Isaiah 59:9-21

English Standard Version

⁹Therefore justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not overtake us;
^(A)we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
    and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
¹⁰^(B)We grope for the wall like the blind;
    we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
    ^(C)among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
¹¹We all growl like bears;
    ^(D)we moan and moan like doves;
^(E)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,
^(F)speaking oppression and revolt,
    conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

Judgment and Redemption

¹⁴^(G)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^[a]
    that there was no justice.
¹⁶^(H)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^(I)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 ^(J)zeal as a cloak.
¹⁸^(K)According to their deeds, so will he repay,
    wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
    ^(L)to the coastlands he will render repayment.
¹⁹^(M)So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
    and his glory from the rising of the sun;
^(N)for he will come like a rushing stream,^[b]
    which the wind of the Lord drives.

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

²¹“And as for me, ^(Q)this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, ^(R)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.”

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Footnotes

Isaiah 59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes
Isaiah 59:19 Hebrew a narrow river

Colossians 2:1-15

English Standard Version

2 For I want you to know ^(A)how great a ^(B)struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, ²that ^(C)their hearts may be encouraged, being ^(D)knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of ^(E)God's mystery, which is Christ, ³^(F)in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴I say this in order ^(G)that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. ⁵For ^(H)though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your ^(I)good order and ^(J)the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive in Christ

⁶^(K)Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ⁷^(L)rooted and ^(M)built up in him and ^(N)established in the faith, just ^(O)as you were taught, abounding ^(P)in thanksgiving.

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive by ^(Q)philosophy and ^(R)empty deceit, according to ^(S)human tradition, according to the ^(T)elemental spirits^[a] of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For ^(U)in him the whole fullness of deity dwells ^(V)bodily, ¹⁰and ^(W)you have been filled in him, who is ^(X)the head of all rule and authority. ¹¹In him also ^(Y)you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by ^(Z)putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ¹²^(AA)having been buried with him in baptism, in which ^(AB)you were also raised with him through faith in ^(AC)the powerful working of God, ^(AD)who raised him from the dead. ¹³^(AE)And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God ^(AF)made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴by ^(AG)canceling ^(AH)the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵^(AI)He disarmed the rulers and authorities^[b] and ^(AJ)put them to open shame, by ^(AK)triumphing over them in him.^[c]