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Hezekiah’s Folly
39 At that time(A) Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries.(B) There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.(C)
3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?”
Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.”
4 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace?”
Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of Hosts:(D) 6 ‘The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.(E) 7 ‘Some of your descendants who come from you will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.(F)
God’s People Comforted
40 “Comfort, comfort My people,”(G)
says your God.
2 “Speak tenderly to[a] Jerusalem,
and announce to her
that her time of forced labor is over,
her iniquity(H) has been pardoned,(I)
and she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.”(J)
3 A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;(K)
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.(L)
4 Every valley will be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
the uneven ground will become smooth
and the rough places, a plain.(M)
5 And the glory of the Lord will appear,(N)
and all humanity[b] together will see it,(O)
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(P)
6 A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
Another[c] said, “What should I cry out?”
“All humanity is grass,(Q)
and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.(R)
7 The grass withers, the flowers fade
when the breath[d] of the Lord blows on them;[e]
indeed, the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flowers fade,(S)
but the word of our God remains forever.”(T)
9 Zion, herald of good news,
go up on a high mountain.(U)
Jerusalem, herald of good news,(V)
raise your voice loudly.
Raise it, do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”(W)
10 See, the Lord God comes with strength,
and His power establishes His rule.(X)
His reward is with Him,(Y)
and His gifts accompany Him.
11 He protects His flock like a shepherd;(Z)
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them in the fold of His garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?(AA)
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains in a balance
and the hills in the scales?
13 Who has directed[f] the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave Him His counsel?(AB)
14 Who did He consult with?
Who gave Him understanding(AC)
and taught Him the paths of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge
and showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales;
He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.(AD)
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him;
they are considered by Him
as nothingness and emptiness.(AE)
18 Who will you compare God with?
What likeness will you compare Him to?(AF)
19 To an idol?—something that a smelter casts,
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver welds for it?(AG)
20 To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot?[g]
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.(AH)
21 Do you not know?(AI)
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?(AJ)
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.(AK)
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth(AL)
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.(AM)
23 He reduces princes to nothing(AN)
and makes judges of the earth irrational.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.(AO)
25 “Who will you compare Me to,(AP)
or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up[h] and see:
who created(AQ) these?
He brings out the starry host by number;
He calls all of them by name.(AR)
Because of His great power and strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Jacob, why do you say,
and Israel, why do you assert:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?(AS)
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Yahweh is the everlasting God,(AT)
the Creator of the whole earth.
He never grows faint or weary;
there is no limit to His understanding.(AU)
29 He gives strength to the weary
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Youths may faint and grow weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
31 but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;(AV)
they will soar on wings like eagles;(AW)
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not faint.
The Lord versus the Nations’ Gods
41 “Be silent before Me, islands!(AX)
And let peoples renew their strength.
Let them approach, then let them testify;
let us come together for the trial.
2 Who has stirred him up from the east?(AY)
He calls righteousness to his feet.[i](AZ)
The Lord hands nations over to him,(BA)
and he subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like wind-driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them, going on safely,
hardly touching the path with his feet.
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, Yahweh, am the first,
and with the last(BB)—I am He.”(BC)
5 The islands see and are afraid,
the whole earth trembles.(BD)
They approach and arrive.
6 Each one helps the other,
and says to another, “Take courage!”
7 The craftsman encourages the metalworker;(BE)
the one who flattens with the hammer
supports the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it will not fall over.(BF)
8 But you, Israel, My servant,(BG)
Jacob, whom I have chosen,(BH)
descendant of Abraham, My friend(BI)—
9 I brought[j] you from the ends of the earth
and called you from its farthest corners.
I said to you: You are My servant;
I have chosen you and not rejected you.(BJ)
10 Do not fear, for I am with you;(BK)
do not be afraid, for I am your God.(BL)
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.(BM)
11 Be sure that all who are enraged against you
will be ashamed and disgraced;(BN)
those who contend with you
will become as nothing and will perish.
12 You will look for those who contend with you,
but you will not find them.
Those who war against you
will become absolutely nothing.
13 For I, Yahweh your God,(BO)
hold your right hand
and say to you: Do not fear,
I will help you.
14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,(BP)
you men[k] of Israel:
I will help you—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
Your Redeemer(BQ) is the Holy One of Israel.(BR)
15 See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board,
new, with many teeth.
You will thresh mountains and pulverize them
and make hills into chaff.(BS)
16 You will winnow them(BT)
and a wind will carry them away,
a gale will scatter them.
But you will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
Greeting
1 Paul,(A) an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will:(B)
To the faithful saints(C) in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.[a](D)
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Rich Blessings
3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.(E) 4 For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight.[b](F) In love[c] 5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace(G) that He favored us with in the Beloved.(H)
7 We have redemption in Him(I) through His blood, the forgiveness(J) of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will,(K) according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him(L) 10 for the administration[d] of the days of fulfillment[e]—to bring everything together in the Messiah,(M) both things in heaven and things on earth(N) in Him.(O)
11 We have also received an inheritance[f] in Him, predestined(P) according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope(Q) in the Messiah might bring praise to His glory.(R)
13 When you heard the message of truth,(S) the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.(T) 14 He is the down payment(U) of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession,[g] to the praise of His glory.
Prayer for Spiritual Insight
15 This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,[h] would give you a spirit[i](V) of wisdom and revelation(W) in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the perception of your mind[j] may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope(X) of His calling,(Y) what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power(Z) to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.
God’s Power in Christ
20 He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand(AA) in the heavens(AB)— 21 far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given,[k](AC) not only in this age but also in the one to come.(AD) 22 And He put everything under His feet(AE)[l] and appointed Him as head(AF) over everything for the church, 23 which is His body,(AG) the fullness(AH) of the One who fills all things(AI) in every way.
Psalm 66
Praise for God’s Mighty Acts
For the choir director. A song. A psalm.
1 Shout joyfully to God, all the earth!(A)
2 Sing about the glory of His name;
make His praise glorious.(B)
3 Say to God, “How awe-inspiring are Your works!
Your enemies will cringe before You
because of Your great strength.(C)
4 All the earth will worship You
and sing praise to You.
They will sing praise to Your name.”(D)
5 Come and see the wonders of God;(E)
His acts for humanity are awe-inspiring.
6 He turned the sea into dry land,
and they crossed the river on foot.(F)
There we rejoiced in Him.(G)
7 He rules forever by His might;
He keeps His eye on the nations.(H)
The rebellious should not exalt themselves.(I)
8 Praise our God, you peoples;
let the sound of His praise be heard.(J)
9 He keeps us alive[a]
and does not allow our feet to slip.(K)
10 For You, God, tested us;
You refined us as silver is refined.(L)
11 You lured us into a trap;
You placed burdens on our backs.(M)
12 You let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but You brought us out to abundance.[b](N)
13 I will enter Your house with burnt offerings;
I will pay You my vows(O)
14 that my lips promised
and my mouth spoke during my distress.(P)
15 I will offer You fattened sheep as burnt offerings,
with the fragrant smoke of rams;
I will sacrifice oxen with goats.(Q)
16 Come and listen, all who fear God,
and I will tell what He has done for me.(R)
17 I cried out to Him with my mouth,
and praise was on my tongue.(S)
18 If I had been aware of malice in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.(T)
19 However, God has listened;
He has paid attention to the sound of my prayer.(U)
20 May God be praised!
He has not turned away my prayer
or turned His faithful love from me.(V)
25 Let your father and mother have joy,(A)
and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.
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