Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God Calls His Special Servant
49 All of you ·people in faraway places [or islands; or coastlands], listen to me.
·Listen [Pay attention], all you nations far away.
·Before I was born [L From the womb], the Lord called me to serve him.
The Lord named me while I was still in my mother’s womb [C this passage (49:1–13) is the second of four “servant songs” in Isaiah; 42:1].
2 He made my ·tongue [mouth] like a sharp sword [C his words enact judgment; 11:4; Heb. 4:12; Rev. 1:16].
He hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me like a ·sharp [or polished] arrow.
He hid me in ·the holder for his arrows [his quiver].
3 He told me, “Israel, you are my servant.
I will show my glory ·through [in] you.”
4 But I said, “I have worked hard ·for nothing [in vain];
I have used all my power, ·but I did nothing useful [for nothing; in futility].
But ·the Lord will decide what my work is worth [L my judgment/vindication is the Lord’s];
God will decide my reward.”
5 The Lord made me in the ·body [womb] of my mother
to be his servant,
to lead ·the people of Jacob [L Jacob] back to him
so that Israel might be gathered to him.
·The Lord will honor me [L I am honored in the eyes of the Lord],
and ·I will get my strength from my God [L God will be my strength].
6 Now he told me,
“·You are an important servant to me [It is too small a thing; or Is it too small a thing…?]
to ·bring back [restore; raise up] the tribes of Jacob,
to bring back the ·people of Israel who are left alive [remnant/preserved ones of Israel].
I will make you a light for the nations [42:6; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47]
so that my salvation will reach ·people all over the world [L the end of the earth].”
7 The Lord ·who saves you [the Redeemer], the Holy One of Israel [1:4].
says to the one who is ·hated [L despised and abhorred] by the ·people [or nation; or nations],
to the servant of rulers.
This is what he says: “Kings will see you and ·stand [rise; C to honor him];
·great leaders [princes] will bow down before you,
because the Lord ·can be trusted [is faithful].
He is the Holy One of Israel [1:4], who has chosen you.”
Praise and Prayer for Help
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
40 I waited patiently for the Lord.
He ·turned [bent down; inclined; stooped] to me and heard my cry.
2 He ·lifted [drew] me out of the pit of ·destruction [or desolation],
out of the ·sticky mud [miry/muddy pit/bog/swamp].
He ·stood me [L placed my feet] on a rock
and made my ·feet [L step] steady.
3 He put a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3] in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many people will see this and ·worship [fear] him.
Then they will ·trust [find refuge in] the Lord.
4 ·Happy [Blessed] is the person
who ·trusts [finds refuge in] the Lord,
who doesn’t turn to those who are proud
or to those who ·worship [go astray to] ·false gods [L a lie].
5 Lord my God, you have done many ·miracles [wonders; great acts].
Your plans for us are many.
If I tried to tell them all,
there would be too many to count [104:24; 139:17–18; John 21:25].
6 You do not want sacrifices and ·offerings [grain offerings; or gifts; tribute; Lev. 2:1].
But you have ·made a hole in [or pierced; L dug] my ear [C to make him hear better or perhaps a reference to the ritual that made one a slave forever; Ex. 21:6; Heb. 10:5–7].
You do not ask for burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17]
and ·sin [or purification] offerings [Lev. 4:3].
7 Then I said, “Look, I have come.
It is written about me in the ·book [scroll].
8 My God, I ·want [delight; take pleasure] to do ·what you want [your pleasure].
Your ·teachings [instructions; laws] are in my heart.”
9 I will tell ·about your goodness [the good news] in the great ·meeting of your people [assembly].
Lord, you know ·my lips are not silent [L I have not restrained my lips].
10 I do not hide your ·goodness [righteousness] in my heart;
I speak about your ·loyalty [faithfulness] and ·salvation [victory].
I do not hide your ·love [loyalty] and ·truth [faithfulness]
from the people in the great ·meeting [assembly].
11 Lord, do not ·hold back [restrain] your ·mercy [compassion] from me;
let your ·love [loyalty] and ·truth [faithfulness] always protect me.
1 From Paul. ·God called me [L …called] to be an ·apostle [messenger] of Christ Jesus ·because that is what God wanted [L by the will of God]. Also from Sosthenes [C a coworker; Paul may be dictating the letter to him; see 16:21; perhaps the synagogue leader mentioned in Acts 18:15–17], our ·brother in Christ [L brother].
2 To the church of God in Corinth [C an important city in southern Greece; Paul started the church on his second missionary journey, around ad 52; Acts 18], to you who have been ·made holy [sanctified; dedicated/set apart to God] in Christ Jesus. You were called to be ·God’s holy people [T saints] with all people everywhere who pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ—·their Lord and ours [L theirs and ours]:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul Gives Thanks to God
4 I always thank my God for you because of the ·grace [gift; favor] God has given you in Christ Jesus. 5 I thank God because in Christ you have been ·made rich [enriched] in every way, in all your ·speaking [or spiritual gifts of speaking] and in all your ·knowledge [or gifts of spiritual knowledge]. 6 Just as our ·witness [testimony; message] about Christ has been ·guaranteed to [or confirmed among] you, 7 so you ·have every [L do not lack any] ·gift from God [spiritual gift; L gift] while you wait for the ·return [L revelation] of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 ·Jesus [L …who] will keep you strong until the end so that ·there will be no wrong in you [you will be blameless/faultless] on the day ·our Lord Jesus Christ comes again [L of our Lord Jesus Christ; C the final day of judgment, known in the OT as “the Day of the Lord”]. 9 God, who has called you into ·fellowship [partnership; relationship] with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God [C lambs were used for sacrifice; Gen. 22:8], who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the One I was talking about [1:15] when I said, ‘A man will come after me, but he is greater than I am, because he ·was living [existed] before me.’ 31 Even I did not ·know [recognize] who he was, although I came baptizing with water so that ·the people of Israel would know who he is [he might be revealed to Israel].”
The First Followers of Jesus
35 The next day John [C the Baptist; 1:6] was [standing] there again with two of his ·followers [disciples]. 36 When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God [see 1:29]!”
37 The two ·followers [disciples] heard John say this, so they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following him, he asked, “What are you looking for?”
They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (“Rabbi” means “Teacher.”)
39 He answered, “Come and see.” So the two men went with Jesus and saw where he was staying and stayed there with him that day. It was about ·four o’clock in the afternoon [L the tenth hour; C hours were counted from dawn, about 6 AM].
40 One of the two men who followed Jesus after they heard John speak about him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah.” (“Messiah” means “Christ.”) [C Both Hebrew Mashiach (Messiah) and Greek Christos (Christ) mean “Anointed One.”]
42 Then Andrew took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas.” (“Cephas” means “Peter.”) [C Both Aramaic Cephas and Greek Petros mean “rock.”]
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.