Old/New Testament
The Lord Comes as Judge
41 “Be silent before me, you coastlands,
and let the people renew their strength!
Let them come forward,
then let them speak together—
let’s draw near for a ruling.
2 Who has aroused victory from the east,
and[a] has summoned it to his service,
and[b] has handed over nations to him?
Who brings down kings,
and[c] turns them into dust with his sword,
into windblown stubble with his bow?
3 And[d] who pursues them
and[e] moves on unscathed
by a path that his feet don’t know?[f]
4 Who has performed and carried this out,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord—the first
and will be with the last
—I am the One!”
Idolaters Encourage Each Other
5 “The coastlands have looked and are afraid;
the ends of the earth have drawn near together[g]
and come forward.
6 Each helps his neighbor,
saying[h] to each other, ‘Be strong!’
7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
and the hammersmith[i] encourages the one who strikes the anvil.
He says[j] about the welding, ‘It’s good!’
and he reinforces it with nails so that it won’t topple.”
The Lord Encourages Israel
8 “But as for you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I’ve chosen,
the offspring of my friend Abraham—
9 you whom I encouraged from the ends of the earth
and called from its farthest corners,
and told you, ‘You’re my servant,
I’ve chosen you
and haven’t cast you aside.’
10 Don’t be afraid,
because I’m with you;
don’t be anxious,
because I am your God.
I keep on strengthening you;
I’m truly helping you.
I’m surely upholding you
with my victorious right hand.”
The Coming Defeat of God’s Enemies
11 “Look! All who are enraged at you
will be put to shame and disgraced;
those who contend with you
will all die.[k]
12 Those who quarrel with you[l]
will be as nothing;
those who fight you
like nothing at all!”
A Call to Courage
13 “For I am the Lord your God,
who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid.
I’ll help you.
14 Don’t be afraid, you little worm Jacob,
and[m] you insects of Israel!
I myself will help you,’[n] declares the Lord,
your[o] Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”
A Promise of Victory
15 “See, I’m making you[p] into
a new, sharp, and multi-tooth threshing sledge.
You’ll thresh and crush the mountains,
and make the hills like chaff.
16 You’ll winnow them, and the wind will lift them up,
and a tempest will blow them away.
Then you’ll rejoice in the Lord,
and[q] you’ll make your boast in the Holy One of Israel.”
17 “As for the poor, the needy, those seeking[r] water—
when there is none
and their tongues are parched from thirst—
I, the Lord, will answer them.
I, the God of Israel, won’t abandon them.
18 I’ll open up rivers on the barren heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I’ll turn the[s] desert into a pool of water,
and the parched land into springs of water.
19 I’ll put cedar trees in the wilderness,
along with acacia, myrtle, and olive trees.
I’ll plant cypresses in the desert—
box[t] trees, and pine trees together—
20 all so that people may see and recognize,
perceive,[u] consider, and comprehend at the same time,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
Can God’s Enemies Predict the Future?
21 “Put forward your case!” says the Lord.
“Submit your arguments!” says Jacob’s King.
22 Let them approach and ask us,
‘What will happen?
As to the former things, what were they?
Tell us, so that we may consider them and know.
Or[v] the latter things or the things to come—
let us hear.
23 Tell us what the future holds,
so we may know that you are gods!
Yes, do something good or something bad,
so we may hear[w] and gaze at it together.’”
24 “Look! You and your work are less than nothing;[x]
whoever finds you pleasing is disgusting.”
25 “You are stirring up[y] one from the north,
and they are coming[z] from the rising of the sun;
and[aa] he will be called by his[ab] name.
Rulers will arrive like mud;[ac]
just[ad] like a potter, he will trample the clay.
26 Who told of this from the beginning,
so we could know,
or beforehand, so we could ask,
‘Is it right?’[ae]
Indeed, no one told of this,
no one made an announcement,
and no one heard your words:
27 First, to Zion: “There is slumber.”[af]
And to Jerusalem: “I’ll send a messenger with good news.”
28 But when I look, there is no one—
among them there’s no one to give counsel,
no one to give an answer when I ask them.
29 See, none of them exist, and their deeds are nothing.[ag]
Their metal images are only wind and confusion.’”
The Servant of the Lord
42 “Here is my servant, whom I support,
my chosen one, in whom I delight.[ah]
I’ve placed my Spirit upon him;
and[ai] he’ll deliver his[aj] justice throughout the world.[ak]
2 He won’t shout,
or raise his voice,
or make it heard in the street.
3 A crushed reed he will not break,
and a fading candle[al] he won’t snuff out.[am]
He’ll bring forth[an] justice for the truth.
4 And[ao] he won’t grow faint or be crushed
until he establishes justice on the mainland,
and the coastlands take ownership of[ap] his Law.”
God Speaks about the Servant
5 This is what God says—
the God[aq] who created the heavens
and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and its produce,
who gives breath to the people on it
and life[ar] to those who walk in it:
6 “I’ve[as] called you in righteousness.
I’ll take hold of your hand.
I’ll preserve you and appoint you
as a covenant to the people,[at]
as a light for the nations,
7 to open blind eyes
and to bring out those who are bound[au] from their cells,
and[av] those sitting in darkness from prison.
8 I, the Lord, am the one,
and I won’t give my name and[aw] glory to another,
nor my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
and I’m announcing the[ax] new things—
before they spring into being
I’m telling you about them.”
Praise in Song to God
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
and[ay] his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who sail down the sea and by everything in it,
you coastlands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert cry out,[az]
its towns and the[ba] villages where Kedar lives;
and[bb] let those who live in Sela sing for joy.
Let them shout aloud[bc] from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in the islands.
13 The Lord marches out like a warrior;
he stirs up his rage like a man of war;
he makes his anger heard;
he shouts aloud;[bd]
he declares his mastery over his enemies:
14 “I have certainly[be] stayed silent for a long time;
I’ve kept still and held myself back.
Now, like a woman giving birth, I’ll cry out.
All of a sudden I’ll gasp and pant.
15 I’ll devastate the mountains and hills,
and dry up all their vegetation;
I’ll turn rivers into islands,
and dry up the ponds.
16 I’ll help the blind walk,
even[bf] on a road they do not know;
I’ll guide them
in directions[bg] they do not know.
I’ll turn the dark places[bh] into light in front of them,
and the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I won’t abandon them.
17 Those who trust in carved idols
will turn back and[bi] be completely disappointed,[bj]
along with those[bk] who say to metal images,
‘You are our gods.’”
God Rebukes Israel
18 “Listen, you deaf people,
and look up, you blind people, so you may see!
19 Who is blind except my servant,
or deaf like my messenger I am sending?
Who is blind like the one committed to me,
or blind like the Lord’s servant?
20 You’ve seen[bl] many things, but you pay no[bm] attention.
His ears are open,[bn] but he doesn’t listen.
21 The Lord was pleased, for the sake of his vindication,
that he should magnify his Law and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people who have been robbed and plundered,
all of them trapped in pits
or hidden away in prisons.[bo]
They have become prey, with no one to rescue them;
they have been made loot, with no one to say, ‘Send them back!’
23 “Who among you will listen,
and[bp] pay attention,
and listen for the time to come?”
God Punishes Israel
24 “Who handed Jacob over to looters,
and Israel to robbers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned?
After all, they weren’t willing to walk in his ways,
and they wouldn’t obey[bq] his instruction,
25 so he drenched him with[br] the heat that is his anger,[bs]
the violence of war.
It enveloped him in flames,
but still he had no insight.
It burned him up,
but he didn’t take it to heart.”
Greetings
1 From:[a] Paul, Silvanus,[b] and Timothy.
To: The church of the Thessalonians in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.[c]
May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[d] be yours!
Paul’s Prayer for the Thessalonians
2 We always thank God for all of you when we mention you in our prayers. 3 In the presence of our God and Father, we constantly remember how your faith is active,[e] your love is hard at work,[f] and your hope in our Lord Jesus the Messiah[g] is enduring.[h] 4 Brothers whom God loves, we know that he has chosen you, 5 for the gospel we brought[i] did not come to you in words only, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. Indeed,[j] you know what kind of people we proved to be while we were with you, acting on your behalf.
6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord. In spite of a great deal of suffering, you welcomed the word with the joy that the Holy Spirit produces.[k] 7 As a result, you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 From you the word of the Lord has spread out not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place where your faith in God has become known. As a result, we do not need to say anything about it.
9 For people[l] keep telling us what kind of welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve a living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son whom he raised from the dead to come back[m] from heaven. This Jesus is the one who rescues us from the coming wrath.
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