Isaiah 58-59

English Standard Version

True and False Fasting

58 “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
    ^(A)lift up your voice like a trumpet;
^(B)declare to my people their transgression,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
²^(C)Yet they seek me daily
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
    and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
    they delight to draw near to God.
³^(D)‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
    Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,^[a]
    ^(E)and oppress all your workers.
⁴Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
    and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
    will not make your voice to be heard on high.
⁵^(F)Is such the fast that I choose,
    ^(G)a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
    and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
    and a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    ^(H)to loose the bonds of wickedness,
    to undo the straps ^(I)of the yoke,
to let the oppressed^[b] go free,
    and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not ^(J)to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
    ^(K)and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸^(L)Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    ^(M)and your healing shall spring up speedily;
^(N)your righteousness shall go before you;
    ^(O)the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away ^(P)the yoke from your midst,
    ^(Q)the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰^(R)if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
^(S)then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be ^(T)like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.
¹²^(U)And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to dwell in.

¹³^(V)“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
    from doing your pleasure^[c] on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
    and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
    or seeking ^(W)your own pleasure,^[d] or talking idly;^[e]
¹⁴then you shall take delight in the Lord,
    ^(X)and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;^[f]
^(Y)I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
    ^(Z)for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Evil and Oppression

59 Behold, ^(AA)the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
    or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
²^(AB)but your iniquities have made a separation
    between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
    so that he does not hear.
³^(AC)For your hands are defiled with blood
    and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
    your tongue mutters wickedness.
⁴^(AD)No one enters suit justly;
    no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
    ^(AE)they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
⁵They hatch adders' eggs;
    they weave the spider's web;
he who eats their eggs dies,
    and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
⁶^(AF)Their webs will not serve as clothing;
    men will not cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
    and deeds of violence are in their hands.
⁷^(AG)Their feet run to evil,
    and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
    desolation and destruction are in their highways.
⁸The way of peace they do not know,
    and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
    ^(AH)no one who treads on them knows peace.

⁹Therefore justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not overtake us;
^(AI)we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
    and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
¹⁰^(AJ)We grope for the wall like the blind;
    we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
    ^(AK)among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
¹¹We all growl like bears;
    ^(AL)we moan and moan like doves;
^(AM)we hope for justice, but there is none;
    for salvation, but it is far from us.
¹²For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
    and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
    and we know our iniquities:
¹³transgressing, and denying the Lord,
    and turning back from following our God,
^(AN)speaking oppression and revolt,
    conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

Judgment and Redemption

¹⁴^(AO)Justice is turned back,
    and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
    and uprightness cannot enter.
¹⁵Truth is lacking,
    and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

The Lord saw it, and it displeased him^[g]
    that there was no justice.
¹⁶^(AP)He saw that there was no man,
    and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
    and his righteousness upheld him.
¹⁷^(AQ)He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
    and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
    and wrapped himself in ^(AR)zeal as a cloak.
¹⁸^(AS)According to their deeds, so will he repay,
    wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
    ^(AT)to the coastlands he will render repayment.
¹⁹^(AU)So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
    and his glory from the rising of the sun;
^(AV)for he will come like a rushing stream,^[h]
    which the wind of the Lord drives.

²⁰^(AW)“And ^(AX)a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.

²¹“And as for me, ^(AY)this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, ^(AZ)and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 58:3 Or pursue your own business
Isaiah 58:6 Or bruised
Isaiah 58:13 Or business
Isaiah 58:13 Or pursuing your own business
Isaiah 58:13 Hebrew or speaking a word
Isaiah 58:14 Or of the land
Isaiah 59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes
Isaiah 59:19 Hebrew a narrow river

2 Corinthians 8:16-9:15

English Standard Version

Commendation of Titus

¹⁶But ^(A)thanks be to God, ^(B)who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. ¹⁷For ^(C)he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going^[a] to you of his own accord. ¹⁸With him we are sending^[b] ^(D)the brother who is famous among ^(E)all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. ¹⁹And not only that, but he has been ^(F)appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of ^(G)grace that is being ministered by us, ^(H)for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. ²⁰We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, ²¹for ^(I)we aim at what is honorable ^(J)not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man. ²²And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. ²³As for Titus, he is ^(K)my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers^[c] of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴So give proof before the churches of your love and of ^(L)our boasting about you to these men.

The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem

9 Now ^(M)it is superfluous for me to write to you about ^(N)the ministry for the saints, ²for I know your readiness, ^(O)of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready ^(P)since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. ³But ^(Q)I am sending^[d] the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, ^(R)as I said you would be. ⁴Otherwise, if some Macedonians ^(S)come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. ⁵So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the ^(T)gift^[e] you have promised, so that it may be ready ^(U)as a willing gift, ^(V)not as an exaction.^[f]

The Cheerful Giver

⁶The point is this: ^(W)whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully^[g] will also reap bountifully. ⁷Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, ^(X)not reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^(Y)God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And ^(Z)God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency^[h] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written,

^(AA)“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰He who supplies ^(AB)seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and ^(AC)increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹^(AD)You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which ^(AE)through us will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹²For the ministry of this service is not only supplying ^(AF)the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. ¹³By their approval of this service, ^(AG)they^[i] will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your ^(AH)confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, ¹⁴while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. ¹⁵^(AI)Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 8:17 Or he went
2 Corinthians 8:18 Or we sent; also verse 22
2 Corinthians 8:23 Greek apostles
2 Corinthians 9:3 Or I have sent
2 Corinthians 9:5 Greek blessing; twice in this verse
2 Corinthians 9:5 Or a gift expecting something in return; Greek greed
2 Corinthians 9:6 Greek with blessings; twice in this verse
2 Corinthians 9:8 Or all contentment
2 Corinthians 9:13 Or you

Psalm 107:29-35

English Standard Version

²⁹He ^(A)made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.
³⁰Then they were glad that the waters^[a] were quiet,
    and he brought them to their desired haven.
³¹^(B)Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
³²Let them ^(C)extol him in ^(D)the congregation of the people,
    and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

³³He ^(E)turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,
³⁴^(F)a fruitful land into a salty waste,
    because of the evil of its inhabitants.
³⁵He ^(G)turns a desert into pools of water,
    ^(H)a parched land into springs of water.

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Footnotes

Psalm 107:30 Hebrew they

Proverbs 23:24-25

English Standard Version

²⁴^(A)The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
²⁵^(B)Let your father and mother be glad;
let ^(C)her who bore you rejoice.