Old/New Testament
For Zion’s Sake, Cry Out
62
For the sake of Zion I will not be silent.
For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth shining brightly,
and her salvation burns like a torch.
2 Nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings will see your glory.
You will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will assign to you.
3 Then you will be a beautiful crown in the Lord’s hand,
and a royal diadem in the palm of your God.
4 You will never again be called Abandoned,[a]
and your land will never again be called Desolation,[b]
for you will be called My Delight Is in Her,[c]
and your land will be called Married,[d]
because the Lord delights in you,
and your land will be married.
5 For just as a young man marries a virgin,
your sons will marry[e] you,
and just as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,
your God will rejoice over you.
6 Upon your walls, Jerusalem, I appointed watchmen.
All day and all night they will never be silent.
You who keep reminding the Lord, do not rest!
7 Do not give him rest
until he establishes Jerusalem,
and he causes her to be praised on the earth.
8 The Lord swore by his right hand
and by his strong arm:
I will certainly never again give up your grain as food
for your enemies,
and foreigners will not drink the sweet new wine you worked for.
9 For those who pick fruit will eat it, and they will praise the Lord,
and those who harvest grapes will drink in my holy courtyards.
10 Go through, go through the gates.
Prepare a way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway.
Clear it of stones.
Raise a banner for the peoples.
11 Listen, the Lord is making a proclamation to the end of the earth.
Tell the daughter of Zion:
“Look, your salvation is coming.
Look, his reward is with him,
and his compensation is out in front of him.”[f]
12 Then they will be called holy people,
the redeemed of the Lord.
Then you will be called Sought After,
A City Not Abandoned.
The Day of Vengeance
The Prophet’s Question
63
Who is this coming from Edom, with bright red garments?
Who is this coming from Bozrah, clothed majestically,
marching out[g] with great strength?
The Servant’s Response
It is I, the one who speaks in righteousness.
It is I, the one who is mighty to save.
The Prophet’s Question
2 Why is your clothing so red?
Why are your garments like those of someone
who has been trampling grapes in a winepress?
The Servant’s Response
3 I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples there was no one with me.
So I stomped on them in my anger,
and I trampled them in my wrath,
and their juice splattered on my garments.
I stained all my clothing.
4 For the day for vengeance was in my heart,
and the year for my redemption has come.
5 I looked intently but there was no helper.
I was shocked that no one supported me.
My arm delivered me,
and my wrath supported me.
6 I trampled the peoples in my anger.
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I will pour out their juice[h] onto the ground.
Isaiah’s Announcement
7 I will tell about the Lord’s mercies,
about the praises of the Lord,
about all that the Lord has done for us,
about his great goodness to the house of Israel,
which he performed for them according to his abundant compassion,
and according to his great mercy.
8 He said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely,”
so he became their Savior.
9 In all their anguish he felt anguish,[i]
and the Angel of his Presence saved them.
In his love and in his pity he himself redeemed them,
and he took them up and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit,
so he turned against them and became an enemy.
He himself fought against them.
11 Yet he remembered the days of old,
the days of Moses and his people.
Isaiah’s Plea
Where is the one who brought them up from the sea,
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who set his Holy Spirit in their midst,
12 who sent his majestic arm to the right hand of Moses,
who divided waters before them
to make an everlasting name for himself,
13 who let them walk through the depths?
Like a horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble.
14 Like cattle that descend into a valley,
they were given rest by the Lord’s Spirit.
This is how you led your people
to make a majestic name for yourself.
15 Gaze down from the heavens and see,
from your holy and beautiful dwelling place.
Where is your zeal and your might?
The feelings of your heart and your compassion
are withheld from me.
16 But you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
though Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, the Lord, are our Father.
Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
17 Why do you cause us to wander from your ways, Lord?
Why do you harden our heart so that we do not fear you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes that are your heritage.
18 For a short time your holy people possessed the land.
Now our adversaries have trampled your sanctuary.
19 We have been your people from ancient times,
but you have not ruled over the other nations.
They were not called by your name.[j]
64
Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and come down.
Mountains then would quake because of your presence.[k]
2 As fire ignites stubble and as fire makes water boil,
make your name known to your adversaries.
Then nations would quake in your presence.
3 You did amazing things that we did not expect.
You came down. Mountains quaked because of your presence.
4 From ancient times no one has heard.
No ear has understood.
No eye has seen any god except you,
who goes into action for the one who waits for him.
5 You meet anyone who joyfully practices righteousness,
who remembers you by walking in your ways!
But you were angry because we sinned.
We have remained in our sins for a long time.
Can we still be saved?
6 All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth.[l]
All of us have withered like a leaf,
and our guilt carries us away like the wind.
7 There is no one who calls on your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you.
So you hid your face from us.
You made us melt by the power of our guilt.
8 But now, Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter.
All of us are the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry, Lord, without limit.
Do not remember our guilt forever.
Please look closely.
All of us are your people.
Isaiah’s Lament
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness.
Zion has become a wilderness.
Jerusalem is a desolation.
11 Our holy and glorious house, where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and everything we desired has become a ruin.
12 Since this is so, how can you hold back, O Lord?
How can you remain silent and afflict us without limit?
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope,
2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Warning Against False Teachers
3 As I urged you while I was going to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach any different doctrines 4 or pay any attention to myths and endless genealogies that bring about aimless speculations rather than God’s plan, which centers in faith. 5 The goal of this command is love that comes from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith. 6 By veering away from these things, some have turned aside into meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, although they do not comprehend what they are saying or the things they so strongly affirm. 8 Now, we know that the law is good as long as one uses it correctly— 9 keeping in mind that the law is not laid down for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for godless people and sinners, for unholy and worldly people, for those who kill their fathers and those who kill their mothers, for murderers, 10 for sexually immoral people, for homosexuals, for kidnappers,[a] for liars, for perjurers, and for whatever else is opposed to sound teaching— 11 in keeping with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I was entrusted.
God’s Mercy to Paul
12 I give thanks to the one who empowered me, namely, Christ Jesus our Lord, that he treated me as trustworthy, appointing me into his ministry. 13 He did this even though formerly I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man. But I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord overflowed on me along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 This saying is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” of whom I am the worst. 16 But I was shown mercy for this reason: that in me, the worst sinner, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his unlimited patience as an example for those who are going to believe in him, resulting in eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, to the immortal, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Fight the Good Fight
18 I am entrusting this instruction to you, Timothy, my child, according to the prophecies about you, which were made earlier, so that by them you may fight the good fight, 19 with faith and a good conscience. By rejecting these, some people have suffered shipwreck with regard to their faith, 20 including Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I handed over to Satan so that they might be taught not to blaspheme.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.