God’s Ancient Plan to Redeem Israel

12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob,
And Israel, My called:
I am He, (A)I am the (B)First,
I am also the Last.
13 Indeed (C)My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;
When (D)I call to them,
They stand up together.

14 “All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
(E)The Lord loves him;
(F)He shall do His pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken;
Yes, (G)I have called him,
I have brought him, and his way will prosper.

16 “Come near to Me, hear this:
(H)I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
From the time that it was, I was there.
And now (I)the Lord God and His Spirit
[a]Have sent Me.”

17 Thus says (J)the Lord, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
Who teaches you to profit,
(K)Who leads you by the way you should go.
18 (L)Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
(M)Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 (N)Your descendants also would have been like the sand,
And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand;
His name would not have been cut off
Nor destroyed from before Me.”

20 (O)Go forth from Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With a voice of singing,
Declare, proclaim this,
Utter it to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has (P)redeemed
His servant Jacob!”
21 And they (Q)did not thirst
When He led them through the deserts;
He (R)caused the waters to flow from the rock for them;
He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.

22 There(S) is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

The Servant, the Light to the Gentiles

49 “Listen, (T)O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
(U)The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the [b]matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
And He has made (V)My mouth like a sharp sword;
(W)In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me (X)a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”

“And He said to me,
(Y)‘You are My servant, O Israel,
(Z)In whom I will be glorified.’
(AA)Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my [c]just reward is with the Lord,
And my [d]work with my God.’ ”

“And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel (AB)is [e]gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a (AC)light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

Thus says the Lord,
The Redeemer of Israel, [f]their Holy One,
(AD)To Him [g]whom man despises,
To Him whom the nation abhors,
To the Servant of rulers:
(AE)“Kings shall see and arise,
Princes also shall worship,
Because of the Lord who is faithful,
The Holy One of Israel;
And He has chosen You.”

Thus says the Lord:

“In an (AF)acceptable[h] time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will [i]preserve You (AG)and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate [j]heritages;
That You may say (AH)to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither (AI)hunger nor thirst,
(AJ)Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them (AK)will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 (AL)I will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12 Surely (AM)these shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”

13 (AN)Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.

God Will Remember Zion

14 (AO)But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can(AP) a woman forget her nursing child,
[k]And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
(AQ)Yet I will not forget you.
16 See, (AR)I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.
17 Your [l]sons shall make haste;
Your destroyers and those who laid you waste
Shall go away from you.
18 (AS)Lift up your eyes, look around and see;
All these gather together and come to you.
As I live,” says the Lord,
“You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all (AT)as an ornament,
And bind them on you as a bride does.

19 “For your waste and desolate places,
And the land of your destruction,
(AU)Will even now be too small for the inhabitants;
And those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20 (AV)The children you will have,
(AW)After you have lost the others,
Will say again in your ears,
‘The place is too small for me;
Give me a place where I may dwell.’
21 Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who has begotten these for me,
Since I have lost my children and am desolate,
A captive, and wandering to and fro?
And who has brought these up?
There I was, left alone;
But these, where were they?’ ”

22 (AX)Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My [m]standard for the peoples;
They shall bring your sons in their [n]arms,
And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
23 (AY)Kings shall be your foster fathers,
And their queens your nursing mothers;
They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth,
And (AZ)lick up the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord,
(BA)For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”

24 (BB)Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,
Or the captives [o]of the righteous be delivered?

25 But thus says the Lord:

“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
And the prey of the terrible be delivered;
For I will contend with him who contends with you,
And I will save your children.
26 I will (BC)feed those who oppress you with their own flesh,
And they shall be drunk with their own (BD)blood as with sweet wine.
All flesh (BE)shall know
That I, the Lord, am your Savior,
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

The Servant, Israel’s Hope

50 Thus says the Lord:

“Where is (BF)the certificate of your mother’s divorce,
Whom I have put away?
Or which of My (BG)creditors is it to whom I have sold you?
For your iniquities (BH)you have sold yourselves,
And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.
Why, when I came, was there no man?
Why, when I called, was there none to answer?
Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Indeed with My (BI)rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink because there is no water,
And die of thirst.
(BJ)I clothe the heavens with blackness,
(BK)And I make sackcloth their covering.”

“The(BL) Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is (BM)weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
The Lord God (BN)has opened My ear;
And I was not (BO)rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
(BP)I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And (BQ)My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and (BR)spitting.

“For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore (BS)I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
(BT)He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is [p]My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
Surely the Lord God will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
(BU)Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
(BV)The moth will eat them up.

10 “Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who (BW)walks in darkness
And has no light?
(BX)Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.
11 Look, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled—
(BY)This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down (BZ)in torment.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 48:16 Heb. verb is sing.; or Has sent Me and His Spirit
  2. Isaiah 49:1 Lit. inward parts
  3. Isaiah 49:4 justice
  4. Isaiah 49:4 recompense
  5. Isaiah 49:5 Qr., DSS, LXX gathered to Him; Kt. not gathered
  6. Isaiah 49:7 Lit. his or its
  7. Isaiah 49:7 Lit. who is despised of soul
  8. Isaiah 49:8 favorable
  9. Isaiah 49:8 keep
  10. Isaiah 49:8 inheritances
  11. Isaiah 49:15 Lit. From having compassion
  12. Isaiah 49:17 DSS, LXX, Tg., Vg. builders
  13. Isaiah 49:22 banner
  14. Isaiah 49:22 Lit. bosom
  15. Isaiah 49:24 So with MT, Tg.; DSS, Syr., Vg. of the mighty; LXX unjustly
  16. Isaiah 50:8 Lit. master of My judgment

The New Man

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should (A)no longer walk as [a]the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the (B)blindness of their heart; 19 (C)who, being past feeling, (D)have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you (E)put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and (F)be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you (G)put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Do Not Grieve the Spirit

25 Therefore, putting away lying, (H)Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for (I)we are members of one another. 26 (J)“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 (K)nor give [b]place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather (L)let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something (M)to give him who has need. 29 (N)Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but (O)what is good for necessary [c]edification, (P)that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And (Q)do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 (R)Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, [d]clamor, and (S)evil speaking be put away from you, (T)with all malice. 32 And (U)be kind to one another, tenderhearted, (V)forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 4:17 NU omits the rest of
  2. Ephesians 4:27 an opportunity
  3. Ephesians 4:29 building up
  4. Ephesians 4:31 loud quarreling

An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble

To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A Psalm of David.

69 Save me, O God!
For (A)the waters have come up to my [b]neck.
(B)I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
(C)I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
(D)My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

Those who (E)hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.

O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
Let not those who [c]wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be [d]confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
(F)I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
(G)Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
(H)And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also [e]made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
12 Those who [f]sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the (I)drunkards.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.

16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 69:1 Heb. Shoshannim
  2. Psalm 69:1 Lit. soul
  3. Psalm 69:6 Wait in faith
  4. Psalm 69:6 dishonored
  5. Psalm 69:11 Symbolic of sorrow
  6. Psalm 69:12 Sit as judges

(A)A wise man is strong,
Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength;
(B)For by wise counsel you will wage your own war,
And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

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