Isaiah 54-55
Christian Standard Bible
Future Glory for Israel
54 “Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labor!(A)
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than the children of the married woman,”(B)
says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the site of your tent,
and let your tent curtains be stretched out;(C)
do not hold back;
lengthen your ropes,
and drive your pegs deep.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left,(D)
and your descendants will dispossess nations
and inhabit the desolate cities.
4 “Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;(E)
don’t be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced.
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
and you will no longer remember
the disgrace of your widowhood.(F)
5 Indeed, your husband is your Maker(G)—
his name is the Lord of Armies—
and the Holy One of Israel(H) is your Redeemer;(I)
he is called the God of the whole earth.
6 For the Lord has called you,
like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,(J)
a wife of one’s youth(K) when she is rejected,”
says your God.
7 “I deserted you for a brief moment,(L)
but I will take you back with abundant compassion.
8 In a surge of anger
I hid my face(M) from you for a moment,
but I will have compassion on you
with everlasting love,”(N)
says the Lord your Redeemer.
9 “For this is like the days[a] of Noah to me:
when I swore that the water of Noah
would never flood the earth again,(O)
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
or rebuke you.(P)
10 Though the mountains move
and the hills shake,
my love will not be removed from you
and my covenant of peace(Q) will not be shaken,”
says your compassionate Lord.
11 “Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
I will set your stones in black mortar,[b]
and lay your foundations in lapis lazuli.(R)
12 I will make your fortifications[c] out of rubies,
your gates out of sparkling stones,
and all your walls out of precious stones.
13 Then all your children will be taught by the Lord,(S)
their prosperity will be great,
14 and you will be established
on a foundation of righteousness.
You will be far from oppression,
you will certainly not be afraid;
you will be far from terror,
it will certainly not come near you.
15 If anyone attacks you,
it is not from me;
whoever attacks you
will fall before you.
16 Look, I have created the craftsman
who blows on the charcoal fire
and produces a weapon suitable for its task;
and I have created the destroyer to cause havoc.
17 No weapon formed against you will succeed,
and you will refute any accusation[d]
raised against you in court.
This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants,(T)
and their vindication is from me.”(U)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Come to the Lord
55 “Come, everyone who is thirsty,(V)
come to the water;
and you without silver,
come, buy, and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without silver and without cost!
2 Why do you spend silver on what is not food,
and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.[e]
3 Pay attention and come to me;
listen, so that you will live.
I will make a permanent covenant with you(W)
on the basis of the faithful kindnesses of David.[f](X)
4 Since I have made him a witness to the peoples,(Y)
a leader and commander for the peoples,(Z)
5 so you will summon a nation you do not know,(AA)
and nations who do not know you will run to you.(AB)
For the Lord your God,
even the Holy One of Israel,(AC)
has glorified you.”(AD)
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call to him while he is near.(AE)
7 Let the wicked one abandon his way
and the sinful one his thoughts;(AF)
let him return to the Lord,
so he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will freely forgive.(AG)
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,(AH)
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven
and do not return there
without saturating the earth
and making it germinate and sprout,
and providing seed to sow
and food to eat,(AI)
11 so my word that comes from my mouth
will not return to me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”(AJ)
12 You will indeed go out with joy
and be peacefully guided;
the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.(AK)
13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up,
and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up;(AL)
this will stand as a monument for the Lord,(AM)
an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.
2 Corinthians 6-7
Christian Standard Bible
6 Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive the grace of God in vain.” 2 For he says:
See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!(B)
The Character of Paul’s Ministry
3 We are not giving anyone an occasion for offense, so that the ministry will not be blamed. 4 Instead, as God’s ministers, we commend ourselves in everything: by great endurance, by afflictions, by hardships, by difficulties, 5 by beatings, by imprisonments,(C) by riots, by labors, by sleepless nights, by times of hunger, 6 by purity,(D) by knowledge,(E) by patience,(F) by kindness,(G) by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,(H) 7 by the word of truth,[b](I) by the power of God;(J) through weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, 8 through glory(K) and dishonor, through slander and good report; regarded as deceivers, yet true; 9 as unknown, yet recognized; as dying, yet see—we live; as being disciplined, yet not killed; 10 as grieving, yet always rejoicing;(L) as poor, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. 11 We have spoken openly to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide. 12 We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. 13 I speak as to my children; as a proper response, open your heart to us.
Separation to God
14 Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness?(M) Or what fellowship does light(N) have with darkness?(O) 15 What agreement does Christ have with Belial?[c] Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols?(P) For we[d] are the temple of the living God, as God said:
I will dwell(Q)
and walk among them,
and I will be their God,(R)
and they will be my people.[e](S)
17 Therefore, come out from among them
and be separate, says the Lord;
do not touch any unclean thing,
and I will welcome you.[f](T)
18 And I will be a Father(U) to you,
and you will be sons(V) and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.[g](W)
7 So then, dear friends, since we have these promises,(X) let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit,(Y) bringing holiness to completion[h] in the fear of God.(Z)
Joy and Repentance
2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, corrupted(AA) no one, taken advantage of no one. 3 I don’t say this to condemn you, since I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am very frank with you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions.
5 In fact, when we came into Macedonia,(AB) we[i] had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts(AC) on the outside, fears(AD) within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast,(AE) comforted us by the arrival of Titus, 7 and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal(AF) for me, so that I rejoiced even more. 8 For even if I grieved you with my letter,(AG) I don’t regret it. And if I regretted it—since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a while— 9 I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.(AH) 11 For consider how much diligence this very thing—this grieving as God wills—has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice! In every way you showed yourselves to be pure(AI) in this matter. 12 So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your devotion to us might be made plain to you in the sight of God. 13 For this reason we have been comforted.
In addition to our own comfort, we rejoiced even more over the joy Titus(AJ) had, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you. 14 For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been disappointed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth,(AK) so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth. 15 And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you.
Psalm 107:15-21
Christian Standard Bible
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for his faithful love
and his wondrous works for all humanity.(A)
16 For he has broken down the bronze gates
and cut through the iron bars.(B)
17 Fools suffered affliction
because of their rebellious ways and their iniquities.(C)
18 They loathed all food
and came near the gates of death.(D)
19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
he saved them from their distress.(E)
20 He sent his word and healed them;
he rescued them from their traps.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for his faithful love
and his wondrous works for all humanity.(F)
Proverbs 23:19-21
Christian Standard Bible
19 Listen, my son, and be wise;
keep your mind on the right course.
20 Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine(A)
or with those who gorge themselves on meat.(B)
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,
and grogginess will clothe them in rags.(C)
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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