Isaiah 49-50

English Standard Version

The Servant of the Lord

49 Listen to me, ^(A)O coastlands,
    and give attention, you peoples ^(B)from afar.
^(C)The Lord called me from the womb,
    from the body of my mother he named my name.
²^(D)He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
    ^(E)in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow;
    in his quiver he hid me away.
³And he said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, ^(F)in whom I will be glorified.”^[a]
⁴^(G)But I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my right is with the Lord,
    and my recompense with my God.”

⁵^(H)And now the Lord says,
    he ^(I)who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
    and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for ^(J)I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
    and my God has become my strength—
⁶he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
    to raise up the tribes of Jacob
    and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
^(K)I will make you ^(L)as a light for the nations,
    that ^(M)my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

⁷Thus says the Lord,
    ^(N)the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
^(O)to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
    the servant of rulers:
^(P)“Kings shall see and arise;
    princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

The Restoration of Israel

⁸Thus says the Lord:
^(Q)“In a ^(R)time of favor I have answered you;
    in a day of salvation I have helped you;
I will keep you ^(S)and give you
    as a covenant to the people,
to establish the land,
    ^(T)to apportion the desolate heritages,
⁹^(U)saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
    to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
^(V)They shall feed along the ways;
    on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
¹⁰^(W)they shall not hunger or thirst,
    neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
for he who has pity on them ^(X)will lead them,
    and by springs of water will guide them.
¹¹^(Y)And I will make all my mountains a road,
    and my highways shall be raised up.
¹²^(Z)Behold, these shall come from afar,
    and behold, ^(AA)these from the north and from the west,^[b]
    and these from the land of Syene.”^[c]

¹³^(AB)Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord ^(AC)has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted.

¹⁴But Zion said, ^(AD)“The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”

¹⁵^(AE)“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
    that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
    yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶Behold, ^(AF)I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.
¹⁷Your builders make haste;^[d]
    ^(AG)your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
¹⁸^(AH)Lift up your eyes around and see;
    they all gather, they come to you.
^(AI)As I live, declares the Lord,
    ^(AJ)you shall put them all on as an ornament;
    you shall bind them on as a bride does.

¹⁹“Surely your waste and your desolate places
    and your devastated land—
^(AK)surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
    and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
²⁰^(AL)The children of your bereavement
    will yet say in your ears:
^(AM)‘The place is too narrow for me;
    make room for me to dwell in.’
²¹Then you will say in your heart:
    ‘Who has borne me these?
^(AN)I was bereaved and barren,
    exiled and put away,
    but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
    from where have these come?’”

²²Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
    ^(AO)and raise my signal to the peoples;
^(AP)and they shall bring your sons in their arms,^[e]
    and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
²³^(AQ)Kings shall be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.
^(AR)With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
    and ^(AS)lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
    ^(AT)those who wait for me ^(AU)shall not be put to shame.”

²⁴Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
    or the captives of a tyrant^[f] be rescued?
²⁵For thus says the Lord:
^(AV)“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
    and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
    and I will save your children.
²⁶^(AW)I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
    and they shall be drunk ^(AX)with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
    that ^(AY)I am the Lord your Savior,
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience

50 Thus says the Lord:
“Where is ^(AZ)your mother's certificate of divorce,
    with which ^(BA)I sent her away?
Or ^(BB)which of my creditors is it
    to whom I have sold you?
^(BC)Behold, for your iniquities you were sold,
    and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.
²^(BD)Why, when I came, was there no man;
    why, when I called, was there no one to answer?
^(BE)Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?
    Or have I no power to deliver?
^(BF)Behold, by my rebuke ^(BG)I dry up the sea,
    ^(BH)I make the rivers a desert;
^(BI)their fish stink for lack of water
    and die of thirst.
³^(BJ)I clothe the heavens with blackness
    and make sackcloth their covering.”

⁴The Lord God has given ^(BK)me
    the tongue of those who are taught,
that ^(BL)I may know how to sustain with a word
    ^(BM)him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
    he awakens my ear
    to hear as those who are taught.
⁵^(BN)The Lord God has opened my ear,
    ^(BO)and I was not rebellious;
    I turned not backward.
⁶^(BP)I gave my back to those who strike,
    and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
    from disgrace and spitting.

⁷But the Lord God helps me;
    therefore I have not been disgraced;
^(BQ)therefore I have set my face like a flint,
    and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
⁸    ^(BR)He who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
    Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
    Let him come near to me.
⁹^(BS)Behold, the Lord God helps me;
    who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
    the moth will eat them up.

¹⁰Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys ^(BT)the voice of his servant?
^(BU)Let him who walks in darkness
    and has no light
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on his God.
¹¹Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
    who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire,
    and by the torches that you have kindled!
^(BV)This you have from my hand:
    you shall lie down in torment.

Footnotes

Isaiah 49:3 Or I will display my beauty
Isaiah 49:12 Hebrew from the sea
Isaiah 49:12 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim
Isaiah 49:17 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste
Isaiah 49:22 Hebrew in their bosom
Isaiah 49:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man

Proverbs 20

English Standard Version

20 ^(A)Wine is a mocker, ^(B)strong drink a brawler,
    and whoever ^(C)is led astray by it is not wise.^[a]
²The terror of a king is like ^(D)the growling of a lion;
    whoever provokes him to anger ^(E)forfeits his life.
³It is an honor for a man to ^(F)keep aloof from strife,
    but every fool will be quarreling.
⁴^(G)The sluggard does not plow in the autumn;
    ^(H)he will seek at harvest and have nothing.
⁵The purpose in a man's heart is like ^(I)deep water,
    but a man of understanding will draw it out.
⁶Many a man ^(J)proclaims his own steadfast love,
    but ^(K)a faithful man who can find?
⁷The righteous who ^(L)walks in his integrity—
    ^(M)blessed are his children after him!
⁸^(N)A king who sits on the throne of judgment
    ^(O)winnows all evil with his eyes.
⁹^(P)Who can say, “I have made my heart pure;
    I am clean from my sin”?
¹⁰^(Q)Unequal^[b] weights and unequal measures
    are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
¹¹Even a child ^(R)makes himself known by his acts,
    by whether his conduct is pure and upright.^[c]
¹²^(S)The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
    ^(T)the Lord has made them both.
¹³^(U)Love not sleep, lest you ^(V)come to poverty;
    open your eyes, and you will have ^(W)plenty of bread.
¹⁴“Bad, bad,” says the buyer,
    but when he goes away, then he boasts.
¹⁵There is gold and abundance of ^(X)costly stones,
    ^(Y)but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
¹⁶^(Z)Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
    and ^(AA)hold it in pledge when he puts up security for foreigners.^[d]
¹⁷^(AB)Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
    but afterward his mouth will be full of ^(AC)gravel.
¹⁸^(AD)Plans are established by counsel;
    by ^(AE)wise guidance ^(AF)wage war.
¹⁹Whoever ^(AG)goes about slandering reveals secrets;
    therefore do not associate with ^(AH)a simple babbler.^[e]
²⁰^(AI)If one curses his father or his mother,
    ^(AJ)his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.
²¹^(AK)An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning
    will not be blessed in the end.
²²Do not say, ^(AL)“I will repay evil”;
    ^(AM)wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.
²³^(AN)Unequal weights are an abomination to the Lord,
    and ^(AO)false scales are not good.
²⁴A man's ^(AP)steps are from the Lord;
    how then can man understand his way?
²⁵It is a snare to say rashly, “It is holy,”
    and to reflect only ^(AQ)after making vows.
²⁶A wise king ^(AR)winnows the wicked
    and drives ^(AS)the wheel over them.
²⁷^(AT)The spirit^[f] of man is the lamp of the Lord,
    ^(AU)searching all ^(AV)his innermost parts.
²⁸^(AW)Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the king,
    and by steadfast love his ^(AX)throne is upheld.
²⁹The glory of young men is their strength,
    but ^(AY)the splendor of old men is their gray hair.
³⁰^(AZ)Blows that wound cleanse away evil;
    strokes make clean ^(BA)the innermost parts.

Footnotes

Proverbs 20:1 Or will not become wise
Proverbs 20:10 Or Two kinds of; also verse 23
Proverbs 20:11 Or Even a child can dissemble in his actions, though his conduct seems pure and upright
Proverbs 20:16 Or for an adulteress (compare 27:13)
Proverbs 20:19 Hebrew with one who is simple in his lips
Proverbs 20:27 Hebrew breath

1 Timothy 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(B)by command of ^(C)God our Savior and of Christ Jesus ^(D)our hope,

²To Timothy, ^(E)my true child in the faith:

^(F)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Warning Against False Teachers

³^(G)As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not ^(H)to teach any different doctrine, ⁴nor ^(I)to devote themselves to myths and endless ^(J)genealogies, which promote ^(K)speculations rather than the stewardship^[a] from God that is by faith. ⁵The aim of our charge is love ^(L)that issues from a pure heart and ^(M)a good conscience and ^(N)a sincere faith. ⁶Certain persons, by ^(O)swerving from these, have wandered away into ^(P)vain discussion, ⁷desiring to be teachers of the law, ^(Q)without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

⁸Now we know that ^(R)the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, ⁹understanding this, that the ^(S)law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,^[b] liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to ^(T)sound^[c] doctrine, ¹¹in accordance with ^(U)the gospel of the glory of ^(V)the blessed God ^(W)with which I have been entrusted.

Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners

¹²I thank him ^(X)who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, ^(Y)appointing me to his service, ¹³though formerly I was a blasphemer, ^(Z)persecutor, and insolent opponent. But ^(AA)I received mercy ^(AB)because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴and ^(AC)the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the ^(AD)faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵The saying is ^(AE)trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus ^(AF)came into the world to save sinners, ^(AG)of whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷To ^(AH)the King of the ages, ^(AI)immortal, ^(AJ)invisible, ^(AK)the only God, ^(AL)be honor and glory forever and ever.^[d] Amen.

¹⁸This charge ^(AM)I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with ^(AN)the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may ^(AO)wage the good warfare, ¹⁹^(AP)holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have ^(AQ)made shipwreck of their faith, ²⁰among whom are ^(AR)Hymenaeus and ^(AS)Alexander, whom I ^(AT)have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to ^(AU)blaspheme.

Footnotes

1 Timothy 1:4 Or good order
1 Timothy 1:10 That is, those who take someone captive in order to sell him into slavery
1 Timothy 1:10 Or healthy
1 Timothy 1:17 Greek to the ages of ages