Isaiah 39:1-41:16
Tree of Life Version
Hezekiah Shows Off
39 At that time Merodach-baladan, son of King Baladan of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 Now Hezekiah was pleased with them, so he showed them his treasure house—the silver and the gold, the spices and the precious oil—and his whole armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”
Hezekiah replied, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.”
4 Then he asked, “What have they seen in your house?”
Hezekiah said, “They have seen everything in my house. There is nothing among my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah: “Hear the word of Adonai-Tzva’ot, 6 ‘Behold, days are coming when everything in your house, which your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon—nothing will be left,’ says Adonai. 7 ‘Moreover, some of your descendants—who will issue from you, whom you will father—will be taken away and will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Adonai which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “For there will be shalom and security in my days.”
Comfort, Proclaim Good News
40 “Comfort, comfort My people,”
says your God.
2 Speak kindly to the heart of Jerusalem
and proclaim to her
that her warfare has ended,
that her iniquity has been removed.
For she has received from Adonai’s hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice cries out in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way of Adonai,
Make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.[a]
4 Every valley will be lifted up,
every mountain and hill made low,
the rough ground will be a plain
and the rugged terrain smooth.
5 The glory of Adonai will be revealed,
and all flesh will see it together.”
For the mouth of Adonai has spoken.
6 A voice is saying, “Cry out!”
So I said, “What shall I cry out?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades.
For the breath of Adonai blows on it.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades.
But the word of our God stands forever.”[b]
9 Get yourself up on a high mountain,
you who bring good news to Zion!
Lift up your voice with strength,
you who bring good news to Jerusalem!
Lift it up! Do not fear!
Say to the cities of Judah:
“Behold your God!”
10 Look, Adonai Elohim comes with might,
with His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him,
and His recompense before Him.[c]
11 Like a shepherd, He tends His flock.[d]
He gathers the lambs in His arms
carries them in his bosom,
and gently guides nursing ewes.
Who Is Like Him?
12 Who has measured the waters in the palm of His hand,
or measured out heaven with a span,
or calculated the dust of the earth in a measure,
or weighed the mountains in scales,
or the hills in a balance?
13 Who can fathom the Ruach Adonai?
Or instruct Him as His counselor?
14 With whom did He consult,
and who instructed Him?
Who taught Him in the path of justice
or taught Him knowledge?
Who informed Him about
the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and count as a speck of dust on the scales.
Behold, the islands weigh as fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not enough to burn,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him.
By Him they are accounted null and void.
18 To whom then will you liken God?
To what likeness will you compare Him?
19 To an idol? A craftsman casts it,
a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
20 One too poor for such an offering
chooses wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to prepare him an idol that will not totter.
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 He sits above the circle of the earth—
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers—
He stretches out the skies like a curtain,
spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 He reduces princes to nothing.
He makes the judges of the earth a confusion.
24 Scarcely are they planted,
scarcely are they sown,
scarcely their stem takes root in the earth,
when He blows on them and they wither,
and a storm carries them off as stubble.
25 “To whom then will you liken Me?
Or who is My equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see!
Who created these?
The One who brings out their host by number,
the One who calls them all by name.
Because of His great strength and vast power,
not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from Adonai,
and the justice due me escapes
the notice of my God”?
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Adonai is the eternal God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not grow tired or weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives strength to the weary,
and to one without vigor He adds might.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31 but they who wait for Adonai
will renew their strength.
They will soar up with wings as eagles.
They will run, and not grow weary.
They will walk, and not be faint.
Coming Conqueror
41 “Be silent before Me, O islands!
Let peoples renew their strength.
Let them draw near, then let them speak.
Let us come together for judgment.
2 Who has stirred up one from the east?
He calls justice to His feet.
He gives nations over to him and subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword, as driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them, passing on safely,
by a path his feet had not traveled.
4 Who has performed and done it?
Calling forth the generations from the beginning,
I, Adonai, am the first and the last,
I am He!”
5 The coastlands have seen and fear.
The ends of the earth tremble.
They draw near and come.
6 Each one helps his neighbor
and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 The craftsman encourages the smith,
who smooths with the hammer,
who strikes with the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It’s good!”
as he fastens it with nails so that it will not totter.
My Servant, My Friend
8 “But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
descendant of Abraham, My friend—
9 I took hold of you from the ends of the earth,
and called from its uttermost parts,
and said to you, ‘You are My servant—
I have chosen you, not rejected you.[e]
10 Fear not, for I am with you,
be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you.
Surely I will help you.
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
11 Behold, all who were angry at you
will be ashamed and disgraced.
Those who quarrel with you
will be as nothing and perish.
12 Though you will look for those who contended with you,
you will not find them.
Those who warred against you
will be as nothing at all.
13 For I am Adonai your God who upholds your right hand,
who says to you,
“Fear not, I will help you.”
14 Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I will help you.”
It is a declaration of Adonai,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 “Look, I will make you a threshing sledge,
new, with sharp, double-edged spikes.
You will thresh the mountains and grind them up,
and will make the hills like chaff.
16 You will winnow them,
and a wind will carry them away,
a storm-wind will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in Adonai.
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:3 cf. Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4-6; John 1:23.
- Isaiah 40:8 cf. 1 Pet. 1:22-25.
- Isaiah 40:10 cf. Rev. 22:12.
- Isaiah 40:11 cf. John 10:11.
- Isaiah 41:9 cf. Rom. 11:1-2.
Ephesians 1
Tree of Life Version
Greetings
1 Paul, an emissary of Messiah Yeshua by God’s will,
To the kedoshim in Ephesus[a]—those trusting in Messiah Yeshua:
2 Grace and shalom to you, from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah!
God’s Glorious Grace
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Messiah. 4 He chose us in the Messiah before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love. 5 He predestined us for adoption as sons through Messiah Yeshua, in keeping with the good pleasure of His will— 6 to the glorious praise of His grace, with which He favored us through the One He loves!
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood—the removal of trespasses—in keeping with the richness of His grace 8 that He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight, 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, in keeping with His good pleasure that He planned in Messiah. 10 The plan of the fullness of times is to bring all things together in the Messiah—both things in heaven and things on earth, all in Him. 11 In Him we also were chosen,[b] predestined according to His plan. He keeps working out all things according to the purpose of His will— 12 so that we, who were first to put our hope in Messiah, might be for His glorious praise.
13 After you heard the message of truth—the Good News of your salvation—and when you put your trust in Him, you were sealed with the promised Ruach ha-Kodesh. 14 He is the guarantee of our inheritance, until the redemption of His possession—to His glorious praise!
God’s Glorious Power Working in Us
15 Therefore, ever since I heard of your trust in the Lord Yeshua and of your love for all the kedoshim, 16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I mention you in my prayers— 17 that the God of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, our glorious Father, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in knowing Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what is the richness of His glorious inheritance in the kedoshim, 19 and what is His exceedingly great power toward us who keep trusting Him—in keeping with the working of His mighty strength.
20 This power He exercised in Messiah when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in heaven. [c] 21 He is far above any ruler, authority, power, leader, and every name that is named—not only in the olam ha-zeh but also in the olam ha-ba. 22 God placed all things under Messiah’s feet[d] and appointed Him as head over all things for His community— 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ephesians 1:1 Some mss. omit in Ephesus.
- Ephesians 1:11 cf. Deut. 9:29; 32:8-9.
- Ephesians 1:21 cf. Ps. 110:1.
- Ephesians 1:22 cf. Ps. 8:6.
Psalm 66
Tree of Life Version
How Awesome Your Deeds
Psalm 66
1 For the music director, a song, a psalm.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth!
2 Sing the glory of His Name—
make His praise glorious.
3 Say to God:
“How awesome are Your deeds!
Because of Your great power,
Your enemies cringe before You.
4 All the earth bows down to You,
and sings praises to You.
All sing praises to Your Name.” Selah
5 Come and see the works of God.
How awesome His deeds for the children of Adam!
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
They crossed the river on foot.
There let us rejoice in Him!
7 He rules by His might forever.
His eyes keep watch on the nations.
Let no rebels exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples!
Let the sound of His praise be heard.
9 Keeping our soul in life,
He has not let our foot slip.
10 For You have tested us, O God—
You have purified us, as silver is refined.
11 You brought us into a net.
You laid a burden on our backs.
12 You caused men to ride over our heads.
We went through fire and water.
Yet You brought us out to superabundance.
13 With burnt offerings I will come to Your House,
fulfilling my vows to You
14 that my lips uttered and mouth spoke,
when I was in trouble.
15 To You I will present burnt offerings of fat animals,
with the sweet smoke of rams.
I will offer bulls with goats. Selah
16 Come and listen, all you who fear God.
I will tell what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried out to Him with my mouth,
and exaltation was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 But surely God has heard.
He has listened to my voice in prayer.
20 Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer,
nor His lovingkindness from me.
Proverbs 23:25-28
Tree of Life Version
25 Let your father and your mother be glad,
let she who bore you rejoice!
26 My son, give your heart to me,
and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit,
an adulterous woman is a narrow pit.
28 Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber,
and increases the unfaithful among men.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.