Isaiah 65-66

English Standard Version

Judgment and Salvation

65 ^(A)I was ready to be sought by ^(B)those who did not ask for me;
    I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,”
    to a nation that was not called by^[a] my name.
²^(C)I spread out my hands all the day
    to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
    following their own devices;
³a people who provoke me
    to my face continually,
^(D)sacrificing in gardens
    and making offerings on bricks;
⁴who sit in tombs,
    and spend the night in secret places;
^(E)who eat pig's flesh,
    and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
⁵who say, “Keep to yourself,
    do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
^(F)These are a smoke in my nostrils,
    a fire that burns all the day.
⁶Behold, ^(G)it is written before me:
    ^(H)“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
^(I)I will indeed repay into their lap
⁷    both your iniquities ^(J)and your fathers' iniquities together,
says the Lord;
^(K)because they made offerings on the mountains
    ^(L)and insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their lap
    payment for their former deeds.”^[b]

⁸Thus says the Lord:
^(M)“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
    and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
    for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants' sake,
    ^(N)and not destroy them all.
⁹^(O)I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
    and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
    and my servants shall dwell there.
¹⁰^(P)Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
    and ^(Q)the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
    for my people ^(R)who have sought me.
¹¹But ^(S)you who forsake the Lord,
    who forget ^(T)my holy mountain,
who ^(U)set a table for Fortune
    and ^(V)fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
¹²I will destine you to the sword,
    and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
^(W)because, when I called, you did not answer;
    when I spoke, you did not listen,
^(X)but you did what was evil in my eyes
    and chose what I did not delight in.”

¹³Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, ^(Y)my servants shall eat,
    but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
    but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
    but you shall be put to shame;
¹⁴behold, ^(Z)my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
    but you shall cry out for pain of heart
    and shall wail for breaking of spirit.
¹⁵You shall leave your name to ^(AA)my chosen ^(AB)for a curse,
    and the Lord God will put you to death,
    but his servants ^(AC)he will call by another name,
¹⁶so that he who ^(AD)blesses himself in the land
    shall bless himself by ^(AE)the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
    shall swear by ^(AF)the God of truth;
^(AG)because the former troubles are forgotten
    and are hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

¹⁷“For behold, ^(AH)I create new heavens
    and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
    or come into mind.
¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever
    in that which I create;
for behold, ^(AI)I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
    and her people to be a gladness.
¹⁹^(AJ)I will rejoice in Jerusalem
    and be glad in my people;
^(AK)no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
    and the cry of distress.
²⁰No more shall there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for ^(AL)the young man shall die a hundred years old,
    and ^(AM)the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
²¹^(AN)They shall build houses and inhabit them;
    they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²²^(AO)They shall not build and another inhabit;
    they shall not plant and another eat;
^(AP)for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
    and my chosen shall long enjoy^[c] the work of their hands.
²³^(AQ)They shall not labor in vain
    ^(AR)or bear children for calamity,^[d]
for ^(AS)they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
    and their descendants with them.
²⁴^(AT)Before they call I will answer;
    ^(AU)while they are yet speaking I will hear.
²⁵^(AV)The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
    the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
    and ^(AW)dust shall be the serpent's food.
^(AX)They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

The Humble and Contrite in Spirit

66 ^(AY)Thus says the Lord:
^(AZ)“Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
    and what is the place of my rest?
²^(BA)All these things my hand has made,
    and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
^(BB)But this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.

³^(BC)“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
    he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers ^(BD)pig's blood;
    he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
^(BE)These have chosen their own ways,
    and their soul delights in their abominations;
⁴^(BF)I also will choose harsh treatment for them
    and bring ^(BG)their fears upon them,
^(BH)because when I called, no one answered,
    when I spoke, they did not listen;
^(BI)but they did what was evil in my eyes
    and chose that in which I did not delight.”

⁵Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
    and cast you out for my name's sake
have said, ^(BJ)‘Let the Lord be glorified,
    that we may see your joy’;
    but it is they who shall be put to shame.

⁶“The sound of an uproar from the city!
A sound from the temple!
The sound of the Lord,
^(BK)rendering recompense to his enemies!

Rejoice with Jerusalem

⁷^(BL)“Before she was in labor
    she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
    she delivered a son.
⁸Who has heard such a thing?
    Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
    Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For ^(BM)as soon as Zion was in labor
    she brought forth her children.
⁹Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
    says the Lord;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
    says your God.

¹⁰^(BN)“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
    all you who mourn over her;
¹¹that you may nurse and be satisfied
    from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
    from her glorious abundance.”^[e]

¹²For thus says the Lord:
^(BO)“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
    and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and ^(BP)you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
    and bounced upon her knees.
¹³As one whom his mother comforts,
    so ^(BQ)I will comfort you;
    you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
¹⁴You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
    ^(BR)your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and ^(BS)the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,
    and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

Final Judgment and Glory of the Lord

¹⁵“For behold, ^(BT)the Lord will come in fire,
    and ^(BU)his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
    and his rebuke with flames of fire.
¹⁶For ^(BV)by fire ^(BW)will the Lord enter into judgment,
    and by his sword, with all flesh;
    and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

¹⁷^(BX)“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, ^(BY)eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the Lord.

¹⁸“For I know^[f] their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming^[g] ^(BZ)to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, ¹⁹and I will set a sign among them. And from them ^(CA)I will send survivors to the nations, to ^(CB)Tarshish, ^(CC)Pul, and ^(CD)Lud, who draw the bow, to ^(CE)Tubal and ^(CF)Javan, ^(CG)to the coastlands far away, ^(CH)that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. ²⁰^(CI)And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations ^(CJ)as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. ²¹^(CK)And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord.

²²“For as ^(CL)the new heavens and the new earth
    that I make
shall remain before me, says the Lord,
    so ^(CM)shall your offspring and your name remain.
²³^(CN)From new moon to new moon,
    and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the Lord.

²⁴“And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For ^(CO)their worm shall not die, ^(CP)their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 65:1 Or that did not call upon
Isaiah 65:7 Or I will first measure their payment into their lap
Isaiah 65:22 Hebrew shall wear out
Isaiah 65:23 Or for sudden terror
Isaiah 66:11 Or breast
Isaiah 66:18 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew lacks know
Isaiah 66:18 Hebrew and it is coming

Proverbs 26

English Standard Version

26 Like snow in summer or ^(A)rain in harvest,
    so ^(B)honor is ^(C)not fitting for a fool.
²Like ^(D)a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
    ^(E)a curse that is causeless does not alight.
³^(F)A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
    and ^(G)a rod for the back of fools.
⁴^(H)Answer not a fool according to his folly,
    lest you be like him yourself.
⁵^(I)Answer a fool according to his folly,
    lest he be ^(J)wise in his own eyes.
⁶Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool
    cuts off his own feet and ^(K)drinks violence.
⁷Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless,
    is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
⁸Like one who binds the stone in the sling
    is ^(L)one who gives honor to a fool.
⁹Like ^(M)a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard
    is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
¹⁰Like an archer who wounds everyone
    is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.^[a]
¹¹Like ^(N)a dog that returns to his vomit
    is ^(O)a fool who repeats his folly.
¹²Do you see a man who is ^(P)wise in his own eyes?
    ^(Q)There is more hope for a fool than for him.
¹³^(R)The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
    There is a lion in the streets!”
¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges,
    so does a sluggard on his bed.
¹⁵^(S)The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.
¹⁶The sluggard is ^(T)wiser in his own eyes
    ^(U)than seven men who can answer sensibly.
¹⁷Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
    is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
¹⁸Like a madman who throws ^(V)firebrands, arrows, and death
¹⁹is the man who deceives his neighbor
    and says, “I am only joking!”
²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out,
    and where there is no ^(W)whisperer, ^(X)quarreling ceases.
²¹As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
    so is ^(Y)a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
²²^(Z)The words of ^(AA)a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
    they go down into the inner parts of the body.
²³^(AB)Like the ^(AC)glaze^[b] covering an earthen vessel
    are fervent lips with an evil heart.
²⁴Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips
    and harbors deceit in his heart;
²⁵^(AD)when he speaks graciously, believe him not,
    for there are ^(AE)seven abominations in his heart;
²⁶though his hatred be covered with deception,
    his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
²⁷^(AF)Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,
    and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.
²⁸A lying tongue hates its victims,
    and a flattering mouth works ruin.

Footnotes

Proverbs 26:10 Or hires a fool or passersby
Proverbs 26:23 By revocalization; Hebrew silver of dross

2 Timothy 1

English Standard Version

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(B)by the will of God according to ^(C)the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

²To Timothy, ^(D)my beloved child:

^(E)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You

³^(F)I thank God ^(G)whom I serve, as did my ancestors, ^(H)with a clear conscience, as I remember you ^(I)constantly in my prayers night and day. ⁴^(J)As I remember your tears, ^(K)I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I am reminded of ^(L)your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and ^(M)your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. ⁶For this reason I remind you ^(N)to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, ⁷for God gave us ^(O)a spirit not of fear but ^(P)of power and love and self-control.

⁸Therefore ^(Q)do not be ashamed of ^(R)the testimony about our Lord, nor of ^(S)me his prisoner, but ^(T)share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ⁹^(U)who saved us and ^(V)called us to^[a] a holy calling, ^(W)not because of our works but because of ^(X)his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus ^(Y)before the ages began,^[b] ¹⁰and which now has ^(Z)been manifested through ^(AA)the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, ^(AB)who abolished death and ^(AC)brought life and ^(AD)immortality to light through the gospel, ¹¹^(AE)for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, ¹²^(AF)which is why I suffer as I do. But ^(AG)I am not ashamed, for ^(AH)I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until ^(AI)that day ^(AJ)what has been entrusted to me.^[c] ¹³^(AK)Follow ^(AL)the pattern of ^(AM)the sound^[d] words ^(AN)that you have heard from me, in ^(AO)the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴By the Holy Spirit ^(AP)who dwells within us, guard ^(AQ)the good deposit entrusted to you.

¹⁵You are aware that ^(AR)all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶May the Lord grant mercy to ^(AS)the household of Onesiphorus, for he often ^(AT)refreshed me and was not ashamed of ^(AU)my chains, ¹⁷but when he arrived in Rome ^(AV)he searched for me earnestly and found me— ¹⁸may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on ^(AW)that day!—and you well know all the service he ^(AX)rendered at Ephesus.