Isaiah's Vision of the Lord

6 In the year that ^(A)King Uzziah died I ^(B)saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train^[a] of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had ^(C)six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

⁴ And ^(F)the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and ^(G)the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! ^(H)For I am lost; ^(I)for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the ^(J)King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he ^(K)touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for ^(L)us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” ⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7 In the days of ^(V)Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, ^(W)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(X)Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. ² When the house of David was told, ^(Y)“Syria is in league with^{[h] (Z)}Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz^[i] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³ And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and ^(AA)Shear-jashub^[j] your son, at the end of ^(AB)the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. ⁴ And say to him, ^(AC)‘Be careful, ^(AD)be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two ^(AE)smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and ^(AF)the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Syria, with Ephraim and ^(AG)the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it^[k] for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ thus says the Lord God:

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: ¹¹ “Ask ^(AL)a sign of the Lord your^[m] God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³ And he^[n] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you ^(AM)weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the ^(AN)Lord himself will give you a sign. ^(AO)Behold, the ^(AP)virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^(AQ)Immanuel.^{[o] 15} He shall eat ^(AR)curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ^16 (AS)For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ^(AT)deserted. ^17 (AU)The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that ^(AV)Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will ^(AW)whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and ^(AX)in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[p]

²⁰ In that day ^(AY)the Lord will ^(AZ)shave with a razor that is ^(BA)hired beyond ^(BB)the River^[q]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

^21 (BC)In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²² and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat ^(BD)curds and honey.

²³ In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[r] of silver, will become ^(BE)briers and thorns. ^24 (BF)With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ^25 (BG)And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^(BH)of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

The Coming Assyrian Invasion

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet ^(BI)and write on it in common characters,^[s] ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’^{[t] 2} And ^(BJ)I will get reliable witnesses, ^(BK)Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”

³ And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, ^(BL)“Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; ^4 (BM)for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the ^(BN)wealth of ^(BO)Damascus and the spoil of ^(BP)Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

⁵ The Lord spoke to me again: ⁶ “Because this people has refused the waters of ^(BQ)Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over ^(BR)Rezin and the son of Remaliah, ⁷ therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them ^(BS)the waters of ^(BT)the River,^[u] mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it ^(BU)will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, ⁸ and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, ^(BV)reaching even to the neck, and its ^(BW)outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, ^(BX)O Immanuel.”

Fear God, Wait for the Lord

¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and ^(CB)warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: ¹² “Do not call ^(CC)conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and ^(CD)do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. ¹³ But the Lord of hosts, ^(CE)him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. ¹⁴ And he will become a ^(CF)sanctuary and ^(CG)a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ And many ^(CH)shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

¹⁶ Bind up ^(CI)the testimony; ^(CJ)seal the teaching^[y] among my disciples. ¹⁷ I will ^(CK)wait for the Lord, who is ^(CL)hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. ^18 (CM)Behold, I and ^(CN)the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. ¹⁹ And when they say to you, “Inquire of the ^(CO)mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of ^(CP)the dead on behalf of the living? ^20 (CQ)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no ^(CR)dawn. ²¹ They will pass through the land,^[z] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against^[aa] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. ^22 (CS)And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into ^(CT)thick darkness.

The Resurrection

20 ^(A)Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that ^(B)the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, ^(C)the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and ^(D)we do not know where they have laid him.” ^3 (E)So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. ⁴ Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ And stooping to look in, he saw ^(F)the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and ^(G)the face cloth, which had been on Jesus'^[a] head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, ^(H)who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet ^(I)they did not understand the Scripture, ^(J)that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. ¹² And ^(K)she saw ^(L)two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. ¹³ They said to her, ^(M)“Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, ^(N)“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴ Having said this, she turned around and ^(O)saw Jesus standing, ^(P)but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, ^(Q)“Woman, why are you weeping? ^(R)Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be ^(S)the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,^{[b] (T)}“Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to ^(U)my brothers and say to them, ^(V)‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to ^(W)my God and your God.’” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene ^(X)went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

^19 (Y)On the evening ^(Z)of that day, the first day of the week, ^(AA)the doors being locked where the disciples were ^(AB)for fear of the Jews,^[c] Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ^(AC)“Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When he had said this, ^(AD)he showed them his hands and his side. Then ^(AE)the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As ^(AF)the Father has sent me, ^(AG)even so I am sending you.” ²² And when he had said this, he ^(AH)breathed on them and said to them, ^(AI)“Receive the Holy Spirit. ^23 (AJ)If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Jesus and Thomas

²⁴ Now ^(AK)Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,^[d] was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, ^(AL)“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

²⁶ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. ^(AM)Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ^(AN)“Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, ^(AO)“Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” ²⁸ Thomas answered him, ^(AP)“My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? ^(AQ)Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of This Book

^30 (AR)Now Jesus did many other signs ^(AS)in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ^31 (AT)but these are written so that you may ^(AU)believe that Jesus is the Christ, ^(AV)the Son of God, and that by believing ^(AW)you may have life ^(AX)in his name.