Old/New Testament
The Lord’s New Act of Salvation
43
But now this is what the Lord says,
the Lord who created you, O Jacob,
the Lord who formed you, O Israel.
Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you.
I have called you by name. You are mine.
2 When you cross through the waters, I will be with you.
When you cross the rivers, they will not sweep you away.
When you walk through fire, you will not be burned,
and the flame will not set you on fire.
3 Because I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior,
I gave Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious and honored in my eyes,
and I myself love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
and peoples in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid, because I am with you.
From the east I will bring your offspring,
and from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, “Give them back!”
and to the south, “Do not hold them.”
Bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
7 everyone who is called by my name,
everyone I created for my glory,
everyone I formed,
yes, everyone I have made.
8 Bring out the people who are blind, though they have eyes,
and the people who are deaf, though they have ears.
9 Let all the nations be gathered together,
and let peoples be assembled.
Who among them has declared this?
Who has made known to us the former things?
Let them produce their witnesses to show that they were right,
so that people can hear and say, “This is truth.”
10 You are my witnesses, declares the Lord.
You are my servant, whom I have chosen,
so that you may know me and believe in me,
so that you will understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
and after me there will not be another.
11 I, yes I, am the Lord,
and apart from me there is no savior.
12 I myself declared it.
I brought salvation, and I announced it.
It was not some strange god among you.
You are my witnesses, declares the Lord,
and I am God.
13 Indeed, from the first day, I am he.
There is no one who can deliver anyone from my hand.
I act, and who can reverse it?
14 This is what the Lord says,
the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
For your sake I am taking action against Babylon,
and I will bring down all the Chaldeans as refugees,
in the ships over which they rejoiced.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
Israel’s Creator, your King.
16 This is what the Lord says,
who makes a road through the sea
and a path through mighty waters,
17 who brings out the chariot and the horses,
the army and the strong warrior.
They will all lie down together.
They will not get up.
They are extinguished.
Like a wick they go out.
18 Do not remember the former[a] things.
Do not keep thinking about ancient things.
19 Watch, I am about to do a new thing.
Now it will spring up. Don’t you know about it?
Indeed I will make a road in the wilderness.
In the wasteland I will make rivers.
20 The wild animals, the jackals and ostriches, will honor me,
because I am providing water in the wilderness,
rivers in a parched wasteland,
water for my chosen people to drink.
21 This people that I formed for myself will declare my praise.
22 But you have not called on me, O Jacob.
Instead, you have become weary of me, O Israel.
23 You have not brought me sheep as your whole burnt offerings.
You did not glorify me with your sacrifices.
I did not make you serve me with a grain offering.
I did not make you weary with demands for incense.
24 You did not purchase fragrant cane for me with silver
or satisfy me with the fat from your sacrifices.
Instead you have made me serve because of your sins.
You have made me weary because of your guilt.
25 I, yes I, am he.
I blot out your rebellious deeds for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
26 Refresh my memory.
Let us review your case together.
Present your defense so that you may be acquitted.
27 Your first father sinned,
and your mediators rebelled against me.
28 Therefore I am repudiating the officials of the sanctuary,
and I am giving Jacob over to complete destruction
and Israel to insults.[b]
The Lord Comforts His People
44
But now listen, O Jacob my servant,
O Israel, whom I have chosen.
2 This is what the Lord, your Maker, says,
the Lord who formed you from the womb, who will help you.
Do not be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Jeshurun,[c] whom I have chosen,
3 because I will pour out water upon a thirsty land,
and streams of water upon dry ground.
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They will spring up like a tree in a grassy meadow,[d]
like willows beside flowing streams.
5 One person will say, “I belong to the Lord.”
Another will be called by the name of Jacob.
Another will write on his hand, “Belonging to the Lord,”
and he will take the name of Israel.
The Lord Confronts Idols
6 This is what the Lord, the King of Israel,
Israel’s Redeemer, the Lord of Armies, says.
I am the first, and I am the last.
Except for me, there is no god.
7 For who is like me? Let him declare it.
Let him recite in order for me the things that took place
since the time I established an ancient people.
Or let them declare what is yet to come,
and what is going to take place.
8 Do not tremble, and do not be frightened.
Did I not announce this to you,
and declare it already long ago?
You are my witnesses.
Is there any god except me?
There is no other Rock. I am not aware of any other.
9 All those who form an idol are good for nothing.
All the things which delight them provide no benefit.
As for their witnesses—they do not see.
They know nothing, so they will be ashamed.
10 Who is this who forms a god or casts a metal image that can provide no profit? 11 Look at him! All his associates will be ashamed. The craftsmen are merely men. Let them all gather themselves and take a stand. They will be terrified and ashamed together.
12 A blacksmith uses a cutting tool and makes an idol over hot coals. With hammers he shapes it. He makes it with his strong arm, but he becomes hungry and has no strength left. He does not drink water, and so he grows faint.
13 A woodworker stretches out a measuring line. He marks the lines with a stylus. He shapes the idol with chisels. He marks it with a compass. Then he carves it till it is shaped like a person, like a splendid man to inhabit a shrine.
14 He goes to cut down cedars for himself, or he chooses a holm tree[e] or an oak, and he lets it grow strong among the trees of a forest. Or he plants a cedar, and rain causes it to grow tall, 15 but it becomes fuel for a man to burn. He takes part of it to warm himself. He lights a fire to bake bread, and then from the rest he makes a god and worships it. He carves an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of it he burns in a fire—over that half he eats meat. He roasts meat and is satisfied. So he is warm and says, “Ah! I am warm. I see the light of the fire.” 17 Then from what is left he makes a god to serve as his idol. He bows down to it. He worships it, and he prays to it, “Save me, because you are my god.”
18 They are ignorant. They do not understand, because their eyes are plastered shut,[f] and they cannot see. Their hearts are unable to gain insight. 19 A person does not take this to heart, so he has no knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I burn in the fire, and I bake bread on its coals. I roast meat, and I eat. Should I make the rest of it into a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to a piece of wood?” 20 He is like a sheep grazing on ashes. A deceived mind leads him astray. He will not save his life, nor will he say, “Isn’t what I am holding in my right hand a fraud?”
Israel Will Be Restored
21 Remember these things, O Jacob, because you are my servant, Israel. I am forming you to be my servant. You, Israel, you will never be forgotten by me.[g] 22 I am blowing away your rebellious deeds like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, because I am redeeming you.
23 Shout for joy, you heavens, because of what the Lord is doing.
Make a joyful shout, you depths of the earth.
Burst forth with shouts of joy, you mountains,
you forest and every tree in it,
because the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
and in Israel he will display his beauty.
24 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer,
the Lord who formed you from the womb, says.
I am the Lord, the one who does all things,
who stretched out the heavens by myself,
who hammered out the earth.
(Who was with me then?)
25 I frustrate the signs of the deceivers
and make fools of the fortune tellers.[h]
I overturn the wisdom of the wise
and turn their knowledge into foolishness.
26 He is the one who fulfills the word of his servants,
who completes the plan announced by his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, “It will be inhabited,”
and about the cities of Judah, “They will be rebuilt,
and I will raise up their ruins.”
27 He is the one who says to the deep ocean, “Dry up,”
the one who says, “I will dry up your rivers.”
28 He is the one who says about Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
and he will complete everything I desire.”
He is the one who says about Jerusalem, “It will be rebuilt,”
and who says to the temple, “Your foundations will be laid.”
Paul Defends His Ministry Among the Thessalonians
2 Indeed, brothers, you yourselves know that our visit to you was not a waste of time. 2 Even though we had suffered previously and were treated shamefully in Philippi (as you know), we were bold in our God to speak the gospel of God to you in the face of great opposition. 3 For our appeal does not come from error or impure motives, or by way of deceit. 4 Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts. 5 Indeed, as you know, we never at any time used flattering speech, nor did we act with greed as a motive. God is our witness. 6 Also, we did not seek the praise of people (neither yours nor anyone else’s), 7 even though we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles. On the contrary, we were gentle[a] among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 We yearned for you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.
9 Surely, brothers, you remember our labor and hardship! We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you, while we preached the gospel of God to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devout, righteous, and blameless we were toward you who believe. 11 In the same way, you know that we treated each of you as a father deals with his own children: 12 encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who is calling you into his kingdom and glory.
13 There is also another reason we give thanks to God unceasingly, namely, when you received God’s word, which you heard from us, you did not receive it as the word of men but as the word of God (as it really is), which is now at work in you who believe. 14 Yes, brothers, you became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus, because you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and who severely persecuted us. They are not pleasing to God and are hostile to all people. 16 By hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved, they are always filling up the full measure of their sins. And the wrath has come upon them completely.[b]
Paul’s Desire to See the Thessalonians
17 As for us, brothers, after we were separated from you like orphans for just a short time (in person, not in our heart), it was with great desire that we made every effort to see you again in person. 18 For we wanted to come to you (I, Paul, wanted this, not just once, but twice), but Satan hindered us. 19 Indeed, who is our hope or joy or crown about which we boast before our Lord Jesus when he returns? Is it not you? 20 Yes, you are our glory and our joy.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.