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Envoys from Babylon Welcomed
39 At that time King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.(A) 2 Hezekiah welcomed them; he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.(B) 3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah answered, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.”(C) 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts:(D) 6 Days are coming when all that is in your house and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord.(E) 7 Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”(F) 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 in my days.”(G)
God’s People Are Comforted
40 Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.(H)
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.(I)
3 A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.(J)
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.(K)
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said,[a] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass;
their constancy is like the flower of the field.(L)
7 The grass withers; the flower fades,
[[when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.(M)
8 The grass withers; the flower fades,]][b]
but the word of our God will stand forever.(N)
9 Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;[c]
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[d]
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”(O)
10 See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him
and his recompense before him.(P)
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
and gently lead the mother sheep.(Q)
12 Who has measured the waters of the sea[e] in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?(R)
13 Who has directed the spirit of the Lord
or as his counselor has instructed him?(S)
14 Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
and who taught him the path of justice?
[[Who taught him knowledge
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket
and are accounted as dust on the scales;
see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.(T)
16 Lebanon would not provide fuel enough,
nor are its animals enough for a burnt offering.]][f]
17 All the nations are as nothing before him;
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.(U)
18 To whom, then, will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?(V)
19 An idol? A workman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.(W)
20 As a gift one chooses mulberry wood[g]
—wood that will not rot—
then seeks out a skilled artisan
to set up an image that will not topple.(X)
21 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?(Y)
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
and spreads them like a tent to live in,(Z)
23 who brings princes to naught
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.(AA)
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.(AB)
25 To whom, then, will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.(AC)
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.(AD)
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?(AE)
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.(AF)
29 He gives power to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.(AG)
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted,
31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.(AH)
Israel Assured of God’s Help
41 Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak;
let us together draw near for judgment.(AI)
2 Who has roused a victor from the east,
summoned him to his service?
He delivers up nations to him
and tramples kings under foot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
like driven stubble with his bow.(AJ)
3 He pursues them and passes on safely,
scarcely touching the path with his feet.
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am first
and will be with the last.(AK)
5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.(AL)
6 Each one helps the other,
saying to one another, “Take courage!”(AM)
7 The artisan encourages the goldsmith,
and the one who smooths with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good,”
and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved.(AN)
8 But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend;(AO)
9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant;
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;(AP)
10 do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.(AQ)
11 All who are incensed against you
shall be ashamed and disgraced;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.(AR)
12 You shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
those who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.(AS)
13 For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Do not fear,
I will help you.”(AT)
14 Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you maggot[h] Israel!
I will help you, says the Lord;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.(AU)
15 I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and having teeth;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff.(AV)
16 You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
Then you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.(AW)
Salutation
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful[a] in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,[b](A) 4 just as he chose us in Christ[c] before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.(B) 5 He destined us[d] for adoption as his children[e] through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,(C) 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace(D) 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,(E) 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.(F) 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,[f] having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,(G) 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;(H) 14 this[g] is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.(I)
Paul’s Prayer
15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[h] toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers,(J) 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,(K) 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God[i] put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,[j](L) 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.(M) 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,(N) 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.(O)
Psalm 66
Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel
To the leader. A Song. A Psalm.
1 Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;(A)
2 sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise.(B)
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.(C)
4 All the earth worships you;
they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name.” Selah(D)
5 Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.(E)
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him,(F)
7 who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah(G)
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,(H)
9 who has kept us among the living
and has not let our feet slip.(I)
10 For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.(J)
11 You brought us into the net;
you laid burdens on our backs;(K)
12 you let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.[a](L)
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will pay you my vows,(M)
14 those that my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.(N)
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fatted calves,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah(O)
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.(P)
17 I cried aloud to him,
and he was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.(Q)
19 But truly God has listened;
he has heard the words of my prayer.(R)
20 Blessed be God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me.(S)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.