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Yahweh Rescues His People
14 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer,
the holy one of Israel:
“For your sake I will send to Babylon,
and I will cause all of them to fall down as fugitives,
and the Chaldeans,[a] their rejoicing on the ships.
15 I am Yahweh, your holy one,
the creator of Israel, your king.”
16 Thus says Yahweh, who makes[b] a way in the sea
and a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings out chariot and horse,
army and mighty one.
Together they lie down;
they cannot rise.
They are extinguished,
quenched like a wick.
18 “You must not remember the former things,
and you not must consider the former things.
19 Look! I am about to do a new thing! Now it sprouts!
Do you not perceive[c] it?
Indeed, I will make[d] a way in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert.
20 The animals of the field will honor me,
jackals and daughters of the ostrich,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give a drink to my chosen people,
21 this people whom I formed for myself,
so they might make known[e] my praise.
22 But[f] you did not call me, Jacob;
for you have become weary of me, Israel.
23 You have not brought me your sheep for a burnt offering
nor[g] honored me with your sacrifice.
I have not made you serve with offerings,[h]
nor have I made you weary with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me spice reed with money
or[i] satisfied me with the fat of sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have made me weary with your iniquities.
25 I, I am the one who blots out your transgressions for my sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
26 Take me to court; let us enter into judgment together.
You, make an account[j] so that you may be in the right.
27 Your first ancestor[k] sinned,
and your representatives[l] transgressed against me.
28 And I profaned the princes of the sanctuary,
and I gave Jacob to destruction, and Israel to reviling.
Yahweh Blesses Chosen Israel
44 “But now hear, Jacob my servant,
and Israel, whom I have chosen.
2 Thus says Yahweh, who made you,
and who formed you in[m] the womb and will help you:
you must not fear, my servant Jacob,
and Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour out water on a thirsty land
and streams on dry ground.
I will pour my spirit out on your descendants[n]
and my blessing on your offspring.
4 And they shall sprout among[o] the grass
like willows by a watercourse of water.
5 This one will say, ‘I belong to Yahweh!’
And that one will be called by the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand ‘Yahweh’s’
and take the name[p] of Israel.”
Yahweh the Only God
6 Thus says Yahweh, the king of Israel,
and its redeemer, Yahweh of hosts:
“I am the first, and I am the last,
and there is no god besides me.
7 And who is like me? Let him proclaim[q] it!
And let him declare it and set it in order for me
since I established an eternal people[r] and things that are to come,
and let them tell them the things that are coming.
8 You must not tremble,[s]
and you must not be paralyzed with fear.
Have I not made you hear from of old[t]
and declared it, and you are my witnesses?
Is there a god besides me?
And there is no rock! I know none!”
Idolatry Is Ridiculous
9 All those who form an idol are nothing,
and their delightful things do not profit.
And their witnesses do not see or know,
so they will be ashamed.
10 Who would form a god
and cast an image of which he cannot profit?
11 Look! all his companions shall be ashamed,
and the artisans are human!
Let all of them assemble;
let them stand up.
They shall tremble;[u]
they shall be ashamed together.
12 The ironsmith[v] works in the coals with his tool
and forms it with hammers.
And he makes it with his strong arm;[w]
indeed, he becomes hungry, and he lacks[x] strength;
he does not drink water, and he is faint.
13 The woodworker[y] stretches out a line;
he makes an outline of it with a marker.
He makes it with a knife
and makes an outline of it with a compass.
He makes it like the image of a man,
like the beauty of a human, to dwell in a temple.[z]
14 Cutting down cedars for himself,
he chooses[aa] a holm tree and an oak,
and he lets it grow strong for him among the trees of the forest.
He plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow.
15 And it becomes fuel for a human,[ab]
and he takes some of it and grows warm;
also, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Also, he makes a god and bows in worship;
he makes himself an image and bows down to it!
16 He burns half of it in the fire;
he eats meat over half of it;
he roasts a roast and is satisfied.
Also he grows warm and says, “Ah!
I am warm! I see the fire!”
17 And he makes the remainder of it into a god!
He bows down to his idol,
and he bows in worship and prays to him,
and he says, “Save me, for you are my god!”
18 They do not know,
and they do not understand,
for their eyes are besmeared so that they cannot see,[ac]
their minds[ad] so that they have no insight.[ae]
19 And no one takes it to heart,[af] and there is no knowledge
and no understanding to say, “I burned half of it in the fire
and also I baked bread on its coals;
I roasted meat, and I have eaten.
And I shall make the rest of it into an abomination!
I shall bow down to a block of wood!”
20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived mind[ag] misleads him.
And he cannot save himself,[ah] and he cannot say,
“Is this not an illusion in my right hand?”
Yahweh Remembers Israel
21 “Remember these things, Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant:
I formed you; you are my servant;
Israel, you will not be forgotten by me!
22 I have wiped your transgressions out like a cloud
and your sins like mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you!”
23 Sing for joy, heavens, for Yahweh has done it!
Shout, depths of the earth!
Break forth, mountains, in rejoicing,
forest and every tree in it,
for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob,
and he will show his glory in Israel!
Jerusalem Restored through Cyrus
24 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer,
and he who formed you in[ai] the womb:
“I am Yahweh, who made everything,
who stretched out the heavens alone,
who spread out the earth—who was with me?—
25 who frustrates[aj] the signs of oracle priests
and makes a fool of diviners,
who drives the wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish,
26 who keeps[ak] the word of his servant
and carries out the plan of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’
and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,
and I will restore its ruins’;
27 who says to the deep, ‘Dry up!
And I will cause your rivers to dry up’;
28 who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd,’
and he shall carry out all my wishes[al];
and saying of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be rebuilt,’
and the temple, ‘It shall be founded.’”
45 Thus says Yahweh to his anointed one,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped
to subjugate nations before him,
and I uncover[am] the loins of kings
to open doors before him,
and the gates shall not be shut:
2 “I myself will go before you,
and I will level the mountains.[an]
I will break the doors of bronze
and cut throughthe bars of iron.
3 And I will give you the treasures of darkness
and treasures of secret places
so that you may know that I am Yahweh,
the one who calls you by your name, the God of Israel,
4 for the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen one.
And I call you by your name;
I give you a name of honor, though[ao] you do not know me.
5 I am Yahweh, and there is none besides me;
besides me there is no god.
I gird you though[ap] you do not know me,
6 so that they may know from the rising of the sun
and from the west that there is none besides me;
I am Yahweh and there is none besides me.
7 I form light and I create darkness;
I make peace and I create evil;
I am Yahweh; I do all these things.
8 Trickle, O heavens, from above,
and let clouds trickle with righteousness;
let the earth open so that[aq] salvation may be fruitful,
and let it cause righteousness to sprout along with it.[ar]
I myself, Yahweh, have created it.
9 Woe to the one who strives with his maker,[as]
a potsherd among[at] potsherds of earth!
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it,
‘What are you making?’
and ‘Your work has no hands’?
10 Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What you are begetting?’
or[au] to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
The Mystery of Christ Revealed
3 On account of this I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles 2 —if indeed you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace given to me for you. 3 According to[a] revelation the mystery was made known to me, just as I wrote beforehand in brief, 4 so that you may be able when you read[b] to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ 5 (which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit): 6 that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow sharers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7 of which I became a servant, according to the gift of God’s grace given to me, according to the working of his power.
8 To me, the least of all the saints, was given this grace: to proclaim the good news of the fathomless riches of Christ to the Gentiles, 9 and to enlighten everyone as to what is the administration of the mystery hidden from the ages by God, who created all things, 10 in order that the many-sided wisdom of God might be made known now to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places through the church, 11 according to the purpose of the ages which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through faith in him.[c] 13 Therefore I ask you[d] not to be discouraged at my afflictions on behalf of you, which are your glory.
Prayer for Spiritual Strength
14 On account of this, I bend my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every[e] family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that he may grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (you having been firmly rooted and established in love), 18 in order that you may be strong enough to grasp together with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, in order that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
20 Now to the one who is able to do beyond all measure more than all that we ask or think, according to the power that is at work in us, 21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Praise to God for Providing Victory
For the music director. Of David. A psalm. A song.[a]
68 God will arise; his enemies will be scattered,
and those who hate him will flee from before him.
2 As smoke is driven off, you will drive them off.
As wax melts before fire,
the wicked will perish before God.
3 But the righteous will be glad; they will exalt before God,
and will rejoice with joy.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name.
Lift up a song to the rider on the clouds—his name is Yah—[b]
and rejoice before him.
5 A father to orphans and a judge for widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God settles the lonely in a home;
he brings prisoners out into prosperity.
But the rebellious abide in a barren land.
7 O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the desert, Selah
8 the earth shook; the heavens also dripped rain
at the presence of God who was at Sinai,
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You caused abundant rain to fall, O God.
When your inheritance was weary you revived it.
10 Your community dwelled in it.
You provided in your goodness for the poor, O God.
11 The Lord gives the word.
Great is the company of women who announce:
12 “The kings of armies flee, they flee,
and she who remains at home divides the spoil.
13 Though you men lie down between the sheepfolds,
you will be like the wings of a dove covered in silver
and its pinions in yellow gold.”
14 When Shaddai scattered kings on it,
on Zalmon it snowed.[c]
15 A mountain of God[d] is the mountain of Bashan;
a mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
16 Why do you look with hostility, O many-peaked mountains?
This[e] mountain God desires for his dwelling.
Yes, Yahweh will abide in it forever.
17 The chariots of God
are twice ten thousand, with thousands doubled.
The Lord is among them at Sinai, distinctive in victory.[f]
18 You have ascended on high; you have led away captives.
You have received gifts from among humankind,
and even from the rebellious, so that Yah[g] God may dwell there.
24 Do not envy men of evil,
and do not desire to be with them.
2 For their minds will devise violence,
and their lips will speak mischief.
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