Isaiah 53-55

New King James Version

The Sin-Bearing Messiah

53 Who ^(A)has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
²For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no ^[a]form or ^[b]comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no ^[c]beauty that we should desire Him.
³^(B)He is despised and ^[d]rejected by men,
A Man of ^[e]sorrows and ^(C)acquainted with ^[f]grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and ^(D)we did not esteem Him.

⁴Surely ^(E)He has borne our ^[g]griefs
And carried our ^[h]sorrows;
Yet we ^[i]esteemed Him stricken,
^[j]Smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵But He was ^(F)wounded^[k] for our transgressions,
He was ^[l]bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His ^(G)stripes^[m] we are healed.
⁶All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord ^[n]has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

⁷He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet ^(H)He opened not His mouth;
^(I)He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
⁸He was ^(J)taken from ^[o]prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For ^(K)He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
⁹^(L)And ^[p]they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any ^(M)deceit in His mouth.

¹⁰Yet it pleased the Lord to ^[q]bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul ^(N)an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
¹¹^[r]He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge ^(O)My righteous ^(P)Servant shall ^(Q)justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
¹²^(R)Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
^(S)And He shall divide the ^[s]spoil with the strong,
Because He ^(T)poured out His soul unto death,
And He was ^(U)numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And ^(V)made intercession for the transgressors.

A Perpetual Covenant of Peace

54 “Sing, O ^(W)barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
²“Enlarge^(X) the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
³For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will ^(Y)inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.

⁴“Do^(Z) not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
⁵^(AA)For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called ^(AB)the God of the whole earth.
⁶For the Lord ^(AC)has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
⁷“For^(AD) a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies ^(AE)I will gather you.
⁸With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
^(AF)But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.

⁹“For this is like the waters of ^(AG)Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with ^(AH)you, nor rebuke you.
¹⁰For ^(AI)the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
^(AJ)But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

¹¹“O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with ^(AK)colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
¹²I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
¹³All your children shall be ^(AL)taught by the Lord,
And ^(AM)great shall be the peace of your children.
¹⁴In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
¹⁵Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall ^(AN)fall for your sake.

¹⁶“Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an ^[t]instrument for his work;
And I have created the ^[u]spoiler to destroy.
¹⁷No weapon formed against you shall ^(AO)prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
^(AP)And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.

An Invitation to Abundant Life

55 “Ho! ^(AQ)Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
^(AR)Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
²Why do you ^[v]spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
³Incline your ear, and ^(AS)come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
^(AT)And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The ^(AU)sure mercies of David.
⁴Indeed I have given him as ^(AV)a witness to the people,
^(AW)A leader and commander for the people.
⁵^(AX)Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
^(AY)And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
^(AZ)For He has glorified you.”

⁶^(BA)Seek the Lord while He may be ^(BB)found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
⁷^(BC)Let the ^[w]wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man ^(BD)his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
^(BE)And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.

⁸“For^(BF) My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
⁹“For^(BG) as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰“For ^(BH)as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
¹¹^(BI)So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me ^[x]void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall ^(BJ)prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

¹²“For^(BK) you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall ^(BL)break forth into singing before you,
And ^(BM)all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³^(BN)Instead of ^(BO)the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the Lord ^(BP)for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 53:2 Stately form
Isaiah 53:2 splendor
Isaiah 53:2 Lit. appearance
Isaiah 53:3 Or forsaken
Isaiah 53:3 Lit. pains
Isaiah 53:3 Lit. sickness
Isaiah 53:4 Lit. sicknesses
Isaiah 53:4 Lit. pains
Isaiah 53:4 reckoned
Isaiah 53:4 Struck down
Isaiah 53:5 Or pierced through
Isaiah 53:5 crushed
Isaiah 53:5 Blows that cut in
Isaiah 53:6 Lit. has caused to land on Him
Isaiah 53:8 confinement
Isaiah 53:9 Lit. he or He
Isaiah 53:10 crush
Isaiah 53:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; DSS, LXX From the labor of His soul He shall see light
Isaiah 53:12 plunder
Isaiah 54:16 Or weapon
Isaiah 54:16 destroyer
Isaiah 55:2 Lit. weigh out silver
Isaiah 55:7 Lit. man of iniquity
Isaiah 55:11 empty, without fruit

Psalm 128

New King James Version

Blessings of Those Who Fear the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

128 Blessed ^(A)is every one who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.

²^(B)When you eat the ^[a]labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be ^(C)well with you.
³Your wife shall be ^(D)like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your ^(E)children ^(F)like olive plants
All around your table.
⁴Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.

⁵^(G)The Lord bless you out of Zion,
And may you see the good of Jerusalem
All the days of your life.
⁶Yes, may you ^(H)see your children’s children.

^(I)Peace be upon Israel!

Footnotes

Psalm 128:2 Fruit of the labor

Acts 22

New King James Version

Paul’s Defense at Jerusalem

22 “Brethren^(A) and fathers, hear my defense before you now.” ²And when they heard that he spoke to them in the ^(B)Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent.

Then he said: ³^(C)“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city ^(D)at the feet of ^(E)Gamaliel, taught ^(F)according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and ^(G)was zealous toward God ^(H)as you all are today. ⁴^(I)I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, ⁵as also the high priest bears me witness, and ^(J)all the council of the elders, ^(K)from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus ^(L)to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“Now ^(M)it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. ⁷And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹“And ^(N)those who were with me indeed saw the light ^[a]and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. ¹⁰So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹²“Then ^(O)a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, ^(P)having a good testimony with all the ^(Q)Jews who dwelt there, ¹³came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. ¹⁴Then he said, ^(R)‘The God of our fathers ^(S)has chosen you that you should ^(T)know His will, and ^(U)see the Just One, ^(V)and hear the voice of His mouth. ¹⁵^(W)For you will be His witness to all men of ^(X)what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, ^(Y)and wash away your sins, ^(Z)calling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷“Now ^(AA)it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance ¹⁸and ^(AB)saw Him saying to me, ^(AC)‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ ¹⁹So I said, ‘Lord, ^(AD)they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and ^(AE)beat those who believe on You. ²⁰^(AF)And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by ^(AG)consenting ^[b]to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ ²¹Then He said to me, ‘Depart, ^(AH)for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”

Paul’s Roman Citizenship

²²And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, ^(AI)“Away with such a fellow from the earth, for ^(AJ)he is not fit to live!” ²³Then, as they cried out and ^[c]tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air, ²⁴the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him. ²⁵And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, ^(AK)“Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.”

²⁷Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?”

He said, “Yes.”

²⁸The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.”

And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”

²⁹Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

The Sanhedrin Divided

³⁰The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them.