Isaiah 57:15-59:21
New King James Version
15 For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, (A)whose name is Holy:
(B)“I dwell in the high and holy place,
(C)With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
(D)To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
16 (E)For I will not contend forever,
Nor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would fail before Me,
And the souls (F)which I have made.
17 For the iniquity of (G)his covetousness
I was angry and struck him;
(H)I hid and was angry,
(I)And he went on [a]backsliding in the way of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and (J)will heal him;
I will also lead him,
And restore comforts to him
And to (K)his mourners.
19 “I create (L)the fruit of the lips:
Peace, peace (M)to him who is far off and to him who is near,”
Says the Lord,
“And I will heal him.”
20 (N)But the wicked are like the troubled sea,
When it cannot rest,
Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 “There(O) is no peace,”
Says my God, “for the wicked.”
Fasting that Pleases God
58 “Cry aloud, [b]spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
(P)Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek Me daily,
And delight to know My ways,
As a nation that did righteousness,
And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;
They take delight in approaching God.
3 ‘Why(Q) have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?
Why have we (R)afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’
“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
And [c]exploit all your laborers.
4 (S)Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day,
To make your voice heard on high.
5 Is (T)it a fast that I have chosen,
(U)A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And (V)to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To (W)loose the bonds of wickedness,
(X)To undo the [d]heavy burdens,
(Y)To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7 Is it not (Z)to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are [e]cast out;
(AA)When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from (AB)your own flesh?
8 (AC)Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
(AD)The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The [f]pointing of the finger, and (AE)speaking wickedness,
10 If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your [g]darkness shall be as the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you
(AF)Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of [h]Streets to Dwell In.
13 “If (AG)you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the Lord honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
14 (AH)Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord;
And I will cause you to (AI)ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
(AJ)The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Separated from God
59 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not (AK)shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will (AL)not hear.
3 For (AM)your hands are defiled with [i]blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue has muttered perversity.
4 No one calls for justice,
Nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in (AN)empty words and speak lies;
(AO)They conceive [j]evil and bring forth iniquity.
5 They 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 (AP)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 (AQ)Their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed (AR)innocent blood;
(AS)Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
Wasting and (AT)destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of (AU)peace they have not known,
And there is no justice in their ways;
(AV)They have made themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
Sin Confessed
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
Nor does righteousness overtake us;
(AW)We look for light, but there is darkness!
For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
10 (AX)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.
11 We all growl like bears,
And (AY)moan sadly like doves;
We look for justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our (AZ)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:
13 In transgressing and lying against the Lord,
And departing from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering (BA)from the heart words of falsehood.
14 Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands afar off;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
15 So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a (BB)prey.
The Redeemer of Zion
Then the Lord saw it, and [k]it displeased Him
That there was no justice.
16 (BC)He saw that there was no man,
And (BD)wondered that there was no intercessor;
(BE)Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
17 (BF)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 (BG)According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
Fury to His adversaries,
Recompense to His enemies;
The coastlands He will fully repay.
19 (BH)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 (BI)like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
20 “The(BJ) Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,”
Says the Lord.
21 “As(BK) 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.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 57:17 Or turning back
- Isaiah 58:1 do not hold back
- Isaiah 58:3 Lit. drive hard
- Isaiah 58:6 Lit. bonds of the yoke
- Isaiah 58:7 wandering
- Isaiah 58:9 Lit. sending out of
- Isaiah 58:10 Or gloom
- Isaiah 58:12 Lit. Paths
- Isaiah 59:3 bloodshed
- Isaiah 59:4 trouble
- Isaiah 59:15 Lit. it was evil in His eyes
Philippians 1:1-26
New King James Version
Greeting
1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the [a]bishops and (A)deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thankfulness and Prayer
3 (B)I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in (C)every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 (D)for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun (E)a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness (F)which are by Jesus Christ, (G)to the glory and praise of God.
Christ Is Preached
12 But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, 13 so that it has become evident (H)to the whole [b]palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16 [c]The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.
To Live Is Christ
19 For I know that (I)this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but (J)with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life (K)or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I [d]cannot tell. 23 [e]For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a (L)desire to depart and be with Christ, which is (M)far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, 26 that (N)your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Philippians 1:1 Lit. overseers
- Philippians 1:13 Or Praetorium
- Philippians 1:16 NU reverses vv. 16 and 17.
- Philippians 1:22 do not know
- Philippians 1:23 NU, M But
Psalm 71
New King James Version
God the Rock of Salvation
71 In (A)You, O Lord, I put my trust;
Let me never be put to shame.
2 (B)Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape;
(C)Incline Your ear to me, and save me.
3 (D)Be my [a]strong refuge,
To which I may resort continually;
You have given the (E)commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.
4 (F)Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5 For You are (G)my hope, O Lord God;
You are my trust from my youth.
6 (H)By You I have been [b]upheld from birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.
7 (I)I have become as a wonder to many,
But You are my strong refuge.
8 Let (J)my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
And those who lie in wait for my life (K)take counsel together,
11 Saying, “God has forsaken him;
Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”
12 (L)O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, (M)make haste to help me!
13 Let them be [c]confounded and consumed
Who are adversaries of my life;
Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor
Who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
17 O God, You have taught me from my (N)youth;
And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.
18 Now also (O)when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to everyone who is to come.
19 Also (P)Your righteousness, O God, is [d]very high,
You who have done great things;
(Q)O God, who is like You?
20 (R)You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
(S)Shall revive me again,
And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 You shall increase my greatness,
And comfort me on every side.
22 Also (T)with the lute I will praise You—
And Your faithfulness, O my God!
To You I will sing with the harp,
O (U)Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,
And (V)my soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long;
For they are confounded,
For they are brought to shame
Who seek my hurt.
Footnotes
- Psalm 71:3 Lit. rock of refuge or rock of habitation
- Psalm 71:6 sustained from the womb
- Psalm 71:13 ashamed
- Psalm 71:19 great, lit. to the height of heaven
Proverbs 24:9-10
New King James Version
9 The devising of foolishness is sin,
And the scoffer is an abomination to men.
10 If you (A)faint in the day of adversity,
Your strength is small.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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