formed for Myself;
They shall declare My ^(AG)praise.

Pleading with Unfaithful Israel

²²“But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob;
And you ^(AH)have been weary of Me, O Israel.
²³^(AI)You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings,
Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices.
I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings,
Nor wearied you with incense.
²⁴You have bought Me no sweet cane with money,
Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices;
But you have burdened Me with your sins,
You have ^(AJ)wearied Me with your iniquities.

²⁵“I, even I, am He who ^(AK)blots out your transgressions ^(AL)for My own sake;
^(AM)And I will not remember your sins.
²⁶Put Me in remembrance;
Let us contend together;
State your case, that you may be ^[a]acquitted.
²⁷Your first father sinned,
And your ^[b]mediators have transgressed against Me.
²⁸Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary;
^(AN)I will give Jacob to the curse,
And Israel to reproaches.

Footnotes

Isaiah 43:26 justified
Isaiah 43:27 interpreters

Isaiah 44

New King James Version

God’s Blessing on Israel

44 “Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant,
And Israel whom I have chosen.
²Thus says the Lord who made you
And formed you from the womb, who will help you:
‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant;
And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
³For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
⁴They will spring up among the grass
Like willows by the watercourses.’
⁵One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
Another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
And name himself by the name of Israel.

There Is No Other God

⁶“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
^(A)‘I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.
⁷And ^(B)who can proclaim as I do?
Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,
Since I appointed the ancient people.
And the things that are coming and shall come,
Let them show these to them.
⁸Do not fear, nor be afraid;
^(C)Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?
^(D)You are My witnesses.
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed ^(E)there is no other Rock;
I know not one.’ ”

Idolatry Is Foolishness

⁹^(F)Those who make an image, all of them are useless,
And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
^(G)They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
¹⁰Who would form a god or mold an image
^(H)That profits him nothing?
¹¹Surely all his companions would be ^(I)ashamed;
And the workmen, they are mere men.
Let them all be gathered together,
Let them stand up;
Yet they shall fear,
They shall be ashamed together.

¹²^(J)The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.

¹³The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
¹⁴He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He ^[a]secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.

¹⁵Then it shall be for a man to burn,
For he will take some of it and warm himself;
Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;
Indeed he makes a god and worships it;
He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
¹⁶He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire.”
¹⁷And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
“Deliver me, for you are my god!”

¹⁸^(K)They do not know nor understand;
For ^(L)He has ^[b]shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot ^(M)understand.
¹⁹And no one ^(N)considers in his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
“I have burned half of it in the fire,
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;
I have roasted meat and eaten it;
And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”
²⁰He feeds on ashes;
^(O)A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, “Is there not a ^(P)lie in my right hand?”

Israel Is Not Forgotten

²¹“Remember these, O Jacob,
And Israel, for you are My servant;
I have formed you, you are My servant;
O Israel, you will not be ^(Q)forgotten by Me!
²²^(R)I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for ^(S)I have redeemed you.”

²³^(T)Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!
Shout, you lower parts of the earth;
Break forth into singing, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And ^(U)glorified Himself in Israel.

Judah Will Be Restored

²⁴Thus says the Lord, ^(V)your Redeemer,
And ^(W)He who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who makes all things,
^(X)Who stretches out the heavens ^[c]all alone,
Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
²⁵Who ^(Y)frustrates the signs ^(Z)of the babblers,
And drives diviners mad;
Who turns wise men backward,
^(AA)And makes their knowledge foolishness;
²⁶^(AB)Who confirms the word of His servant,
And performs the counsel of His messengers;
Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’
To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’
And I will raise up her waste places;
²⁷^(AC)Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry!
And I will dry up your rivers’;
²⁸Who says of ^(AD)Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, ^(AE)“You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’

Footnotes

Isaiah 44:14 Lit. appropriates
Isaiah 44:18 Lit. smeared over
Isaiah 44:24 By Himself

Matthew 22

New King James Version

The Parable of the Wedding Feast^(A)

22 And Jesus answered ^(B)and spoke to them again by parables and said: ²“The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, ³and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. ⁴Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; ^(C)my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ ⁵But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. ⁶And the rest seized his servants, treated them ^[a]spitefully, and killed them. ⁷But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out ^(D)his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. ⁸Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not ^(E)worthy. ⁹Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ ¹⁰So those servants went out into the highways and ^(F)gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there ^(G)who did not have on a wedding garment. ¹²So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was ^(H)speechless. ¹³Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, ^[b]take him away, and cast him ^(I)into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴^(J)“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?^(K)

¹⁵^(L)Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. ¹⁶And they sent to Him their disciples with the ^(M)Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not ^[c]regard the person of men. ¹⁷Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus ^[d]perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show Me the tax money.”

So they brought Him a denarius.

²⁰And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

²¹They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

And He said to them, ^(N)“Render^[e] therefore to Caesar the things that are ^(O)Caesar’s, and to God the things that are ^(P)God’s.” ²²When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?^(Q)

²³^(R)The same day the Sadducees, ^(S)who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, ²⁴saying: “Teacher, ^(T)Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁵Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. ²⁶Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. ²⁷Last of all the woman died also. ²⁸Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.”

²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “You are ^[f]mistaken, ^(U)not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but ^(V)are like angels ^[g]of God in heaven. ³¹But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ³²^(W)‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” ³³And when the multitudes heard this, ^(X)they were astonished at His teaching.

The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?^(Y)

³⁴^(Z)But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. ³⁵Then one of them, ^(AA)a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷Jesus said to him, ^(AB)“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ^(AC)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰^(AD)On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?^(AE)

⁴¹^(AF)While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴²saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”

They said to Him, “The ^(AG)Son of David.”

⁴³He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:

⁴⁴‘The^(AH) Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?

⁴⁵If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” ⁴⁶^(AI)And no one was able to answer Him a word, ^(AJ)nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.