Isaiah 59:9-15

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.

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Footnotes

Isaiah 59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes

Micah 6:6-8

English Standard Version

What Does the Lord Require?

⁶^(A)“With what shall I come before the Lord,
    and bow myself before ^(B)God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
⁷^(C)Will the Lord be pleased with^[a] thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
^(D)Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
⁸He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and ^(E)what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,^[b]
    and to ^(F)walk humbly with your God?

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Footnotes

Micah 6:7 Or Will the Lord accept
Micah 6:8 Or steadfast love

Luke 4:16-21

English Standard Version

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

¹⁶^(A)And he came to ^(B)Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And ^(C)as was his custom, ^(D)he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up ^(E)to read. ¹⁷And ^(F)the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸^(G)“The Spirit of the Lord ^(H)is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to ^(I)proclaim good news to the poor.
^(J)He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and ^(K)recovering of sight to the blind,
    ^(L)to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
¹⁹^(M)to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

²⁰And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and ^(N)sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were ^(O)fixed on him. ²¹And he began to say to them, “Today ^(P)this Scripture ^(Q)has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

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Matthew 7:12-14

English Standard Version

The Golden Rule

¹²“So ^(A)whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is ^(B)the Law and the Prophets.

¹³^(C)“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy^[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and ^(D)the way is hard that leads to life, and ^(E)those who find it are few.