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The Lord Will Do Something New
14 This is what the Lord says,
your Protector,[a] the Holy One of Israel:[b]
“For your sake I send to Babylon
and make them all fugitives,[c]
turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs.[d]
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,[e]
the one who created Israel, your king.”
16 This is what the Lord says,
the one who made a road through the sea,
a pathway through the surging waters,
17 the one who led chariots and horses to destruction,[f]
together with a mighty army.
They fell down,[g] never to rise again;
they were extinguished, put out like a burning wick:
18 “Don’t remember these earlier events;[h]
don’t recall these former events.
19 Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen![i] Do you not recognize[j] it?
Yes, I will make a road in the wilderness
and paths[k] in the wastelands.
20 The wild animals[l] honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the wilderness
and streams in the wastelands,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself,
so they might praise me.[m]
The Lord Rebukes His People
22 “But you did not call for me, O Jacob;
you did not long[n] for me, O Israel.
23 You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings;
you did not honor me with your sacrifices.
I did not burden you with offerings;
I did not make you weary by demanding[o] incense.
24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds;[p]
you did not present to me[q] the fat of your sacrifices.
Yet you burdened me with your sins;
you made me weary with your evil deeds.[r]
25 I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake;
your sins I do not remember.
26 Remind me of what happened. Let’s debate!
You, prove to me that you are right![s]
27 The father of your nation[t] sinned;
your spokesmen[u] rebelled against me.
28 So I defiled your holy princes,
and handed Jacob over to destruction,
and subjected[v] Israel to humiliating abuse.
The Lord Will Renew Israel
44 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!”
2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says—
the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:
“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Jeshurun,[w] whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the parched ground[x]
and cause streams to flow[y] on the dry land.
I will pour my Spirit on your offspring
and my blessing on your children.
4 They will sprout up like a tree in the grass,[z]
like poplars beside channels of water.
5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’
and another will use[aa] the name ‘Jacob.’
One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and use the name ‘Israel.’”[ab]
The Absurdity of Idolatry
6 This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says,
their Protector,[ac] the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:
“I am the first and I am the last,
there is no God but me.
7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim![ad]
Let him announce it and explain it to me—
since I established an ancient people[ae]—
let them announce future events.[af]
8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid![ag]
Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?
You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?
There is no other sheltering rock;[ah] I know of none.
9 All who form idols are nothing;
the things in which they delight are worthless.
Their witnesses cannot see;
they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.
10 Who forms a god and casts an idol
that will prove worthless?[ai]
11 Look, all his associates[aj] will be put to shame;
the craftsmen are mere humans.[ak]
Let them all assemble and take their stand.
They will panic and be put to shame.
12 A blacksmith works with his tool[al]
and forges metal over the coals.
He forms it[am] with hammers;
he makes it with his strong arm.
He gets hungry and loses his energy;[an]
he drinks no water and gets tired.
13 A carpenter takes measurements;[ao]
he marks out an outline of its form;[ap]
he scrapes[aq] it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form,[ar]
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine.[as]
14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress[at] or an oak.
He gets[au] trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar[av] and the rain makes it grow.
15 A man uses it to make a fire;[aw]
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.[ax]
16 Half of it he burns in the fire—
over that half he cooks[ay] meat;
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it, saying,
‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
18 They do not comprehend or understand,
for their eyes are blind and cannot see;
their minds do not discern.[az]
19 No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire—
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’[ba]
20 He feeds on ashes;[bb]
his deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’[bc]
21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
O Israel, for you are my servant.
I formed you to be my servant;
O Israel, I will not forget you![bd]
22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,
the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud.[be]
Come back to me, for I protect[bf] you.”
23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes;[bg]
shout out, you subterranean regions[bh] of the earth.
O mountains, give a joyful shout;
you too, O forest and all your trees![bi]
For the Lord protects[bj] Jacob;
he reveals his splendor through Israel.[bk]
The Lord Empowers Cyrus
24 This is what the Lord, your Protector,[bl] says,
the one who formed you in the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made everything,
who alone stretched out the sky,
who fashioned the earth all by myself,[bm]
25 who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers[bn]
and humiliates[bo] the omen readers,
who overturns the counsel of the wise men[bp]
and makes their advice[bq] seem foolish,
26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants[br]
and brings to pass the announcements[bs] of his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’
and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,
her ruins I will raise up,’
27 who says to the deep sea, ‘Be dry!
I will dry up your sea currents,’
28 who commissions[bt] Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd[bu]
to carry out all my wishes[bv]
and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’
and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’[bw]
45 “This is what the Lord says to his chosen one,[bx]
to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold[by]
in order to subdue nations before him,
and disarm kings,[bz]
to open doors before him,
so gates remain unclosed:
2 ‘I will go before you
and level mountains.[ca]
Bronze doors I will shatter
and iron bars[cb] I will hack through.
3 I will give you hidden treasures,[cc]
riches stashed away in secret places,
so you may recognize that I am the Lord,
the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
Israel, my chosen one,
I call you by name
and give you a title of respect, even though you do not submit[cd] to me.
5 I am the Lord, I have no peer,[ce]
there is no God but me.
I arm you for battle,[cf] even though you do not recognize[cg] me.
6 I do this[ch] so people[ci] will recognize from east to west
that there is no God but me;
I am the Lord, I have no peer.
7 I am[cj] the one who forms light
and creates darkness;[ck]
the one who brings about peace
and creates calamity.[cl]
I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.
8 O sky, rain down from above!
Let the clouds send down showers[cm] of deliverance!
Let the earth absorb it[cn] so salvation may grow,[co]
and deliverance may sprout up[cp] along with it.
I, the Lord, create it.’”[cq]
The Lord Gives a Warning
9 One who argues with his Creator is in grave danger,[cr]
one who is like a mere[cs] shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter,[ct]
“What in the world[cu] are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!”[cv]
10 Danger awaits one who says[cw] to his father,
“What in the world[cx] are you fathering?”
and to his mother,
“What in the world are you bringing forth?”[cy]
Paul’s Relationship to the Divine Mystery
3 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus[a] for the sake of you Gentiles 2 if indeed[b] you have heard of the stewardship[c] of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that[d] by revelation the mystery[e] was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly.[f] 4 When reading this,[g] you will be able to[h] understand my insight into the mystery[i] of Christ 5 (which[j] was not disclosed to people[k] in former[l] generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by[m] the Spirit), 6 namely, that through the gospel[n] the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members[o] of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. 7 I became a servant of this gospel[p] according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by[q] the exercise of his power.[r] 8 To me—less than the least of all the saints[s]—this grace was given,[t] to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 9 and to enlighten[u] everyone about God’s secret plan[v]—the mystery that has been hidden for ages[w] in God[x] who has created all things. 10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that[y] through the church the multifaceted wisdom[z] of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms. 11 This was according to[aa] the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access[ab] to God[ac] by way of Christ’s[ad] faithfulness.[ae] 13 For this reason I ask you[af] not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you,[ag] which[ah] is your glory.[ai]
Prayer for Strengthened Love
14 For this reason[aj] I kneel[ak] before the Father,[al] 15 from[am] whom every family[an] in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that[ao] according to the wealth of his glory he will grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17 that Christ will dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, 18 you will be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,[ap] 19 and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you will be filled up to[aq] all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us[ar] is able to do far beyond[as] all that we ask or think, 21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Psalm 68[a]
For the music director, by David, a psalm, a song.
68 God springs into action.[b]
His enemies scatter;
his adversaries[c] run from him.[d]
2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away.[e]
As wax melts before fire,
so the wicked are destroyed before God.
3 But the godly[f] are happy;
they rejoice before God
and are overcome with joy.[g]
4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name.
Exalt the one who rides on the clouds.[h]
For the Lord is his name.[i]
Rejoice before him.
5 He is a father to the fatherless
and an advocate for widows.[j]
God rules from his holy dwelling place.[k]
6 God settles in their own homes those who have been deserted;[l]
he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity.[m]
But sinful rebels live in the desert.[n]
7 O God, when you lead your people into battle,[o]
when you march through the wastelands,[p] (Selah)
8 the earth shakes.
Yes, the heavens pour down rain
before God, the God of Sinai,[q]
before God, the God of Israel.[r]
9 O God, you cause abundant showers to fall[s] on your chosen people.[t]
When they[u] are tired, you sustain them,[v]
10 for you live among them.[w]
You sustain the oppressed with your good blessings, O God.
11 The Lord speaks;[x]
many, many women spread the good news.[y]
12 Kings leading armies run away—they run away![z]
The lovely lady[aa] of the house divides up the loot.
13 When[ab] you lie down among the sheepfolds,[ac]
the wings of the dove are covered with silver
and with glittering gold.[ad]
14 When the Sovereign One[ae] scatters kings,[af]
let it snow[ag] on Zalmon.
15 The mountain of Bashan[ah] is a towering mountain;[ai]
the mountain of Bashan is a mountain with many peaks.[aj]
16 Why do you look with envy,[ak] O mountains[al] with many peaks,
at the mountain where God has decided to live?[am]
Indeed[an] the Lord will live there[ao] permanently.
17 God has countless chariots;
they number in the thousands.[ap]
The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor.[aq]
18 You ascend on high;[ar]
you have taken many captives.[as]
You receive tribute[at] from[au] men,
including even sinful rebels.
Indeed, the Lord God lives there.[av]
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