Old/New Testament
The Redemption of Israel
43 But now, thus says Yahweh, your (A)Creator, O Jacob,
And He who (B)formed you, O Israel,
“Do not (C)fear, for I have (D)redeemed you;
I have (E)called you by name; you are (F)Mine!
2 When you (G)pass through the waters, (H)I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you (I)walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
3 For (J)I am Yahweh your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your (K)Savior;
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
[a](L)Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Since you are (M)precious in My sight,
Since you are (N)honored and I (O)love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.
5 Do not fear, for (P)I am with you;
I will bring (Q)your seed from the east,
And (R)gather you from the west.
6 I will say to the (S)north, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring My (T)sons from afar
And My daughters from the (U)ends of the earth,
7 Everyone who is (V)called by My name,
And whom I have (W)created for My (X)glory,
(Y)Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
Israel Is Yahweh’s Witness
8 Bring out the people who are (Z)blind, even though they have eyes,
And the deaf, even though they have ears.
9 All the nations have (AA)gathered together
So that the peoples may be assembled.
Who among them can (AB)declare this
And make us hear the former things?
Let them present (AC)their witnesses (AD)that they may be justified,
Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”
10 “You are (AE)My witnesses,” declares Yahweh,
“And (AF)My servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that (AG)I am He.
(AH)Before Me there was no god formed,
And there will be none after Me.
11 I, even I, am Yahweh,
And there is no (AI)savior (AJ)besides Me.
12 It is I who have declared and saved and caused it to be heard,
And there was no (AK)strange god among you;
So you are My witnesses,” declares Yahweh,
“And I am God.
13 Even [b](AL)from eternity (AM)I am He,
And there is (AN)none who can deliver out of My hand;
(AO)I act and who can reverse it?”
Rivers in the Wasteland
14 Thus says Yahweh your (AP)Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
“For your sake I have sent to Babylon,
And will bring down those who fled—all of them,
[c]Even the (AQ)Chaldeans—into the (AR)ships [d]in which they shouted for joy.
15 I am Yahweh, your Holy One,
(AS)The Creator of Israel, your (AT)King.”
16 Thus says Yahweh,
Who (AU)makes a way through the sea
And a path through the mighty waters,
17 Who brings forth the (AV)chariot and the horse,
The military force and the mighty man;
They will lie down together and not rise again;
They have been (AW)extinguished and quenched like a wick:
18 “(AX)Do not remember the former things,
Nor carefully consider things of the past.
19 Behold, I will do something (AY)new;
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not know it?
I will even (AZ)make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the wasteland.
20 The beasts of the field will glorify Me,
The (BA)jackals and the ostriches,
Because I have (BB)given waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the wasteland,
To give drink to My chosen people.
21 The people whom (BC)I formed for Myself
(BD)Will recount My praise.
22 “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;
But you have become (BE)weary of Me, O Israel.
23 You have (BF)not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings,
Nor have you (BG)glorified Me with your sacrifices.
I have not (BH)burdened you with [e]offerings,
Nor wearied you with (BI)frankincense.
24 You have not bought Me [f](BJ)sweet cane with money,
Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices;
Rather you have burdened Me with your sins;
You have (BK)wearied Me with your iniquities.
25 “I, even I, am the one who (BL)wipes out your transgressions (BM)for My own sake,
And I will (BN)not remember your sins.
26 [g]Bring Me to remembrance, (BO)let us enter into judgment together;
Recount your cause, (BP)that you may be proved right.
27 Your (BQ)first father sinned,
And your [h](BR)spokesmen have [i]transgressed against Me.
28 So I will [j]profane the [k]princes of the sanctuary,
And I will give Jacob to be (BS)devoted to destruction and Israel to (BT)revilement.
No God Besides Yahweh
44 “But now hear, O Jacob, My (BU)servant,
And Israel, whom I have chosen:
2 Thus says Yahweh who made you
And (BV)formed you from the womb, who (BW)will help you,
‘(BX)Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,
And you (BY)Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 For (BZ)I will pour out water on [l]the thirsty ground
And streams on the dry land;
I will (CA)pour out My Spirit on your (CB)seed
And My blessing on your offspring;
4 And they will spring up [m]among the grass
Like (CC)poplars by streams of water.’
5 This one will say, ‘I am Yahweh’s’;
And this one [n]will call on the name of Jacob;
And this one will (CD)write [o]on his hand, ‘Belonging to Yahweh,’
And will name Israel’s name with honor.
6 “Thus says Yahweh, the (CE)King of Israel and his (CF)Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts:
‘I am the (CG)first, and I am the last,
And there is no God (CH)besides Me.
7 Who is like Me? (CI)Let him call out and declare it;
And let him tell it to Me in order,
[p]From the time that I established the ancient [q]people.
And let them declare to them the things that are to come
And the events that are going to take place.
8 Do not be in dread and do not be afraid;
(CJ)Have I not long since caused it to be heard to you and declared it?
And (CK)you are My witnesses.
Is there any God (CL)besides Me,
Or is there any other (CM)Rock?
I know of none.’”
The Futility of Idolatry
9 Those who form [r]a graven image are all of them [s]futile, and their desirable things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be (CN)put to shame. 10 Who has formed a god or cast a graven image to (CO)no profit? 11 Behold, all his companions will be (CP)put to shame. The craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them be in dread, let them together be put to shame.
12 The (CQ)man crafts iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, [t]forming it with hammers and working it with his powerful arm. He also gets hungry and has no power; he drinks no water and becomes weary. 13 (CR)Another crafts wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with [u]a stylus. He makes it with planes and outlines it with a compass and makes it like the form of a man, like the glory of (CS)man, so that it may sit in a (CT)house. 14 In order to cut cedars for himself, he takes a [v]cypress or an oak and [w]raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. 15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also kindles a fire to bake bread. He also (CU)works to produce a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and (CV)falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm; I have seen the fire.” 17 But the rest of it he (CW)makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also (CX)prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”
18 They do not (CY)know, nor do they understand, for He has (CZ)smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they will have no insight. 19 No one causes this to return to his heart, nor is there (DA)knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then [x]I make the rest of it into an (DB)abomination; [y]I fall down before a block of wood!” 20 He [z](DC)feeds on ashes; a (DD)deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver his soul, and he cannot say, “(DE)Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
Yahweh Forgives and Redeems
21 “(DF)Remember these things, O Jacob,
And Israel, for you are (DG)My servant;
I have formed you, you are My servant;
O Israel, you will (DH)not be forgotten by Me.
22 I have (DI)wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud
And your sins like a cloud.
(DJ)Return to Me, for I have (DK)redeemed you.”
23 (DL)Shout for joy, O heavens, for Yahweh has done it!
Make a loud shout, you lower parts of the earth;
(DM)Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it;
For (DN)Yahweh has redeemed Jacob
And in Israel He (DO)shows forth His beautiful glory.
24 Thus says Yahweh, your (DP)Redeemer, and the one who (DQ)formed you from the womb,
“I, Yahweh, am the maker of all things,
(DR)Stretching out the heavens by Myself
And spreading out the earth [aa]all alone,
25 (DS)Causing the [ab]omens of boasters to be annulled,
And [ac]making fools out of diviners,
(DT)Causing wise men to turn back,
And [ad]making foolishness out of their knowledge,
26 (DU)Confirming the word of His servant—
And the counsel of His messengers He will complete—
And being the One who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’
And of the (DV)cities of Judah, ‘(DW)They shall be built.’
And I will raise up her waste places again.
27 It is I who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’
And I will make your rivers (DX)dry.
28 It is I who says of (DY)Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd!
And all My good pleasure he will complete.’
And saying of Jerusalem, ‘(DZ)She will be built,’
And of the temple, ‘[ae]Your foundation will be laid.’”
Entrusted with the Gospel
2 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our (A)entrance to you (B)was not in vain, 2 but after we had already suffered and been (C)mistreated in (D)Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God (E)to speak to you the (F)gospel of God amid much (G)struggle. 3 For our (H)exhortation does not come from (I)error or (J)impurity or [a]by way of (K)deceit; 4 (L)but just as we have been approved by God to be (M)entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, (N)not as pleasing men, but God who [b](O)examines our hearts. 5 For we never came with a flattering word, as you know, nor with (P)a pretext for greed—(Q)God is witness— 6 nor (R)seeking glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as (S)apostles of Christ we [c]could have been a burden to you. 7 But we [d]proved to be [e](T)gentle [f]among you, (U)as a nursing mother [g]tenderly cares for her own children. 8 In this way, having fond affection for you, we were pleased to (V)impart to you not only the (W)gospel of God but also our own [h]lives, because you had become beloved to us.
9 For you remember, brothers, our (X)labor and hardship, how (Y)working night and day so as not to be a (Z)burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the (AA)gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and so is (AB)God, of (AC)how devoutly and righteously and blamelessly we [i]behaved toward you [j]believers; 11 just as you know how we were (AD)exhorting and encouraging and (AE)bearing witness to each one of you as (AF)a father would his own children, 12 so that you would (AG)walk in a manner worthy of the God who (AH)calls you into His own kingdom and (AI)glory.
13 And for this reason we also (AJ)thank God without ceasing that when you received the (AK)word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it (AL)not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, (AM)which also is at work in you who believe. 14 For you, brothers, became (AN)imitators of (AO)the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are (AP)in Judea, for (AQ)you also suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen, (AR)even as they did from the Jews, 15 (AS)who both killed the Lord Jesus and (AT)the prophets, and [k]drove us out, and do not please God, and are hostile to all men, 16 (AU)hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles (AV)so that they may be saved; with the result that they always (AW)fill up the measure of their sins. But (AX)wrath has come upon them [l]to the utmost.
17 But we, brothers, having been taken away from you for a [m]short while—(AY)in face but not in heart—were all the more eager with great desire (AZ)to see your face. 18 [n]For (BA)we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, [o](BB)more than once—and yet (BC)Satan (BD)hindered us. 19 For who is our hope or (BE)joy or crown of boasting? Is it not even you, before our Lord Jesus at His [p](BF)coming? 20 For you are (BG)our glory and joy.
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