Old/New Testament
The Suffering Servant
53 (A)Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a (B)tender [a]shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has (C)no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should [b]be attracted to Him.
3 He was (D)despised and forsaken of men,
A man of [c]sorrows and (E)acquainted with [d]grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was (F)despised, and we did not (G)esteem Him.
4 Surely our [e]griefs He Himself (H)bore,
And our [f]sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
[g]Smitten of (I)God, and afflicted.
5 But He was [h]pierced through for (J)our transgressions,
He was crushed for (K)our iniquities;
The (L)chastening for our [i]well-being fell upon Him,
And by (M)His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To [j]fall on Him.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not (N)open His mouth;
(O)Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the [k]living
(P)For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a (Q)rich man in His death,
(R)Because He had (S)done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 But the Lord was pleased
To (T)crush Him, [l](U)putting Him to grief;
If [m]He would render Himself as a guilt (V)offering,
He will see (W)His [n]offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the [o]good (X)pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the [p]anguish of His soul,
He will (Y)see [q]it and be satisfied;
By His (Z)knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will (AA)bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a (AB)portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out [r](AC)Himself to death,
And was (AD)numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself (AE)bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.
The Fertility of Zion
54 “(AF)Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the (AG)desolate one will be (AH)more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.
2 “(AI)Enlarge the place of your tent;
[s]Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not;
Lengthen your (AJ)cords
And strengthen your (AK)pegs.
3 “For you will (AL)spread abroad to the right and to the left.
And your [t]descendants will (AM)possess nations
And will (AN)resettle the desolate cities.
4 “Fear not, for you will (AO)not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the (AP)shame of your youth,
And the (AQ)reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5 “For your (AR)husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts;
And your (AS)Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the (AT)God of all the earth.
6 “For the Lord has called you,
Like a wife (AU)forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”
Says your God.
7 “[u]For a (AV)brief moment I forsook you,
But with great compassion I will (AW)gather you.
8 “In an [v](AX)outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting (AY)lovingkindness I will (AZ)have compassion on you,”
Says the Lord your (BA)Redeemer.
9 “For [w]this is like the days of Noah to Me,
When I swore that the waters of Noah
Would (BB)not [x]flood the earth again;
So I have sworn that I will (BC)not be angry with you
Nor will I rebuke you.
10 “For the (BD)mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
And My (BE)covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
Says (BF)the Lord who has compassion on you.
11 “O (BG)afflicted one, storm-tossed, and (BH)not comforted,
Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
And your foundations I will (BI)lay in [y](BJ)sapphires.
12 “Moreover, I will make your battlements of [z]rubies,
And your gates of [aa]crystal,
And your entire [ab]wall of precious stones.
13 “(BK)All your sons will be [ac]taught of the Lord;
And the well-being of your sons will be (BL)great.
14 “In (BM)righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from (BN)oppression, for you will (BO)not fear;
And from (BP)terror, for it will not come near you.
15 “If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.
(BQ)Whoever assails you will fall because of you.
16 “Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals
And brings out a weapon for its work;
And I have created the destroyer to ruin.
17 “(BR)No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And (BS)every tongue that [ad]accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their (BT)vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.
The Free Offer of Mercy
55 “Ho! Every one who (BU)thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have (BV)no [ae]money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy (BW)wine and milk
(BX)Without money and without cost.
2 “Why do you [af]spend money for what is (BY)not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and (BZ)eat what is good,
And (CA)delight yourself in abundance.
3 “(CB)Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that [ag]you may (CC)live;
And I will make (CD)an everlasting covenant with you,
According to the (CE)faithful mercies [ah]shown to David.
4 “Behold, I have made (CF)him a witness to the peoples,
A (CG)leader and commander for the peoples.
5 “Behold, you will call a (CH)nation you do not know,
And a nation which knows you not will (CI)run to you,
Because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel;
For He has (CJ)glorified you.”
6 (CK)Seek the Lord while He may be found;
(CL)Call upon Him while He is near.
7 (CM)Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his (CN)thoughts;
And let him (CO)return to the Lord,
And He will have (CP)compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will (CQ)abundantly pardon.
8 “For My thoughts are not (CR)your thoughts,
Nor are (CS)your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For (CT)as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the (CU)rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing (CV)seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 So will My (CW)word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will (CX)not return to Me empty,
Without (CY)accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
12 “For you will go out with (CZ)joy
And be led forth with (DA)peace;
The (DB)mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the (DC)trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 “Instead of the (DD)thorn bush the (DE)cypress will come up,
And instead of the (DF)nettle the myrtle will come up,
And [ai]it will be a [aj](DG)memorial to the Lord,
For an everlasting (DH)sign which (DI)will not be cut off.”
Thanksgiving for Faith and Perseverance
1 (A)Paul and (B)Silvanus and (C)Timothy,
To the (D)church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 (E)Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We ought always (F)to give thanks to God for you, (G)brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the (H)love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; 4 therefore, we ourselves (I)speak proudly of you among (J)the churches of God for your [a]perseverance and faith (K)in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. 5 This is a (L)plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be (M)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. 6 [b]For after all (N)it is only just [c]for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted [d]and to us as well [e](O)when the Lord Jesus will be revealed (P)from heaven (Q)with [f]His mighty angels (R)in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who (S)do not know God and to those who (T)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of (U)eternal destruction, (V)away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes to be (W)glorified [g]in His [h]saints on that (X)day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our (Y)testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end also we (Z)pray for you always, that our God will [i](AA)count you worthy of your (AB)calling, and fulfill every desire for (AC)goodness and the (AD)work of faith with power, 12 so that the (AE)name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.