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Messengers from Babylon Visit Hezekiah
39 At that time Merodach Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah welcomed[a] them and showed them his storehouse with its silver, gold, spices, and high-quality olive oil, as well as his whole armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom.[b] 3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.” 4 Isaiah[c] asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything in my treasuries.” 5 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the message of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: 6 ‘Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors[d] have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father[e] will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s message that you have announced is appropriate.”[f] Then he thought,[g] “For[h] there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”
The Lord Returns to Jerusalem
40 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your[i] God.
2 “Speak kindly to[j] Jerusalem and tell her
that her time of warfare is over,[k]
that her punishment is completed.[l]
For the Lord has made her pay double[m] for all her sins.”
3 A voice cries out,
“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;
build a level road[n] through the rift valley[o] for our God.
4 Every valley must be elevated,
and every mountain and hill leveled.
The rough terrain will become a level plain,
the rugged landscape a wide valley.
5 The splendor[p] of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people[q] will see it at the same time.
For[r] the Lord has decreed it.”[s]
6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
Another asks,[t] “What should I cry out?”
The first voice responds:[u] “All people are like grass,[v]
and all their promises[w] are like the flowers in the field.
7 The grass dries up,
the flowers wither,
when the wind sent by the Lord[x] blows on them.
Surely humanity[y] is like grass.
8 The grass dries up,
the flowers wither,
but the decree of our God is forever reliable.”[z]
9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion.
Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem![aa]
Shout, don’t be afraid!
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 Look, the Sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior;[ab]
his military power establishes his rule.[ac]
Look, his reward is with him;
his prize goes before him.[ad]
11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;
he gathers up the lambs with his arm;
he carries them close to his heart;[ae]
he leads the ewes along.
The Lord is Incomparable
12 Who has measured out the waters[af] in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully[ag] measured the sky,[ah]
or carefully weighed[ai] the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales?[aj]
13 Who comprehends[ak] the mind[al] of the Lord,
or gives him instruction as his counselor?[am]
14 From whom does he receive directions?[an]
Who[ao] teaches him the correct way to do things,[ap]
or imparts knowledge to him,
or instructs him in skillful design?[aq]
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales.
He lifts[ar] the coastlands[as] as if they were dust.
16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice;[at]
its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings.[au]
17 All the nations are insignificant before him;
they are regarded as absolutely nothing.[av]
18 To whom can you compare God?
To what image can you liken him?
19 A craftsman casts[aw] an idol;
a metalsmith overlays it with gold
and forges silver chains for it.
20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot;[ax]
he then seeks a skilled craftsman
to make[ay] an idol that will not fall over.
21 Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?
22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon;[az]
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him.[ba]
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain,[bb]
and spreads it out[bc] like a pitched tent.[bd]
23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.
24 Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One.[be]
26 Look up at the sky![bf]
Who created all these heavenly lights?[bg]
He is the one who leads out their ranks;[bh]
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me;[bi]
My God is not concerned with my vindication”?[bj]
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the Creator of the whole earth.[bk]
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom.[bl]
29 He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
30 Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble.[bm]
31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help[bn] find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings,[bo]
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.
The Lord Challenges the Nations
41 “Listen to me in silence, you coastlands![bp]
Let the nations find renewed strength!
Let them approach and then speak;
let us come together for debate.[bq]
2 Who stirs up this one from the east?[br]
Who[bs] officially commissions him for service?[bt]
He hands nations over to him,[bu]
and enables him to subdue[bv] kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow.[bw]
3 He pursues them and passes by unharmed;[bx]
he advances with great speed.[by]
4 Who acts and carries out decrees?[bz]
Who[ca] summons the successive generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,
and at the very end—I am the one.[cb]
5 The coastlands[cc] see and are afraid;
the whole earth[cd] trembles;
they approach and come.
6 They help one another;[ce]
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages[cf] the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding,[cg]
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.
The Lord Encourages His People
8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend,[ch]
9 you whom I am bringing back[ci] from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions—
I told you, ‘You are my servant.’
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God![cj]
I strengthen you—
yes, I help you—
yes, I uphold you with my victorious right hand![ck]
11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries[cl] will be reduced to nothing[cm] and perish.
12 When you will look for your opponents,[cn] you will not find them;
your enemies[co] will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
13 For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob,[cp]
men of[cq] Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your Protector,[cr] the Holy One of Israel.[cs]
15 “Look, I am making you like[ct] a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged.[cu]
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw.[cv]
16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
Salutation
1 From Paul,[a] an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus],[b] the faithful[c] in Christ Jesus. 2 Grace and peace to you[d] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 Blessed[e] is[f] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed[g] us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. 4 For[h] he chose us in Christ[i] before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless[j] before him[k] in love.[l] 5 He did this by predestining[m] us to adoption as his[n] legal heirs[o] through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure[p] of his will— 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace[q] that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son.[r] 7 In him[s] we have redemption through his blood,[t] the forgiveness of our offenses,[u] according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. 9 He did this when he revealed[v] to us the mystery[w] of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth[x] in Christ,[y] 10 toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up[z] all things in Christ—the things in heaven[aa] and the things on earth.[ab] 11 In Christ[ac] we too have been claimed as God’s own possession,[ad] since we were predestined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope[ae] on Christ,[af] would be to the praise of his glory. 13 And when[ag] you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ[ah]—you were marked with the seal[ai] of the promised Holy Spirit,[aj] 14 who is the down payment[ak] of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession,[al] to the praise of his glory.
Prayer for Wisdom and Revelation
15 For this reason,[am] because I[an] have heard[ao] of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[ap] for all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you[aq] in my prayers. 17 I pray that[ar] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,[as] will give you spiritual wisdom and revelation[at] in your growing knowledge of him,[au] 18 —since the eyes of your[av] heart have been enlightened[aw]—so that you can know what is the hope of his calling,[ax] what is the wealth of his glorious[ay] inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the incomparable[az] greatness of his power toward[ba] us who believe, as displayed in[bb] the exercise of his immense strength.[bc] 20 This power[bd] he exercised[be] in Christ when he raised him[bf] from the dead and seated him[bg] at his right hand in the heavenly realms[bh] 21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And God[bi] put[bj] all things under Christ’s[bk] feet,[bl] and gave him to the church as head over all things.[bm] 23 Now the church is[bn] his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.[bo]
Psalm 66[a]
For the music director, a song, a psalm.
66 Shout out praise to God, all the earth!
2 Sing praises about the majesty of his reputation.[b]
Give him the honor he deserves![c]
3 Say to God:
“How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear[d] before you.
4 All the earth worships[e] you
and sings praises to you.
They sing praises to your name.” (Selah)
5 Come and witness[f] God’s exploits![g]
His acts on behalf of people are awesome.[h]
6 He turned the sea into dry land;[i]
they passed through the river on foot.[j]
Let us rejoice in him there.[k]
7 He rules[l] by his power forever;
he watches[m] the nations.
Stubborn rebels should not exalt[n] themselves. (Selah)
8 Praise[o] our God, you nations.
Loudly proclaim his praise.[p]
9 He preserves our lives[q]
and does not allow our feet to slip.
10 For[r] you, O God, tested us;
you purified us like refined silver.
11 You led us into a trap;[s]
you caused us to suffer.[t]
12 You allowed men to ride over our heads;
we passed through fire and water,
but you brought us out into a wide open place.[u]
13 I will enter[v] your temple with burnt sacrifices;
I will fulfill the vows I made to you,
14 which my lips uttered
and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer up to you fattened animals as burnt sacrifices,
along with the smell of sacrificial rams.
I will offer cattle and goats. (Selah)
16 Come! Listen, all you who are loyal to God.[w]
I will declare what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him for help[x]
and praised him with my tongue.[y]
18 If I had harbored sin in my heart,[z]
the Lord would not have listened.
19 However, God heard;
he listened to my prayer.
20 God deserves praise,[aa]
for[ab] he did not reject my prayer
or abandon his love for me.[ac]
25 May your father and your mother have joy;
may she who bore you rejoice.[a]
26 Give me your heart, my son,[b]
and let your eyes observe my ways;
27 for a prostitute is like[c] a deep pit;
a harlot[d] is like[e] a narrow well.[f]
28 Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber,[g]
and increases the unfaithful[h] among men.[i]
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