Isaiah 59-60

New King James Version

Separated from God

59 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not ^(A)shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
²But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will ^(B)not hear.
³For ^(C)your hands are defiled with ^[a]blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue has muttered perversity.

⁴No one calls for justice,
Nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in ^(D)empty words and speak lies;
^(E)They conceive ^[b]evil and bring forth iniquity.
⁵They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.

⁶^(F)Their webs will not become garments,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And the act of violence is in their hands.
⁷^(G)Their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed ^(H)innocent blood;
^(I)Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
Wasting and ^(J)destruction are in their paths.
⁸The way of ^(K)peace they have not known,
And there is no justice in their ways;
^(L)They have made themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.

Sin Confessed

⁹Therefore justice is far from us,
Nor does righteousness overtake us;
^(M)We look for light, but there is darkness!
For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
¹⁰^(N)We grope for the wall like the blind,
And we grope as if we had no eyes;
We stumble at noonday as at twilight;
We are as dead men in desolate places.
¹¹We all growl like bears,
And ^(O)moan sadly like doves;
We look for justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
¹²For our ^(P)transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And as for our iniquities, we know them:
¹³In transgressing and lying against the Lord,
And departing from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering ^(Q)from the heart words of falsehood.
¹⁴Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands afar off;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
¹⁵So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a ^(R)prey.

The Redeemer of Zion

Then the Lord saw it, and ^[c]it displeased Him
That there was no justice.
¹⁶^(S)He saw that there was no man,
And ^(T)wondered that there was no intercessor;
^(U)Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
¹⁷^(V)For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
¹⁸^(W)According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
Fury to His adversaries,
Recompense to His enemies;
The coastlands He will fully repay.
¹⁹^(X)So shall they fear
The name of the Lord from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in ^(Y)like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

²⁰“The^(Z) Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,”
Says the Lord.

²¹“As^(AA) for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”

The Gentiles Bless Zion

60 Arise, ^(AB)shine;
For your light has come!
And ^(AC)the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
²For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
³The ^(AD)Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.

⁴“Lift^(AE) up your eyes all around, and see:
They all gather together, ^(AF)they come to you;
Your sons shall come from afar,
And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
⁵Then you shall see and become radiant,
And your heart shall swell with joy;
Because ^(AG)the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.
⁶The multitude of camels shall cover your land,
The dromedaries of Midian and ^(AH)Ephah;
All those from ^(AI)Sheba shall come;
They shall bring ^(AJ)gold and incense,
And they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord.
⁷All the flocks of ^(AK)Kedar shall be gathered together to you,
The rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
They shall ascend with ^(AL)acceptance on My altar,
And ^(AM)I will glorify the house of My glory.

⁸“Who are these who fly like a cloud,
And like doves to their roosts?
⁹^(AN)Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me;
And the ships of Tarshish will come first,
^(AO)To bring your sons from afar,
^(AP)Their silver and their gold with them,
To the name of the Lord your God,
And to the Holy One of Israel,
^(AQ)Because He has glorified you.

¹⁰“The^(AR) sons of foreigners shall build up your walls,
^(AS)And their kings shall minister to you;
For ^(AT)in My wrath I struck you,
^(AU)But in My favor I have had mercy on you.
¹¹Therefore your gates ^(AV)shall be open continually;
They shall not be shut day or night,
That men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles,
And their kings in procession.
¹²^(AW)For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish,
And those nations shall be utterly ruined.

¹³“The^(AX) glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
The cypress, the pine, and the box tree together,
To beautify the place of My sanctuary;
And I will make ^(AY)the place of My feet glorious.
¹⁴Also the sons of those who afflicted you
Shall come ^(AZ)bowing to you,
And all those who despised you shall ^(BA)fall prostrate at the soles of your feet;
And they shall call you The City of the Lord,
^(BB)Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵“Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
So that no one went through you,
I will make you an eternal excellence,
A joy of many generations.
¹⁶You shall drink the milk of the Gentiles,
^(BC)And milk the breast of kings;
You shall know that ^(BD)I, the Lord, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

¹⁷“Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
Instead of iron I will bring silver,
Instead of wood, bronze,
And instead of stones, iron.
I will also make your officers peace,
And your magistrates righteousness.
¹⁸Violence shall no longer be heard in your land,
Neither ^[d]wasting nor destruction within your borders;
But you shall call ^(BE)your walls Salvation,
And your gates Praise.

God the Glory of His People

¹⁹“The ^(BF)sun shall no longer be your light by day,
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you;
But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light,
And ^(BG)your God your glory.
²⁰^(BH)Your sun shall no longer go down,
Nor shall your moon withdraw itself;
For the Lord will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning shall be ended.
²¹^(BI)Also your people shall all be righteous;
^(BJ)They shall inherit the land forever,
^(BK)The branch of My planting,
^(BL)The work of My hands,
That I may be glorified.
²²^(BM)A little one shall become a thousand,
And a small one a strong nation.
I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 59:3 bloodshed
Isaiah 59:4 trouble
Isaiah 59:15 Lit. it was evil in His eyes
Isaiah 60:18 devastation

Psalm 115:1-8

New King James Version

The Futility of Idols and the Trustworthiness of God

115 Not ^(A)unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.
²Why should the ^[a]Gentiles say,
^(B)“So where is their God?”

³^(C)But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
⁴^(D)Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
⁵They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
⁶They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
⁷They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
⁸^(E)Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Psalm 115:2 nations

Proverbs 26:23

New King James Version

²³Fervent lips with a wicked heart
Are like earthenware covered with silver dross.

Read full chapter

Proverbs 26:23 in all English translations

Ephesians 5:17-33

New King James Version

¹⁷^(A)Therefore do not be unwise, but ^(B)understand ^(C)what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And ^(D)do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹speaking to one another ^(E)in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making ^(F)melody in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰^(G)giving thanks always for all things to God the Father ^(H)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹^(I)submitting to one another in the fear of ^[a]God.

Marriage—Christ and the Church^(J)

²²Wives, ^(K)submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³For ^(L)the husband is head of the wife, as also ^(M)Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. ²⁴Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands ^(N)in everything.

²⁵^(O)Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and ^(P)gave Himself for her, ²⁶that He might ^[b]sanctify and cleanse her ^(Q)with the washing of water ^(R)by the word, ²⁷^(S)that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, ^(T)not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. ³⁰For ^(U)we are members of His body, ^[c]of His flesh and of His bones. ³¹^(V)“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the ^(W)two shall become one flesh.” ³²This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. ³³Nevertheless ^(X)let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she ^(Y)respects her husband.