Isaiah 54-55

English Standard Version

The Eternal Covenant of Peace

54 ^(A)“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
    break forth into singing and cry aloud,
    you who have not been in labor!
For the children of ^(B)the desolate one ^(C)will be more
    than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.
²^(D)“Enlarge the place of your tent,
    and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
    and strengthen your stakes.
³^(E)For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
    and your offspring will possess the nations
    and will people the desolate cities.

⁴“Fear not, ^(F)for you will not be ashamed;
    be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
    and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
⁵^(G)For your Maker is your husband,
    the Lord of hosts is his name;
^(H)and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
    ^(I)the God of the whole earth he is called.
⁶^(J)For the Lord has called you
    like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
    says your God.
⁷^(K)For a brief moment I deserted you,
    but with great compassion I will gather you.
⁸^(L)In overflowing anger for a moment
    I hid my face from you,
^(M)but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
    says the Lord, your Redeemer.

⁹“This is like ^(N)the days of Noah^[a] to me:
    as I swore that the waters of Noah
    should no more go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,
    and will not rebuke you.
¹⁰For the mountains may depart
    and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
    and ^(O)my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

¹¹^(P)“O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,
    behold, ^(Q)I will set your stones in antimony,
    ^(R)and lay your foundations with sapphires.^[b]
¹²I will make your pinnacles of agate,^[c]
    your gates of carbuncles,^[d]
    and all your wall of precious stones.
¹³^(S)All your children ^(T)shall be taught by the Lord,
    ^(U)and 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.
¹⁵^(V)If anyone stirs up strife,
    it is not from me;
whoever stirs up strife with you
    shall fall because of you.
¹⁶Behold, I have created the smith
    who blows the fire of coals
    and produces a weapon for its purpose.
I have also created the ravager to destroy;
¹⁷    no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
    and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
    ^(W)and their vindication^[e] from me, declares the Lord.”

The Compassion of the Lord

55 ^(X)“Come, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
    ^(Y)come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
²^(Z)Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
³Incline your ear, and come to me;
    ^(AA)hear, that your soul may live;
^(AB)and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    ^(AC)my steadfast, sure love for ^(AD)David.
⁴^(AE)Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
    ^(AF)a leader and commander for the peoples.
⁵^(AG)Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
    and ^(AH)a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
    ^(AI)for he has glorified you.

⁶^(AJ)“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call upon him while he is near;
⁷let the wicked forsake his way,
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
⁸For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
⁹^(AK)For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰^(AL)“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    ^(AM)giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but ^(AN)it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

¹²^(AO)“For you shall go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
^(AP)the mountains and the hills before you
    shall break forth into singing,
    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
¹³^(AQ)Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
    instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
    an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 54:9 Some manuscripts For this is as the waters of Noah
Isaiah 54:11 Or lapis lazuli
Isaiah 54:12 Or jasper, or ruby
Isaiah 54:12 Or crystal
Isaiah 54:17 Or righteousness

2 Corinthians 6-7

English Standard Version

6 ^(A)Working together with him, then, ^(B)we appeal to you ^(C)not to receive the grace of God in vain. ²For he says,

^(D)“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, ^(E)now is the ^(F)favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ³We ^(G)put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, ⁴but ^(H)as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: ^(I)by great endurance, ^(J)in afflictions, ^(K)hardships, calamities, ⁵^(L)beatings, imprisonments, ^(M)riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; ⁶^(N)by purity, ^(O)knowledge, patience, kindness, ^(P)the Holy Spirit, ^(Q)genuine love; ⁷by ^(R)truthful speech, and ^(S)the power of God; with ^(T)the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; ⁸through honor and dishonor, ^(U)through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; ⁹as unknown, and ^(V)yet well known; ^(W)as dying, and behold, we live; ^(X)as punished, and yet not killed; ¹⁰^(Y)as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; ^(Z)as poor, yet making many rich; ^(AA)as having nothing, ^(AB)yet possessing everything.

¹¹We have spoken freely to you,^[a] Corinthians; ^(AC)our heart is wide open. ¹²You are not restricted by us, but ^(AD)you are restricted in your own affections. ¹³^(AE)In return (I speak ^(AF)as to children) widen your hearts also.

The Temple of the Living God

¹⁴^(AG)Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For ^(AH)what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or ^(AI)what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵^(AJ)What accord has Christ with Belial?^[b] Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For ^(AK)we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

^(AL)“I will make my dwelling among them and ^(AM)walk among them,
    and ^(AN)I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
¹⁷Therefore ^(AO)go out from their midst,
    and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
    then I will welcome you,
¹⁸^(AP)and I will be a father to you,
    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

7 Since we have these promises, beloved, ^(AQ)let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body^[c] and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Paul's Joy

²^(AR)Make room in your hearts^[d] for us. ^(AS)We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. ³I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that ^(AT)you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴I am acting with ^(AU)great boldness toward you; ^(AV)I have great pride in you; ^(AW)I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

⁵For even ^(AX)when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—^(AY)fighting without and fear within. ⁶But ^(AZ)God, who comforts the downcast, ^(BA)comforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ⁸For ^(BB)even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though ^(BC)I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. ⁹As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but ^(BD)because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

¹⁰For ^(BE)godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas ^(BF)worldly grief produces death. ¹¹For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, ^(BG)what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. ¹²So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one ^(BH)who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. ¹³Therefore ^(BI)we are comforted.

And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit ^(BJ)has been refreshed by you all. ¹⁴For ^(BK)whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you ^(BL)was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. ¹⁵And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers ^(BM)the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶I rejoice, because I have complete ^(BN)confidence in you.

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 6:11 Greek Our mouth is open to you
2 Corinthians 6:15 Greek Beliar
2 Corinthians 7:1 Greek flesh
2 Corinthians 7:2 Greek lacks in your hearts

Psalm 107:15-21

English Standard Version

¹⁵^(A)Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
¹⁶For he ^(B)shatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron.

¹⁷Some were ^(C)fools through their sinful ways,
    and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
¹⁸^(D)they loathed any kind of food,
    and they ^(E)drew near to ^(F)the gates of death.
¹⁹^(G)Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
²⁰He ^(H)sent out his word and ^(I)healed them,
    and ^(J)delivered them from their destruction.
²¹^(K)Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!

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Proverbs 23:19-21

English Standard Version

¹⁹Hear, my son, and ^(A)be wise,
    and ^(B)direct your heart in the way.
²⁰Be not among ^(C)drunkards^[a]
    or among ^(D)gluttonous eaters of meat,
²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
    and ^(E)slumber will clothe them with rags.