Isaiah 49 Cross References - ISV

¹ The Servant of the LORD “Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people from far away! The LORD called me from the womb; while I was still in my mother’s body, he pronounced my name. ² He made my mouth like a sharp sword; he hid me in the shadow of his hands. He made me like a polished arrow and hid me away in his quivers. ³ He said to me: ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will glorify myself.’ ⁴ “I said: ‘I’ve labored for nothing. I’ve exhausted my strength on futility and on emptiness.’ Yet surely my recompense is with the LORD, and my reward is with my God. ⁵ “And now, says the LORD, who formed you from the womb as his servant to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him— and I am honored in the LORD’s sight and my God has been my help— ⁶ he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I’ll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth. ⁷ “This is what my Lord says— the LORD your Redeemer, O Israel, and his Holy One— to one despised by people, to those abhorred as a nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings see and arise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who has chosen you.”
⁸ The Restoration of Israel“This what the LORD says: “I’ll answer you in a time of favor, and on a day of salvation I’ll help you. I have watched over you, and given you as a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to reassign the inheritances that have been devastated; ⁹ saying to captives, ‘Come out!’ and to those who are in darkness, ‘Be free!’ “They will feed on all the mountains, and their pasture will be on all the barren hills. ¹⁰ They won’t hunger or thirst, nor will the desert heat or sun beat upon them; for the one who has compassion on them will drive them and guide them alongside springs of water. ¹¹ I’ll turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways will be raised up. ¹² “Watch! They’ll come from far away— some from the north and from the west, and others from the Aswan region.” ¹³ Shout with joy, you heavens, and rock with glee, you earth! Break out in song, you mountains! The LORD is comforting his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
¹⁴ Zion Not Forgotten“But Zion said, ‘The LORD has abandoned me, and my God has forgotten me.’ ¹⁵ “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or have no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these mothers may forget; But as for me, I’ll never forget you! ¹⁶ Look! I’ve inscribed you on the palms of my hands, and your walls are forever before me. ¹⁷ Your builders are working faster than your destroyers, and those who devastated you go away from you. ¹⁸ Lift up your eyes and look around— they have all gathered together and are coming to you. “As surely as I live,” says the LORD, “you will clothe yourself with all of them like ornaments, and tie them on like a bride. ¹⁹ Indeed, your ruins, your desolate places, and your devastated land will now be too crowded for your inhabitants, while those who swallowed you up will be far away. ²⁰ “The children who are grieving at present will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too crowded for me; make room for me, so I may have a place to live.’ ²¹ Then you’ll ask in your heart, ‘Who bore these children for me, although I was childless and barren, and an exile and cast aside? Who brought these up? Look! For my part I was left all alone; but as for these, where have they come from?’ ²² “For this what the LORD says, ‘Watch! I’ll lift up my hand to the nations and raise my banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.’ ²³ “Oh, yes! Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed. ²⁴ “Can they seize plunder from warriors, or can the captives of tyrants be rescued? ²⁵ But this is what the LORD says: “He will seize even the warriors’ plunder, and the captives of tyrants will be rescued. I myself will quarrel with those who have a quarrel with you, and I myself will save your children. ²⁶ “I’ll make those who mistreat you eat their own flesh, and they will get drunk on their own blood, as with new wine. “Then all mankind will know that I am the LORD your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

⁵ For you are my hope, Lord GOD, my security since I was young. ⁶ I depended on you since birth, when you brought me from my mother’s womb; I praise you continuously.

¹⁴ “Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign. Watch! The virgin is conceiving a child, and will give birth to a son, and his name will be called Immanuel.

⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

¹ The LORD Comes as Judge “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.

¹ The Servant of the LORD “Here is my servant, whom I support, my chosen one, in whom I delight. I’ve placed my Spirit upon him; and he’ll deliver his justice throughout the world. 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 he won’t snuff out. He’ll bring forth justice for the truth. ⁴ And he won’t grow faint or be crushed until he establishes justice on the mainland, and the coastlands take ownership of his Law.”

¹² Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.

² This what the LORD says, the one who made you, formed you from the womb, and who will help you: “Don’t be afraid, Jacob my servant, and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

²⁴ “This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer and the one who formed you in the womb: ‘I am the LORD, who has made everything, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth— Who was with me at that time?—

²² Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.

³ “Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all you remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld from before your birth, and who have been carried from the womb.

⁵ “And now, says the LORD, who formed you from the womb as his servant to bring Jacob back to him so that Israel might be gathered to him— and I am honored in the LORD’s sight and my God has been my help—

⁵ my deliverance near; my salvation is on the way. His arm will bring justice to the nations; the coastlands will hope for him, and they will wait for his arm.

³ Pay attention to me, come to me; and listen, so that you may live; then I’ll make an everlasting covenant with you, as promised by my faithful, sure love for David.

¹⁹ when I create the fruit of the lips: Peace to the one who is far away or near,” says the LORD, “and I’ll heal him.

⁹ For the coastlands will look to me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring my children from far away, their silver and gold with them, to the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.

¹⁹ “I will put up signs among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations—to Tarshish, Libya, and Lydia, (who draw the bow), to Tubal and Greece, to the far off coastlands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. Then they will proclaim my glory among the nations.

⁵ “I knew you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart for me before you were born; I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

¹¹ The LORD will incite them to terror, because he will cause all the gods of the earth to waste away. They will worship him, every person in his own home, including even the coastlands of the nations.”
The LORD’s Rebuke to Cush and Nineveh

²⁰ After he had thought about it, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” he said, “don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he is the one who will save his people from their sins.”

¹⁵ because he will be great in the Lord’s presence. He will never drink wine or any strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.

³¹ Listen! You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus.

¹⁰ Then the angel told them, “Stop being afraid! Listen! I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today your Savior, the Lord Messiah, was born in the City of David.

³⁶ how can you say to the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You’re blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I’m the Son of God’?

¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace, was pleased

¹⁷ He came and proclaimed peace for you who were far away and for you who were near.

²⁵ See to it that you do not ignore the one who is speaking. For if the hearers did not escape when they ignored the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we turn away from the one who is from heaven!

²⁰ On the one hand, he was foreknown before the creation of the world, but on the other hand, he was revealed at the end of time for your sake.

² You are the most handsome of Adam’s descendants; grace has anointed your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever. ³ Strap your sword to your side, mighty warrior, along with your honor and majesty. ⁴ In your majesty ride forth for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness; and your strong right hand will teach you awesome things. ⁵ Your arrows are sharpened to penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies. People will fall under you.

¹ A Davidic Psalm
God is My Refuge The one who lives in the shelter of the Most High, who rests in the shadow of the Almighty,

⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy, and decide with equity for earth’s poor. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and the wicked will be killed with the breath of his lips.

¹ The Servant of the LORD “Here is my servant, whom I support, my chosen one, in whom I delight. I’ve placed my Spirit upon him; and he’ll deliver his justice throughout the world.

⁴ The Servant’s Obedience“The Lord GOD has given me a learned tongue, so that I may know how to sustain the weary with words. And morning after morning he wakens, and he wakens my ear to listen like those who are being taught.

¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of my hand, so that I could plant the heavens and lay the earth’s foundations, to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’

¹ Good News of Deliverance “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed and to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners; ² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; ³ to provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” “Then people will call them “Oaks of Righteousness”, “The Planting of the LORD”, in order to display his splendor.

¹⁸ “As for me, today I’m making you a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the LORD says: “If you repent, I’ll take you back and you will stand before me. If you speak what is worthwhile, instead of what is worthless, then you will be my spokesman. People will turn to you, but you aren’t to turn to them. ²⁰ I’ll make you a fortified wall of bronze to this people. They’ll fight against you, but they won’t prevail against you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you,”

⁵ Therefore I cut them to pieces by the prophets, killing them by the words from my mouth. The verdict against you shines like a beacon.

⁴⁶ Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” After he said this, he breathed his last.

¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, as it judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart.

¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His face was like the sun when it shines with full force.

¹² The Letter to the Church in Pergamum“To the messenger of the church in Pergamum, write:
‘The one who holds the sharp, two-edged sword, says this:

¹⁵ A sharp sword comes out of his mouth to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod and tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.

²¹ the people whom I formed for myself and so that they may speak my praise.”

²³ “Shout for joy, you heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout aloud, you depths of the earth! Burst out with singing, you mountains, you forest, and all your trees! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob and will display his glory in Israel.

¹³ The Suffering Servant“Look! My servant will prosper, and he will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high.

¹⁰ The Exaltation of the Servant“Yet the LORD was willing to crush him, and he made him suffer. Although you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring, and he will prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will triumph in his hand.

⁸ “‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and those companions of yours who sit with you, for these men are a sign that I am presenting my servant, the Branch.

⁵ He was still speaking when a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them.
A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him. Keep on listening to him!”

¹⁰ Then the angel told them, “Stop being afraid! Listen! I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today your Savior, the Lord Messiah, was born in the City of David. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a feeding trough.”
¹³ Suddenly, a multitude of the Heavenly Army appeared with the angel, praising God by saying, ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to people who enjoy his favor!”

²⁸ Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!”

³¹ The New CommandmentAfter Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “The Son of Man is now glorified, and God has been glorified by him. ³² If God has been glorified by him, God himself also will glorify the Son of Man, and he will do so quickly.

⁸ This is how my Father is glorified, when you produce a lot of fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

¹ Jesus Prays for Himself, His Disciples, and His Future FollowersAfter Jesus had said this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you.

⁴ I glorified you on earth by completing the task you gave me to do.

⁶ so that we would praise his glorious grace that he gave us in the Beloved One.

⁶ In God’s own form existed he, and shared with God equality, deemed nothing needed grasping. ⁷ Instead, poured out in emptiness, a servant’s form did he possess, a mortal man becoming. In human form he chose to be, ⁸ and lived in all humility, death on a cross obeying. ⁹ Now lifted up by God to heaven, a name above all others given, this matchless name possessing. ¹⁰ And so, when Jesus’ name is called, the knees of everyone should fall, wherever they’re residing. ¹¹ Then every tongue in one accord, will say that Jesus the Messiah is Lord, while God the Father praising.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people to be his very own and to proclaim the wonderful deeds of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

²⁰ Your strength will be spent in vain, because your land won’t yield its produce and the trees of the land won’t yield their fruit.

²² I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you, saying, ²³ “All who fear the LORD, praise him! All the seed of Jacob, glorify him! All the seed of Israel, fear him! ²⁴ For he does not despise nor detest the afflicted person; he does not hide his face from him, but he hears him when he cries out to him.” ²⁵ My praise in the great congregation is because of you; I will pay my vows before those who fear you. ²⁶ The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him, “May you live forever!” ²⁷ All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the LORD. ²⁸ Indeed, the kingdom belongs to the LORD; he rules over the nations. ²⁹ All the prosperous people will eat and bow down in submission. All those who are about to go down to the grave will bow down in submission, along with the one who can no longer keep himself alive. ³⁰ Our descendants will serve him, and that generation will be told about the Lord. ³¹ They will come and declare his righteousness to a people yet to be born; indeed, he has accomplished it!

⁴ Say to those with anxious hearts, ‘Be strong, do not be afraid! Here is your God— he will bring vengeance, he will bring divine retribution, and he will save you.’

¹⁰ Look! The Lord GOD comes with strength, and his arm rules for him. Look! His reward is with him, and his payment accompanies him.

¹⁰ The Exaltation of the Servant“Yet the LORD was willing to crush him, and he made him suffer. Although you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring, and he will prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will triumph in his hand. ¹¹ Out of the suffering of his soul he will see light and find satisfaction. And through his knowledge his servant, the righteous one, will make many righteous, and he will bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he carried the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions.”

¹¹ Here is the LORD! Proclaim to the ends of the earth, say to the inhabitants of Zion: ‘See, your salvation is coming! See, his reward is with him, and his recompenses are before him.’

² I held out my hands all day long to a disobedient people, who walk in a way that isn’t good, following their own inclinations—

²³ They won’t toil in vain nor bear children doomed to misfortune, for they will be offspring blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them.

¹⁹ If you warn the wicked person, and he doesn’t repent of his wickedness or of his wicked behavior, he’ll die in his sin, but you will have saved your own life.

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverted generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!”

³⁷ Jesus Rebukes Jerusalem
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

²⁶ The Messiah had to suffer these things and then enter his glory, didn’t he?”

¹¹ Responses to the WordHe came to his own creation, yet his own people did not receive him.

⁴ I glorified you on earth by completing the task you gave me to do.
⁵ “So now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.

²¹ But about Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and rebellious people.”

¹⁵ To God we are the aroma of the Messiah among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost.

¹⁵ I will be very glad to spend my money and myself for you. Do you love me less because I love you so much?

¹¹ I am afraid for you! I don’t want my work for you to have been wasted!

⁹ Now lifted up by God to heaven, a name above all others given, this matchless name possessing. ¹⁰ And so, when Jesus’ name is called, the knees of everyone should fall, wherever they’re residing.

² fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

¹ A Davidic psalm
A Priestly Ruler A declaration from the LORD to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” ² When the LORD extends your mighty scepter from Zion, rule in the midst of your enemies. ³ Your soldiers are willing volunteers on your day of battle; in majestic holiness, from the womb, from the dawn, the dew of your youth belongs to you.

¹² He will raise a banner for the nations and will assemble the dispersed of Israel; he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the corners of the earth.

² “Look! God—yes God—is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid. For the LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

⁴ Since you’re precious in my sight and honored, and because I love you, I’m giving up people in your place, and nations in exchange for your life.”

¹ The Servant of the LORD “Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people from far away! The LORD called me from the womb; while I was still in my mother’s body, he pronounced my name.

⁸ A Rebuke to Israel’s GuardiansThis is what the Lord GOD says, the one who gathers the outcasts of Israel: “I’ll gather still others to them besides those already gathered.

¹⁷ Then a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him!”

²⁷ All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and the person to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

²⁴ But he replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”

³⁷ Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they told one another, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ ³⁹ So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those farmers?”
⁴¹ They told him, “He will put those horrible men to a horrible death. Then he will lease the vineyard to other farmers who will give him his produce at harvest time.”

¹⁸ Then Jesus approached them and told them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

⁴² “If you had only known today what could have brought you peace! But now it is hidden from your sight,

³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands.

²⁰ The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him even greater actions than these, so that you may be amazed. ²¹ Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to those he chooses. ²² The Father judges no one, but has given all authority to judge to the Son, ²³ so that everyone may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
²⁴ “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, whoever hears what I say and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has passed from death to life. ²⁵ Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, the time approaches, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live. ²⁶ Just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted the Son to have life in himself, ²⁷ and he has given him authority to judge, because he is the Son of Man.

³⁶ He has sent his word to the descendants of Israel and brought them the good news of peace through Jesus the Messiah. This man is the Lord of everyone.

⁸ For I tell you that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors,

²⁰ which he brought about in the Messiah when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm. ²¹ He is far above every ruler, authority, power, dominion, and every name that can be named, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. ²² God has put everything under the Messiah’s feet and has made him the head of everything for the good of the church,

¹⁵ who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, who have persecuted us, and who please neither God nor any group of people, ¹⁶ as they try to keep us from telling the gentiles how they can be saved. As a result, they are constantly adding to the number of sins they have committed. However, wrath has overtaken them at last!

²² who has gone to heaven and is at the right hand of God, where angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to him.

¹⁸ And this is the easy part for the LORD—he’s also going to hand the Moabites over to you!

¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, “It’s an easy thing for a shadow to lengthen ten steps. So let the shadow go backward ten steps.”

² The LORD has made his deliverance known; he has disclosed his justice before the nations. ³ He has remembered his gracious love; his faithfulness toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth saw our God’s deliverance.

¹⁰ Israel RegatheredAt that time, as to the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place is glorious.

¹⁴ Glorifying God“They raise their voices; they shout for joy; from the west they shout aloud over the LORD’s majesty. ¹⁵ Therefore, you in the east, give glory to the LORD! You in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD God of Israel! ¹⁶ From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise: ‘Glory to the Righteous One!’ “But I say, ‘I am pining away, I’m pining away. How terrible things are for me! For treacherous people betray— treacherous people are betraying with treachery!’”

⁶ “I’ve called you in righteousness. I’ll take hold of your hand. I’ll preserve you and appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light for the nations,

¹³ My righteousness is brought near and it’s not far off, and my salvation won’t delay. I’ll grant salvation in Zion, and to Israel, my glory.”

¹⁰ The LORD has bared his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

³ Nations will come to your light, and kings before your dawn.

³² a light that will reveal salvation to unbelievers and bring glory to your people Israel.”

⁴⁶ He told them, “This is how it is written: the Messiah was to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and then repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

⁴ In him was life, and that life brought light to humanity. ⁵ And the light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.
⁶ John’s Witness to the WordThere was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe because of him. ⁸ John was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. ⁹ This was the true light that enlightens every person by his coming into the world.

⁴⁷ For that is what the Lord ordered us to do: ‘I have made you a light to the gentiles to be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.’”

¹⁸ You will help them understand and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan’s control to God, so that their sins will be forgiven and they will receive a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁰ Therefore, kings, act wisely! Earthly rulers, be warned! ¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. ¹² Kiss the son before he becomes angry, and you die where you stand. Indeed, his wrath can flare up quickly. How blessed are those who take refuge in him.

⁶ But as for me, I am only a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by people. ⁷ Everyone who sees me mocks me; they gape at me with open mouths and shake their heads at me. ⁸ They say, “Commit yourself to the LORD; perhaps the LORD will deliver him, perhaps he will cause him to escape, since he delights in him.”

³¹ Envoys will come from Egypt. Let the Ethiopians stretch out their hands to God.

⁷ I am being mocked because of you. Dishonor overwhelms me. ⁸ I am a stranger to my brothers, a foreigner to my mother’s sons. ⁹ Zeal for your house consumes me, and the mockeries of those who insult you fall on me.

¹⁹ Truly you know my reproach, shame, and disgrace. All my enemies are known to you.

¹⁰ May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring gifts, and may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer tribute. ¹¹ May all kings bow down to him, and all nations serve him.

⁷ They are created now, and not long ago; you didn’t hear them before today, so you cannot say, ‘Yes, I knew them.’

¹⁷ “This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you how to succeed, who directs you in the path by which you should go.

²³ “Oh, yes! Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

⁶ I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not turn away my face from insults and spitting.

¹⁵ so will he startle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths at him; for what had not been told them they will see, and what they had not heard they will understand.

³ “He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, intimately familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces; and we despised him and did not value him.

¹⁰ “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in my anger I struck you down, in my favor I have shown you mercy.

¹⁶ You’ll suck the milk of nations, You’ll suck the breasts of kings. Then you will realize that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

⁸ In a single month I got rid of three shepherds because I grew tired of them, and they despised me.

²⁸ That’s the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

⁶⁷ Then they spit in his face and hit him. Some slapped him,

³⁸ At that time two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. ³⁹ Those who passed by kept insulting him, shaking their heads, ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who were going to destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days—save yourself! If you’re the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
⁴¹ In the same way the high priests, along with the scribes and elders, were also making fun of him. They kept saying, ⁴² “He saved others but can’t save himself! He is the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God rescue him, if he wants to do so now. After all, he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
⁴⁴ In a similar way, the bandits who were being crucified with him kept insulting him.

²⁷ Because who is greater, the one who sits at the table, or the one who serves? It is the one at the table, isn’t it? But I’m among you as one who serves.

¹⁸ But they all shouted out together, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas for us!”

²³ But they kept pressing him with loud shouts, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their shouts began to prevail.

³⁵ Meanwhile, the people stood looking on. The leaders were mocking him by saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if he is the Messiah of God, the chosen one!”

⁴⁰ At this, they shouted out again, “Not this fellow, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

⁶ When the high priests and the officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Pilate told them, “You take him and crucify him. I find no basis for a charge against him.”

¹⁵ Then they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
Pilate asked them, “Should I crucify your king?”
The high priests responded, “We have no king but Caesar!”

⁴ As you come to him, the living stone who was rejected by people but was chosen and precious in God’s sight,

⁷ The Letter to the Church in Philadelphia“To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia, write: ‘The one who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens a door that no one can shut, and who shuts a door that no one can open, ‘says this:

¹⁵ The Vision of the Seventh Angel Blowing His TrumpetWhen the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The world’s kingdom has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever.”

⁸ Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession.

¹³ Seeking God for DeliveranceAs for me, LORD, may my prayer to you come at a favorable time. God, in the abundance of your gracious love, answer me with your sure deliverance.

³ While the earth and all its inhabitants melt away, it is I who keep its pillars firm.” Interlude

³ You will keep perfectly peaceful the one whose mind remains focused on you, because he remains in you.

²⁶ who carries out the words of his servants, and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, “It will be inhabited,” and of Judah’s cities, “They will be rebuilt,” and of her ruins, “I’ll raise them up”;

¹⁹ Indeed, your ruins, your desolate places, and your devastated land will now be too crowded for your inhabitants, while those who swallowed you up will be far away.

⁷ For the Lord GOD helps me, so I won’t be disgraced. Therefore I’ve made my face like flint, and I know that I won’t be put to shame.”
⁸ The Servant’s VindicationThe one who vindicates me is near. Who, then, will bring a charge against me? Let’s face each other! Who has a case against me? Let him confront me! ⁹ See! It is the Lord GOD who will help me. Who is it that will declare me guilty? See! They will all wear out like a garment; moths will eat them up.

³ For the LORD will have compassion on Zion, have compassion on all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her deserts like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving, and the sound of singing. Sorrow and sighing will flee away.

³ For you will spread out to the right hand and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will populate the deserted towns.

¹² And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; You’ll raise up the age-old foundations, and people will call you ‘Repairer of Broken Walls,’ ‘Restorer of Streets to Live In.’

⁴ They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will build again the ruined cities, they will build again the places devastated for many generations.

²⁸ because this is my blood of the new covenant that is being poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins.

⁴¹ So they removed the stone.
Then Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. ⁴² I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”

²⁴ But God raised him up and put an end to suffering of death, since it was impossible for him to be held by it, ²⁵ since David says about him, ‘I always keep my eyes on the Lord, for he is at my right hand so that I cannot be shaken. ²⁶ That is why my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices, yes, even my body still rests securely in hope. ²⁷ For you will not abandon my soul to Hades or allow your Holy One to experience decay. ²⁸ You have made the ways of life known to me, and you will fill me with gladness in your presence.’
²⁹ “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and that his tomb is among us to this day. ³⁰ Therefore, since he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him with an oath to put one of his descendants on his throne, ³¹ he looked ahead and spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah: ‘He was not abandoned to Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay.’ ³² “It was this very Jesus whom God raised—and we’re all witnesses of that.

² For he says, “At the right time I heard you, and on a day of salvation I helped you.” Listen, now is really the “right time”! Now is the “day of salvation”!

¹² At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise. You had no hope and were in the world without God. ¹³ But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.
¹⁴ For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them. ¹⁵ He rendered the Law inoperative, along with its commandments and regulations, thus creating in himself one new humanity from the two, thereby making peace, ¹⁶ and reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, on which he eliminated the hostility. ¹⁷ He came and proclaimed peace for you who were far away and for you who were near. ¹⁸ For through him, both of us have access to the Father by one Spirit. ¹⁹ That is why you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

⁷ As a mortal man, he offered up prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his devotion to God.

⁶ However, Jesus has now obtained a more superior ministry, since the covenant he mediates is founded on better promises.

²⁴ to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better message than Abel’s.

¹³ He mounted him on a high place above the earth, feeding him from the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and with oil from the flint rock,

²⁶ The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him, “May you live forever!”

¹ A Davidic Psalm.
The LORD Shepherds His People The LORD is the one who is shepherding me; I lack nothing. ² He causes me to lie down in pastures of green grass; he guides me beside quiet waters.

³³ For the LORD listens to the needy and doesn’t despise those in bondage.

²⁰ to listen to the groans of prisoners, to set free those condemned to death,

¹⁰ Some sat in deepest darkness, shackled with cruel iron, ¹¹ because they had rebelled against the command of God, despising the advice of the Most High. ¹² He humbled them through suffering, as they stumbled without a helper. ¹³ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; he delivered them from their distress. ¹⁴ And he brought them out from darkness and the shadow of death, shattering their chains. ¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the LORD for his gracious love, and for his awesome deeds to mankind. ¹⁶ For he shattered bronze gates and cut through iron bars.

⁷ who brings justice for the oppressed, and who gives food to the hungry. The LORD frees the prisoners;

¹⁷ Then the lambs will graze in their pasture; fatlings and foreigners will eat among the waste places of the rich.”

² The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; for those living in a land of deep darkness, a light has shined upon them.

¹⁸ I’ll open up rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I’ll turn the desert into a pool of water, and the parched land into springs of water.

⁷ to open blind eyes and to bring out those who are bound from their cells, and those sitting in darkness from prison.

¹⁶ I’ll help the blind walk, even on a road they do not know; I’ll guide them in directions they do not know. I’ll turn the dark places 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.

¹ An Invitation to Life “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters! Also, you that have no money, come, buy, and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without price. ² Why spend your money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in rich food.

¹ The Light of God’s Deliverance “Arise, shine! For your light has come; the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. ² For look! Darkness will cover the earth and thick darkness is over the people, but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.

¹ Good News of Deliverance “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed and to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners;

¹³ The Righteous and Wicked ContrastedTherefore, this is what the LORD says: “See, my servants will eat, but you’ll go hungry; my servants will drink, but you’ll go thirsty; my servants will rejoice, but you’ll be put to shame.

¹³ I’m going to bring them out from foreign nations and from foreign lands. Then I’ll bring them to their own land and feed them in Israel—on the mountains, in their valleys, and in all of their settlements throughout the land. ¹⁴ I’ll feed them in excellent pastures, and even the very heights of Israel’s mountains will serve as verdant pastures for them in which they’ll rest and feed—yes, even on the fertile mountains of Israel! ¹⁵ I will feed my sheep and give them rest,’ declares the Lord GOD.

²³ God’s Shepherd: His Servant David“‘Then I’ll install one shepherd for them—my servant David—and he will feed them, will be there for them, and will serve as their shepherd.

²⁹ I’m going to prepare for them the best of gardening spots. They will no longer live as victims in a land of starvation, nor will they have to bear the insults of the international community.

¹⁸ It will come about at that time that the mountains will drip with newly pressed wine, the hills will flow with milk, and the streams of Judah will flow abundantly. A fountain will spring from the Temple of the LORD, to water the Valley of the Acacias.

¹¹ Now concerning you and my blood covenant with you, I have liberated your prisoners from a waterless pit. ¹² Return to your fortress, you prisoners who have hope. Even today I am telling you: In return I will repay you double.

⁷⁹ to shine on those who sit in darkness and in death’s shadow, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has anointed me to tell the good news to the poor. He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set oppressed people free,

⁵³ So Jesus told them, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I’ll raise him to life on the last day, ⁵⁵ because my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ The person who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will also live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not the kind that your ancestors ate. They died, but the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

¹² Jesus the Light of the WorldLater on, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

⁹ I’m the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. He’ll come in and go out and find pasture.

⁴ In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God.
⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but rather Jesus the Messiah as Lord, and ourselves as merely your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus the Messiah.

⁸ For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light,

¹⁴ for the light is making everything visible. That is why it says, “Wake up, sleeper! Arise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you.’’

¹³ God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves,

⁵ For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to darkness. ⁶ Therefore, let’s not fall asleep like others do, but let’s stay awake and be sober.

² He causes me to lie down in pastures of green grass; he guides me beside quiet waters. ³ He revives my life; he leads me in pathways that are righteous for the sake of his name. ⁴ Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness, I will not be afraid because you are with me. Your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

⁵ The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade at your right side. ⁶ The sun will not ravage you by day, nor the moon by night.

⁶ and also to serve as a refuge and shelter from storms and rain.”

¹ Israel Mocks Babylon’s KingHowever, the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will once again choose Israel. He will settle them in their own land, and foreigners will join them, affiliating themselves with the house of Jacob.

⁴ For you have been a stronghold for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat— for the blistering attack from the ruthless is like a rainstorm beating against a wall,

² Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a hiding place from storms, like streams of water in the desert, in the shadow of a great rock in an exhausted land.

¹⁶ this is the one who will live on the heights; his refuge will be a mountain fortress. His food will be supplied, and his water will be guaranteed.

⁷ the burning sands will become a pool, and the thirsty ground fountains of water. In the haunts of jackals there will be a verdant resting place with reeds and rushes.”

¹¹ Like a shepherd, he tends his flock. He gathers the lambs in his arms, carries them close to his heart, and gently leads the mother sheep.”

¹⁰ For the mountains may collapse and the hills may reel, but my gracious love will not depart from you, neither will my covenant of peace totter,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

⁹ They’ll come crying, and I’ll lead them as they pray for mercy. I’ll make them walk by streams of water, along a straight path on which they won’t stumble. For I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn.”

⁶ “How blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because it is they who will be satisfied!

³⁵ Jesus told them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty.

³ It’s to him the gatekeeper opens the gate, and it’s his voice the sheep hear. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has driven out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.

¹⁶ They will never be hungry or thirsty again. Neither the sun nor its heat will ever beat down on them, ¹⁷ because the lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

⁴ They wandered in desolate wilderness; they found no road to a city where they could live.

⁷ He led them in a straight way to find a city where they could live.

¹⁶ And there will be a highway for the remnant that is left of his people out of Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

⁸ God’s Holy Highway“A highway will be there—yes, there— and people will call it ‘The Holy Way’. As for unclean people, they will not journey on it, but it will be for whomever is traveling on that Way— not even fools will get lost. ⁹ No lions will be there— no— nor will any ferocious beasts get up on it, and they will not be found there. “But the redeemed will walk there, ¹⁰ and the LORD’s ransomed ones will return and enter Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will rest upon their heads, gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and mourning will flee away.”

³ A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; and in the desert a straight highway for our God.’ ⁴ Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be lowered; the rough ground will become level, and the mountain ridges made a plain.

¹⁹ Watch! I’m about to carry out something new! And now it’s springing up— don’t you recognize it? I’m making a way in the wilderness and paths in the desert.

¹⁴ And one has said: ‘Build up! Build up the road! Prepare the highway! Remove every obstacle from my people’s way.’

¹⁰ The Coming of God to Reign“Pass through the gates! prepare the way for the people! Build up! Build up the highway! Clear it of stumbling stones, speak among the peoples.

⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “He is a voice calling out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight! ⁵ Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. The crooked ways will be made straight, and the rough roads will be made smooth.

⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

²⁷ All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the LORD.

¹⁷ Praising the God of IsraelMay his fame be eternal— as long as the sun— may his name endure, and may they be blessed through him, and may all nations call him blessed.

² “It will come about in the last days that the mountain that is the LORD’s Temple will be established as the highest of mountains, and will be raised above the hills; all the nations will stream to it. ³ Many groups of people will come, commenting, “Come! Let’s go up to the Temple of the God of Jacob, that they may teach us his ways. Then let’s walk in his paths.”
The Rule of God from Jerusalem “Instruction will proceed from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

¹⁰ Israel RegatheredAt that time, as to the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place is glorious.
¹¹ At that time, the LORD will reach out his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

⁵ The Regathering of Israel“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you; I’ll bring your children from the east, and gather you from the west. ⁶ I’ll say to the north, ‘Give them up’! and to the south, ‘Don’t keep them back!’ Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the ends of the earth—

⁹ For the coastlands will look to me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring my children from far away, their silver and gold with them, to the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. ¹⁰ “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in my anger I struck you down, in my favor I have shown you mercy. ¹¹ Your gates will always stand open by day or night, and they will not be shut, so that nations will bring you their wealth, with their kings led in procession. ¹² For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; those nations will be utterly ruined. ¹³ “He has given you the glory of Lebanon, and it will come to you, the cypress, and the plane tree, and the pine, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. ¹⁴ “All the descendants of those who oppressed you will come bending low before you, and all those who despised you will bow down at your feet. They’ll call you ‘The City of the LORD,’ ‘Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’”

¹⁹ “I will put up signs among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations—to Tarshish, Libya, and Lydia, (who draw the bow), to Tubal and Greece, to the far off coastlands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. Then they will proclaim my glory among the nations. ²⁰ They will bring all—yes, all!— of your kindred from all the nations to my holy mountain Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots, in wagons, and on mules—yes, even on mules!— and on camels,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelis bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the LORD’s house.

² Many nations will approach and say, ‘Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the Temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways, and we will walk according to his directions.’ “Indeed, the Law will proceed from Zion, and the message of the LORD from Jerusalem.

¹¹ “Many nations will cling to the LORD at that time and will become my people. I will live in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has sent me to you.

²⁰ Future Visits by Nations to Jerusalem“This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘In the future, people will come, including residents of many cities, ²¹ and they will travel from one place to another place and say, “Let’s go quickly to pray in the presence of the LORD and to inquire of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.’ And I will go, too. ²² Many people and powerful nations will come to inquire of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies in Jerusalem, and to pray in the presence of the LORD.”’”
²³ “This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘In the future, ten men speaking all the languages of the nations will grab hold of one Jewish person by the hem of his garment and say, “Let us go up to Jerusalem with you, because we heard that God is with you.”’”

¹¹ I tell all of you, many will come from east and west and will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom from heaven.

²⁹ People will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.

⁹ The Vision of Tribulation SaintsAfter these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands.

¹¹ The heavens will be glad and the earth will rejoice; even the sea and everything that fills it will roar. ¹² The field and all that is in it will rejoice; then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy ¹³ in the LORD’s presence, because he is coming; indeed, he will come to judge the earth. He will judge the world fairly and its people reliably.

⁴ Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Break forth into joyful songs of praise! ⁵ Sing praises to the LORD with a lyre— with a lyre and a melodious song! ⁶ With trumpets and the sound of a ram’s horn shout in the presence of the LORD, the king! ⁷ Let the sea and everything in it shout, along with the world and its inhabitants; ⁸ let the rivers clap their hands in unison; and let the mountains sing for joy ⁹ in the LORD’s presence, who comes to judge the earth; He’ll judge the world righteously; and its people fairly.

¹ Israel’s Praise to the LORD At that time, you will say: “I will praise you, LORD, for although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me.

¹ God Comforts His People “Comfort! Yes, comfort my people,” says your God. ² “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her heavy service has been completed, that her penalty has been paid, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”

¹⁰ Praise in Song to GodSing to the LORD a new song, and 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, its towns and the villages where Kedar lives; and let those who live in Sela sing for joy. Let them shout aloud from the mountaintops.

⁹ “Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted his people, and he has redeemed Jerusalem.

¹² “For you will go out in joy, and come back with peace; the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees in the fields will clap their hands.

¹³ Like a child whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And when you look, your hearts will rejoice and your bodies will flourish like grass; and it will be made known that the LORD’s hand is with his servants, but his fury is with his enemies.

¹³ The virgins will rejoice with dancing, together with young men and old men. For I’ll turn their mourning into joy, and I’ll comfort them and give them gladness instead of sorrow.

¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you that there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

⁶ Yet God, who comforts those who feel miserable, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus, the Messiah himself, and may God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good action and word.

⁸ When the lamb had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders bowed down in front of him. Each held a harp and a gold bowl full of incense, the prayers of the saints. ⁹ They sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slaughtered. With your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe, language, people, and nation. ¹⁰ You made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
¹¹ The Vision of the Song of the LambThen I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels, the living creatures, and the elders surrounding the throne. They numbered 10,000’s times 10,000 and thousands times thousands. ¹² They sang with a loud voice, “Worthy is the lamb who was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise!” ¹³ I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and on the sea, and everything that is in them, saying, “To the one who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise, honor, glory, and power forever and ever!”

⁹ The Vision of Tribulation SaintsAfter these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb!” ¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces in front of the throne and worshipped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen!”

¹ To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
A Prayer for Deliverance How long? LORD, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

¹ To the Director: To the tune of “Doe of the Dawn”.
A Davidic Psalm.
God Delivers His Suffering Servant My God! My God! Why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from delivering me— from my groaning words?

²² When I said in my panic, “I have been cut off in your sight,” then you surely heard the voice of my prayer in my plea to you for help.

⁶ During the night I remembered my song. I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders. ⁷ Will the Lord reject me forever and not show favor again? ⁸ Has his gracious love ceased forever? Will his promise be unfulfilled in future generations? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger withheld his compassion? Interlude

³⁸ A Commitment to PersevereBut you have spurned, rejected, and became angry with your anointed one. ³⁹ You have dishonored the covenant with your servant; you have defiled his crown on the ground. ⁴⁰ You have broken through all his walls; you have laid his fortresses in ruin. ⁴¹ All who pass by on their way plunder him; he has become a reproach to his neighbors. ⁴² You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries; you have caused all of his enemies to rejoice. ⁴³ Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword and did not support him in battle. ⁴⁴ You have caused his splendor to cease and cast down his throne to the ground. ⁴⁵ You have caused the days of his youth to be cut short; you have covered him with shame. Interlude ⁴⁶ How long, LORD, will you hide yourself? Forever? Will your anger continuously burn like fire?

²⁷ The LORD Watches Israel“Jacob, why do you say— and Israel, why do you complain— ‘My predicament is hidden from the LORD, and my cause is ignored by my God.’?

³⁹ Therefore I’ll surely forget you and cast you and the city I gave you and your ancestors out of my presence.

²⁰ So why have you completely forgotten us, forsaking us for so long?

¹ God’s Love for His PeopleSo I ask, “God has not rejected his people, has he?” Of course not! I am an Israeli myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not rejected his people whom he chose long ago. Do you not know what the Scripture says in the story about Elijah, when he pleads with God against Israel? ³ “Lord, they have killed your prophets and demolished your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life.” ⁴ But what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for myself 7,000 people who have not knelt to worship Baal.” ⁵ So it is at the present time: there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

²⁹ At that time, you’ll eat the flesh of your sons and you’ll eat the flesh of your daughters.

⁵⁶ The most tender and sensitive lady among you, who doesn’t venture to touch the soles of her feet to the ground on account of her daintiness, will look with hostility in her eyes against her beloved husband, her sons, and her daughters. ⁵⁷ She will eat her afterbirth and her newborn children secretly—since there will be nothing left—on account of the siege and distress with which your enemy will oppress you in your cities.”

²⁶ The woman whose child was still alive cried out to the king, because her heart yearned for her son. “Oh no, your majesty!” she said. “Give her the living child. Please don’t kill him.”
But the other woman said, “Cut him in half! That way, he’ll belong to neither one of us.”
²⁷ The king announced his decision: “Give the living child to the first woman. Don’t kill him. She is his mother.”

²⁸ Then the king asked her, “What’s bothering you?”
She said, “This woman told me, ‘Give up your son, and we’ll eat him today, and we’ll eat your son tomorrow.’” ²⁹ So we boiled my son and ate him. The next day, I told her, ‘Give me your son so we can eat him!’ But she has hidden her son!”

¹ Athaliah Reigns as Queen of Judah
As soon as Ahaziah’s mother Athaliah learned that her son had died, she seized the throne and executed the entire royal bloodline. ² But King Joram’s daughter Jehosheba, who was Ahaziah’s sister, rescued Ahaziah’s son Joash from the group of the king’s sons who were being executed and hid him and his nurse in her bedroom, concealing him from Athaliah so he was not put to death.

¹³ As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him.

²¹ A Call to Remembrance and Joy“Remember these things, Jacob, Israel, for you are my servant. I have formed you; you are a servant to me. Israel, you must not mislead me.

²⁰ God’s Gracious Response“Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? Indeed, as often as I’ve spoken about him, I surely still remember him. Therefore I deeply yearn for him. I’ll surely have great compassion on him,” declares the LORD.

³ Even wild animals nurse, suckling their young; but the women of my people are cruel, like ostriches in the wilderness.

¹⁰ With their own hands, compassionate women boil their own children— they become their food— when my beloved people were destroyed.

¹ God Loves Israel “When Israel was a young child I loved him, and from Egypt I called my son.

¹⁷ “They’ll be mine,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, “in the day when I prepare my treasured possession. I’ll spare them, just as a man spares his own son who serves him.

¹¹ So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who keep on asking him!

³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.

²⁸ As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake, but as far as election is concerned, they are loved for the sake of their ancestors. ²⁹ For God’s gifts and calling never change.

⁹ It is to be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead, so that you may speak about the instruction of the LORD; for the LORD brought you out of Egypt with a strong show of force.

¹² March around Zion; encircle her; count her towers. ¹³ Take note of her ramparts; investigate her citadels; that you may speak about them to the next generation.

⁶ Set me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, passion as intense as Sheol. The flames of love are flames of fire, a blaze that comes from the LORD.

¹ The Song of Redeemed Judah At that time, people will sing this song in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; God crafts victory, its walls and ramparts.

¹² And I’ll make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.

¹⁸ Then violence will no longer be heard in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you’ll call your walls ‘Salvation’, and your gates ‘Praise’.

⁶ “Upon your walls, Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; all day and all night they won’t remain silent. You who make mention of the LORD, take no rest,

²⁴ An Oracle against Jehoiachin“As certainly as I’m alive and living,” declares the LORD, “even if Jehoiakim’s son King Jehoiachin of Judah were a signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off

²³ On that day,’ declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will set you in place like a signet ring. For I have chosen you,’ declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.”

¹⁰ He carried me away in the Spirit to a large, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. ¹¹ The glory of God was its radiance, and its light was like a valuable gem, like jasper, as clear as crystal. ¹² It had a large, high wall with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. ¹³ There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the lamb were written on them.
¹⁵ The angel who was talking to me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its walls. ¹⁶ The city was cubic in shape: its length was the same as its width. He measured the city with his rod, and it measured at 12,000 stadia:Its length, width, and height were the same. ¹⁷ He also measured its wall. According to the human measurement that the angel was using, it was 144 cubits. ¹⁸ Its wall was made of jasper. The city was made of pure gold, as clear as glass.
¹⁹ The foundations of the city wall were decorated with all kinds of gems: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth and the twelfth amethyst. ²¹ The twelve gates were twelve pearls, and each gate was made of a single pearl. The street of the city was made of pure gold, as clear as glass.

⁵ In response, the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and descendants of Levi, and all those who had been prompted by God, prepared to travel to rebuild the Temple of the LORD, which was in Jerusalem.

⁴ The king answered, “What do you want?”
So I prayed to the God of heaven ⁵ and I replied to the king, “If it seems good to you, and if your servant has found favor with you, would you send me to Judah, to the city where my ancestral sepulchers are located, so I can rebuild it?”
⁶ With his queen seated beside him, the king asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” The king thought it was a good idea to send me, so I presented him with a prepared plan.
⁷ I also asked the king, “If it seems good to you, order that letters of authorization be given me for the Trans-Euphrates governors, so they will allow me to pass through to Judah, ⁸ along with a letter to Asaph, the royal Commissioner of Forests, so that he will supply me with timber to craft beams for the gatehouses of the Temple, for the city walls, and for the house in which I will be living.”
The king granted this for me, according to the good hand of my God. ⁹ So I went to the Trans-Euphrates governors and gave them the king’s letters of authorization. The king also sent army officers and cavalry to accompany me.

¹⁷ Later I told them, “You all are watching the predicament we’re in, how Jerusalem lies desolate, with its gates burned by fire. Let’s rebuild the Jerusalem wall so we’re no longer a disgrace.”

⁶ I’m sending my fury against a godless nation, and I’ll command him against the people with whom I’m angry to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.

¹³ As a result, you have forgotten the LORD who made you, who stretched out the heavens and laid the earth’s foundations, and you live in constant fear every day because of the oppressor’s fury, since he’s ready to destroy. Now where is the oppressor’s fury?

¹⁸ There is no one to guide you out of all the children she bore, no one to take her by the hand out of all the children she brought up. ¹⁹ “These twin things have come upon you (who can feel sorry for you?): ruin and destruction, famine and the sword— who can console you? ²⁰ Your children have fainted. They lie at the head of every street, like antelope caught in a trap, filled with the anger of the LORD and the rebuke of your God.

²² This is what your Lord, the LORD, says, your God, who defends his people’s cause: “See, I have taken from your hand the cup that made you stagger. And you will never again drink to the dregs the cup that is my anger. ²³ But I will put it into the hands of those who tormented and oppressed you, those who said to you, ‘Lie down, so we can step over you,’ so that you had to make your back like the ground, and like a street for them to walk over.”

⁵ “For just as a young man marries a maiden, so your sons will marry you; and just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

²⁴ The Future Regathering of Israel“The house of Israel will never again suffer from painful briers and sharp thorn bushes that surround them on every side, and they will learn that I am the LORD.

¹⁴ After Lot had separated from Abram, the LORD told Abram, “Look off to the north, south, east, and west from where you’re living,

¹⁶ and said, “I have taken an oath to swear by myself,” declares the LORD, “that since you have carried this out and have not withheld your only unique son,

⁶ Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the pride of children is their parents.

²³ Every Knee will BowBy myself I have sworn— from my mouth has gone out integrity, a promise that won’t be revoked: ‘To me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear. ’

¹² “Watch! They’ll come from far away— some from the north and from the west, and others from the Aswan region.”

²² “For this what the LORD says, ‘Watch! I’ll lift up my hand to the nations and raise my banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.’

¹ The Redemption of Zion Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for the uncircumcised and the unclean won’t enter you.

¹ The Coming Glory of Israel “Sing, you barren woman, even the one who never bore a child! Burst into song and shout for joy, even you who were never in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married,” says the LORD. ² “Enlarge the location of your tent, let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched wide, and don’t hold back. Lengthen your cords; strengthen your stakes. ³ For you will spread out to the right hand and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will populate the deserted towns.

⁷ “For a brief moment I abandoned you; but I’ll gather you with great compassion.

⁹ God’s Reconciliation with Israel“For this is like the waters of Noah to me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again spread over the earth; so have I sworn that I won’t be angry with you again and that I won’t rebuke you.

⁴ “Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather together, they come to you; your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried on the hip.” ⁵ Then you will look and be radiant; your heart will swell with joy, because the abundance of the seas will be diverted to you, and the riches of the nations will come to you. ⁶ Throngs of camels will blanket you: the young camels of Midian and Ephu; all those from Shebu will come. They’ll carry gold and frankincense, and proclaim the praise of the LORD. ⁷ All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you. and they’ll come up with acceptance upon my altar, and I’ll glorify my glorious house.”
⁸ The Future Restoration of Zion“Who are these that fly like clouds, and like doves to their windows? ⁹ For the coastlands will look to me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring my children from far away, their silver and gold with them, to the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. ¹⁰ “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in my anger I struck you down, in my favor I have shown you mercy. ¹¹ Your gates will always stand open by day or night, and they will not be shut, so that nations will bring you their wealth, with their kings led in procession.

¹⁰ Rejoicing in God’s Deliverance“I will heartily rejoice in the LORD, my soul will delight in my God; for he has wrapped me in garments of salvation; he has arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, just like a bridegroom, like a priest with a garland, and like a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹² The Rule of GodThis is what the LORD says: “See, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; and you will nurse, and you will be carried on her hip, and bounced upon her knees. ¹³ Like a child whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

²⁰ They will bring all—yes, all!— of your kindred from all the nations to my holy mountain Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD—on horses, in chariots, in wagons, and on mules—yes, even on mules!— and on camels,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelis bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the LORD’s house.

³² Will a young woman forget her wedding ornaments, or a bride her attire? But my people have forgotten me days without number.

⁸ Look, I’m bringing them from the northern region, and I’ll gather them from the farthest parts of the earth. among them will be the blind and the lame, together with the pregnant woman and the woman in labor. A large group will return here.

⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes others to sin and those who practice lawlessness ⁴² and they will throw them into a blazing furnace. In that place there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

²⁸ Because all of you are one in the Messiah Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female. ²⁹ And if you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham’s descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.

¹³ God’s Promise is ReliableFor when God made his promise to Abraham, he swore an oath by himself, since he had no one greater to swear by. ¹⁴ He said, “I will certainly bless you and give you many descendants.” ¹⁵ And so he obtained what he had been promised, because he patiently waited for it. ¹⁶ For people swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all argument. ¹⁷ In the same way, when God wanted to make the unchangeable character of his purpose perfectly clear to the heirs of his promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by these two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to prove false, we who have taken refuge in him might be encouraged to seize the hope set before us.

² I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

¹⁵ Outside are dogs, sorcerers, immoral people, murderers, idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹ To the Director: A special Davidic psalm to the tune of “A Silent Dove Far Away,” when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
A Prayer about Trust in God Have mercy on me, God, because men have harassed me. Those who oppress me have fought against me all day long. ² Those who watch me all day have harassed me, for there are many who fight against me out of conceit.

³ then they would have devoured us alive, when their anger burned against us.

¹² Let’s swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those who go down into the Pit.

⁶ I’ll make it a wasteland, and it won’t be pruned or cultivated. Instead, briers and thorns will grow up. I’ll also issue commands to the clouds, that they drop no rain upon it.”

⁸ The Restoration of Israel“This what the LORD says: “I’ll answer you in a time of favor, and on a day of salvation I’ll help you. I have watched over you, and given you as a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to reassign the inheritances that have been devastated;

¹⁷ Your builders are working faster than your destroyers, and those who devastated you go away from you.

²⁵ But this is what the LORD says: “He will seize even the warriors’ plunder, and the captives of tyrants will be rescued. I myself will quarrel with those who have a quarrel with you, and I myself will save your children. ²⁶ “I’ll make those who mistreat you eat their own flesh, and they will get drunk on their own blood, as with new wine. “Then all mankind will know that I am the LORD your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

¹ The Coming Glory of Israel “Sing, you barren woman, even the one who never bore a child! Burst into song and shout for joy, even you who were never in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married,” says the LORD. ² “Enlarge the location of your tent, let the curtains of your dwellings be stretched wide, and don’t hold back. Lengthen your cords; strengthen your stakes.

¹⁶ In addition, all who devour you will be devoured, and all your oppressors—all of them— will go into captivity. Those who plunder you will become plunder, and all who spoil you will become spoil.

¹⁸ Jacob’s Restoration“This is what the LORD says: ‘I’m going to restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings. A city will be rebuilt on its ruins and a palace will sit on its rightful place. ¹⁹ Thanksgiving and the sounds of laughter will come out of them. I’ll cause them to increase in numbers and not decrease. I’ll honor them and not make them insignificant.

¹⁰ “This is what the LORD says: ‘You are saying about this place, “It is a ruin without people and without animals.” Yet in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem which are desolate places without inhabitants and without animals, there will again be heard ¹¹ the sounds of rejoicing and gladness, the sounds of the bridegroom and the bride, and the sounds of those saying, “Give thanks to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, for the LORD is good, and his gracious love lasts forever,”
as they bring thanksgiving offerings to the LORD’s Temple. For I’ll restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ declares the LORD.

³³ For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it’s pounded down. In just a little while, the time of her harvest will come.”

⁴⁴ I’ll punish Bel in Babylon, and I’ll make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth. The nations will no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Babylon will fall.

³ “Therefore this is what you are to prophesy: ‘Here’s what the Lord GOD says, “You’ve been turned into a desolate wasteland and crushed by everyone who surrounds you for a very, very good reason. You’ve become the property of all the other nations and you’ve become the object of gossip and whispering campaigns of the nations.”’”

⁹ The Future of Israel’s Mountains“Watch me! I’m on your side! I’ll be turning in your direction, and you mountains will be plowed and planted. ¹⁰ I’m going to make the entire house of Israel grow—every single member—and their cities will be inhabited with all the ruins rebuilt. ¹¹ I’ll make both the population and the livestock increase throughout your territories. They’ll increase and be fruitful. I’ll make your territories to be settled like you were in the past, and you will be treated better than you ever were before. At that time you will know that I am the LORD.
¹² “I’ll lead my people, my nation of Israel, across you mountains, and they will take possession of you again, and you’ll be their inheritance once more. Never again will you leave them robbed of children.
¹³ “This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because some have been saying to you, “You mountains have been devouring human beings and leaving people childless,” ¹⁴ therefore you will no longer devour human beings or leave their nation childless,’ declares the Lord GOD. ¹⁵ ‘I won’t let you hear other people mock you, and no nation will ever make you childless again,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

¹⁰ Despite this, the number of the people of Israel will be like ocean sand, which can neither be measured nor counted. And the time will come when instead of it being said, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’ ¹¹ And the people of Judah and the people of Israel will be united as one. They will appoint for themselves a single leader and will take dominion over the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

⁴ That other angel told him, “Run and tell that young man: ‘Jerusalem will be an inhabited city without walls due to the number of people and livestock within it.

¹⁰ I will bring them once again out of the land of Egypt, gathering them from Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, but there will not be enough space for them.

¹⁴ Protests by the Tribe of JosephAt that time, the descendants of Joseph asked Joshua, “Why did you give us only one allotment and portion for an inheritance, since we’re numerous and the LORD has blessed us all along?”
¹⁵ So Joshua replied to them, “Since you’re so numerous, go up to the forest and clear ground there for yourselves in the territory where the Perizzites and Rephaim are, because the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”
¹⁶ The descendants of Joseph replied, “The hill country isn’t sufficient for us, but all the Canaanites who live on the plain have iron chariots, both those in Beth-shean and its villages as well as the inhabitants of the Jezreel Valley.”

¹ The Miracle of the Ax HeadOne day the Guild of Prophets told Elisha, “Notice how the place where we are living is too small for us.

⁴ “Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather together, they come to you; your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried on the hip.”

¹⁰ Despite this, the number of the people of Israel will be like ocean sand, which can neither be measured nor counted. And the time will come when instead of it being said, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’

⁹ Don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have father Abraham!’ because I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones!

²⁶ But the heavenly Jerusalem is the free woman, and she is our spiritual mother. ²⁷ For it is written, “Rejoice, you childless woman, who cannot give birth to any children! Break into song and shout, you who feel no pains of childbirth! For the children of the deserted woman are more numerous than the children of the woman who has a husband.”
²⁸ So you, brothers, are children of the promise, like Isaac.

⁸ “The daughter of Zion is left abandoned, like a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, or like a city under siege.

²⁶ and her gates lament and mourn. Ravaged, she will sit on the ground.”

¹³ Therefore my people go into exile because they lack understanding; my honored men go hungry, and the crowd is parched with thirst.

¹⁷ “Awake, Awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the LORD’s hand from the cup that is his anger. You have drunk to the dregs the cup that makes you stagger, and have drained it.

² Shake yourself from the dust and arise, and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem! Loosen the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

³ For you will spread out to the right hand and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will populate the deserted towns. ⁴ “Don’t be afraid, because you won’t be ashamed; don’t fear shame, for you won’t be humiliated— because you will forget the disgrace of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. ⁵ For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of the whole earth. ⁶ For the LORD has called you back like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,” says the LORD your God. ⁷ “For a brief moment I abandoned you; but I’ll gather you with great compassion. ⁸ I hid my face from you for a moment in a surge of anger, but I will have compassion on you with my everlasting gracious love,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

¹⁵ Israel: the Joy of Generations“Although you have been forsaken and despised, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride, the joy of all generations.

⁴ And you’ll no longer be called ‘Deserted,’ and your land will no longer be called ‘Desolate’; but people will call you ‘Hephzibah,’ and your land ‘Beulah’— for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married.”

¹⁰ Your holy cities have become a desert; Zion has become like a desert, Jerusalem a desolation.

¹⁵ The End of Rachel’s MourningThis is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter crying. Rachel is crying, and she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no longer alive.” ¹⁶ This is what the LORD says: “Restrain your voice from crying, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work,” declares the LORD. “They’ll return from the enemy’s land. ¹⁷ There is hope for your future,” declares the LORD. “Your children will return to their own territory.”

¹ The Sorrowful City How lonely she lies, the city that thronged with people! Like a widow she has become, this great one among nations! The princess among provinces has become a vassal. ² Bitterly she cries in the night, as tears stream down her cheeks. No one consoles her of all her friends. All her neighbors have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. ³ Judah has gone into exile to escape affliction and servitude. She that sat among the nations, has found no rest. All her pursuers overtook her amid narrow passes.

²⁹ The Coming of the Son of Man
“Immediately after the troubles of those days, ‘The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken loose.’
³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all ‘the tribes of the land will mourn’ when they see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory.

²⁴ They will fall by the edge of the sword and be carried off as captives among all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the unbelievers until the times of the unbelievers are fulfilled.”

¹¹ The Salvation of the GentilesAnd so I ask, “They have not stumbled so as to fall, have they?” Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to the gentiles to make the Jews jealous. ¹² Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their fall means riches for the gentiles, how much more will their full participation mean!
¹³ I am speaking to you gentiles. Because I am an apostle to the gentiles, I magnify my ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that I can make my people jealous and save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection results in reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance bring but life from the dead? ¹⁶ If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch. If the root is holy, so are the branches.
¹⁷ Now if some of the branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree,

²⁴ After all, if you were cut off from what is naturally a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier it will be for these natural branches to be grafted back into their own olive tree!

²⁶ In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. ²⁷ This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
²⁸ As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake, but as far as election is concerned, they are loved for the sake of their ancestors. ²⁹ For God’s gifts and calling never change. ³⁰ For just as you disobeyed God in the past but now have received his mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they, too, have now disobeyed. As a result, they may receive mercy because of the mercy shown to you.

²⁹ And if you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham’s descendants indeed, and heirs according to the promise.

²⁶ But the heavenly Jerusalem is the free woman, and she is our spiritual mother. ²⁷ For it is written, “Rejoice, you childless woman, who cannot give birth to any children! Break into song and shout, you who feel no pains of childbirth! For the children of the deserted woman are more numerous than the children of the woman who has a husband.”
²⁸ So you, brothers, are children of the promise, like Isaac. ²⁹ But just as then the son who was conceived according to the flesh persecuted the son who was conceived according to the Spirit, so it is now.

⁴ Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy, because you judge people with fairness and you govern the people of the earth. Interlude ⁵ Let the people thank you, God; let all the people thank you. ⁶ May the earth yield its produce. May God, our God, bless us. ⁷ May God truly bless us so that all the peoples of the earth will fear him.

⁸ May he rule from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

⁹ All the nations that you have established will come and worship you, my Lord. They will honor your name.

¹⁰ Israel RegatheredAt that time, as to the root of Jesse, who will be standing as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place is glorious.
¹¹ At that time, the LORD will reach out his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. ¹² He will raise a banner for the nations and will assemble the dispersed of Israel; he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the corners of the earth.

² Many nations will take them and bring them to their land and their own place. The house of Israel will put those nations to conscripted labor in the LORD’s land. They will take captive those who were their captors, and will rule continually over those who oppressed them.

³ Nations will come to your light, and kings before your dawn.

¹¹ Even so, from where the sun rises to where it sets my name will be great among the Gentiles. Incense will be brought to me everywhere, along with pure offerings, because my name will be great among the Gentiles,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

²⁶ Joseph Inquires about His FamilyWhen Joseph arrived at his palace, his brothers brought to him their gifts that they had carried with them and bowed to the ground in front of him.

¹² Did I conceive this people or give birth to them, so that you would tell me to carry them near my heart like a wet nurse carries a suckling baby to the land that you promised to their forefathers?

² AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM CYRUS, KING OF PERSIA All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the LORD God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ Therefore, who among the LORD’s people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem of Judah to rebuild the Temple of the LORD God of Israel, the God of Jerusalem. ⁴ Furthermore, everyone who wishes to repatriate from any territory where he now resides is to receive assistance from his fellow residents in the form of silver, gold, equipment, and pack animals, in addition to voluntary offerings for the Temple of the God of Jerusalem.

⁷ Leave the work on this Temple of God alone! Let the Jewish governor and the Jewish leaders build this Temple of God on its site. ⁸ Furthermore, I hereby decree what you are to do for the Jewish leaders who are building this Temple of God: you are to pay the expenses of these men out of the king’s assets from taxes collected beyond the River so that they are not hindered. ⁹ And be sure that you don’t fail to provide their daily needs—including young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of Heaven, along with wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as the priests in Jerusalem tell you— ¹⁰ so they may approach the God of Heaven with fragrant sacrifices and pray for the life of this king and his sons. ¹¹ I hereby also decree that whoever shall alter the wording of this edict, let his residence be torn down for timber to build a gallows, hang him on it, and turn his home into an outhouse. ¹² And may the God who causes his Name to rest there destroy any king or people who might attempt to destroy this Temple of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree. Let it be carried out quickly.

¹¹ The Letter from King ArtaxerxesHere is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra, the priest-scribe, a scholar in matters concerning the commandments of the LORD and concerning his statutes pertaining to Israel: ¹² From: Artaxerxes, King of Kings To: Ezra, the Priest, a scholar in matters concerning the laws of the God of Heaven Greetings! ¹³ I hereby decree that all of the people of Israel— along with their priests and descendants of Levi in my kingdom—who are determined to return to Jerusalem with you may do so. ¹⁴ You have authority to act for the king and for his Council of Seven to conduct an inquiry concerning Judah and Jerusalem in accordance with the Law of your God, which is in your possession. ¹⁵ You are carrying silver and gold that the King and his advisors have freely given to the God of Israel, whose Temple is in Jerusalem, ¹⁶ together with all of the silver and gold that you can raise in the province of Babylon, plus the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests, contributed for the Temple of their God, which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ Accordingly, you are to exercise due diligence to utilize this money to purchase bulls, rams, lambs, grain offerings, and drink offerings, and to offer them upon the altar of the Temple of your God, which is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Furthermore, the balance remaining of the silver and gold may be used for whatever other purpose you and your people desire, as long as such use is consistent with the will of your God. ¹⁹ Furthermore, you are to deliver to the God of Jerusalem the vessels for the service of the Temple of your God that have been given to you. ²⁰ Furthermore, provide from the royal treasury whatever else may be needed for the Temple of your God. ²¹ I, Artaxerxes, in my capacity as king, hereby decree to all royal treasuries beyond the Euphrates River that whatever Ezra the priest-scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, may require of you are to be performed with all due diligence, ²² up to 100 silver talents, 100 measures of wheat, 100 measures of wine, 100 measures of oil, and salt without limitation. ²³ Whatever is commanded by the God of Heaven is to be done with all due diligence for the Temple of the God of Heaven, or wrath will come against the king’s realm and his sons. ²⁴ Furthermore, we decree that with respect to any of the priests, descendants of Levi, singers, gatekeepers, Temple Servants, or other servants of this Temple of God, it is not to be lawful to impose any tribute, tax, or toll on them. ²⁵ And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom given to you by your God, are to appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people beyond the Euphrates River. All of them are to know the laws of your God, and you are to instruct those who do not know them. ²⁶ Whoever refuses to practice the law of your God and the law of the king is to see judgment executed quickly, whether to death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.
²⁷ Ezra’s Response to the LetterBlessed be the LORD God of our ancestors, who placed this decree into the king’s heart to beautify the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem ²⁸ and who showed gracious love to me before the king, before his advisors, and before all of the king’s mighty officials.
And I was strengthened because the hand of the LORD my God was upon me. So I gathered together the leaders of Israel to go with me.

⁶ With his queen seated beside him, the king asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” The king thought it was a good idea to send me, so I presented him with a prepared plan.
⁷ I also asked the king, “If it seems good to you, order that letters of authorization be given me for the Trans-Euphrates governors, so they will allow me to pass through to Judah, ⁸ along with a letter to Asaph, the royal Commissioner of Forests, so that he will supply me with timber to craft beams for the gatehouses of the Temple, for the city walls, and for the house in which I will be living.”
The king granted this for me, according to the good hand of my God. ⁹ So I went to the Trans-Euphrates governors and gave them the king’s letters of authorization. The king also sent army officers and cavalry to accompany me.
¹⁰ Opposition and InspectionBut when Sanballat the Horonite and his servant Tobiah the Ammonite heard of this, they were greatly distressed because someone had come to do good for the Israelis.

¹ The Promotion of MordecaiThat day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the property of Haman, the enemy of the Jewish people, and Mordecai came into the king’s presence because Esther had told him how Mordecai was related to her. ² The king took off his signet ring that he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordecai. Esther then put Mordecai in charge of Haman’s property.
³ Esther Asks that the Jewish People be SparedThen Esther spoke to the king again and fell at his feet. She wept and pleaded with him for mercy to overturn the evil plan devised by Haman the Agagite and his plot against the Jewish people. ⁴ The king extended the golden scepter to Esther, and she got up and stood before the king. ⁵ She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I’ve found favor with him, and if the matter is proper in the king’s opinion, and if I’m pleasing to the king, let an order be issued revoking the letters devised by Hammedatha the Agagite’s son Haman, which ordered the destruction of the Jewish people throughout the king’s provinces. ⁶ Indeed, how can I bear to see this disaster happen to my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my kinsmen?”
⁷ King Ahasuerus told Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I’ve given Haman’s property to Esther, and they have hanged him on the pole because he tried to harm the Jewish people. ⁸ Now, in the name of the king, you write what seems good to you concerning the Jewish people, and seal it with the king’s signet ring, for a document written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be revoked.”
⁹ The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, which is the month Sivan, and everything that Mordecai commanded the Jewish people, the regional authorities, the governors, and the provincial officials of the 127 provinces from India to Cush was written down for each province according to its script, for each people according to their language, and for the Jewish people according to their script and language. ¹⁰ He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He sent the letters by couriers on horseback, riding steeds especially bred for the king.

³ Indeed, no one who waits on you will be ashamed, but those who offend for no reason will be put to shame.

²² The LORD redeems the lives of his servants; and none of those who trust in him will be held guilty.

⁶ Do not let those who look up to you be ashamed because of me, Lord God of the Heavenly Armies. Let not those who seek you be humiliated because of me, God of Israel.

⁹ May the nomads bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust.

⁴ LORD, all the kings of the earth will give you thanks, for they have heard what you have spoken.

⁹ “And you will say at that time, ‘Look! It’s the LORD! This is our God! We waited for him, and he saved us. This is the LORD! We waited for him, so let us rejoice, and we will be glad that he has saved us.”

¹⁴ This is what the LORD says: “The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, those Sabeans, men of great heights. They’ll come over to you and will be yours; They’ll trudge behind you— coming over in chains, they’ll bow down to you. They’ll plead with you, ‘Surely God is in you; and there is no other God at all.’”

⁷ “This is what my Lord says— the LORD your Redeemer, O Israel, and his Holy One— to one despised by people, to those abhorred as a nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings see and arise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, the one who has chosen you.”

¹⁴ “All the descendants of those who oppressed you will come bending low before you, and all those who despised you will bow down at your feet. They’ll call you ‘The City of the LORD,’ ‘Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’”

² The nations will see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and people will call you by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.

⁴ Since ancient times no one has heard, and no ear has perceived, and no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

²⁷ As a result, you will know that I am in the midst of Israel; that I myself am the LORD your God— and there is none other! And my people will never be ashamed.”

¹⁷ They will lick the dust like a serpent; they will crawl from their strongholds like snakes. They will fear the LORD our God. They will be terrified because of you.

⁵ Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

³³ As it is written, “Look! I am placing a stone in Zion over which people will stumble— a large rock that will make them fall— and the one who believes in him will never be ashamed.”

¹¹ The Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will never be ashamed.”

⁶ This is why it says in Scripture: “Look! I am laying a chosen, precious cornerstone in Zion. The one who believes in him will never be ashamed.”

⁹ I will make those who belong to the synagogue of Satan—those who claim to be Jews and aren’t, but are lying—come and bow down at your feet. Then they will realize that I have loved you.

²⁴ The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day—because there will be no night there. ²⁶ People will bring the glory and wealth of the nations into it.

⁹ Even though we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our slavery. Instead, he has extended gracious love to us in the presence of the kings of Persia, to grant us revival, to set up the Temple of our God, to repair its damage, and to give us a protective wall for Judah and Jerusalem.

¹³ “After all that has happened to us because of our evil behavior, and because of our great sin—considering that you our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us this deliverance—

³³ You are righteous in all that is happening to us, because you have acted faithfully while we have practiced evil.

³⁷ But now its abundant produce belongs to the kings whom you placed over us because of our sin. They also have power over our bodies and our herds at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

⁶ Blessed be the LORD, who did not give us as prey to their teeth. ⁷ We have escaped like a bird from the hunter’s trap. The trap has been broken, and we have escaped.

¹ A Song of Ascents
The Exiles Restored When the LORD brought back Zion’s exiles, we were like dreamers. ² Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues formed joyful shouts. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” ³ The great things that the LORD has done for us gladden us.

²² But this is a people who have been robbed and plundered, all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons. They have become prey, with no one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no one to say, ‘Send them back!’

¹² Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong; because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he carried the sins of many, and made intercession for their transgressions.”

⁶ Don’t follow other gods to serve and worship them. Don’t provoke me with the idols you make with your hands, and I won’t bring disaster on you.’ ⁷ But you didn’t listen to me,” declares the LORD, “so as to provoke me with the idols you make with your hands to your own harm.
⁸ “Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘Because you haven’t listened to my message, ⁹ I’m now sending for all the tribes from the north, declares the LORD, and for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I’ll bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I’ll utterly destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting desolation.

¹¹ This entire land will be a desolation and a waste, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
¹² ‘Then when the seventy years have passed, I’ll judge the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the LORD, I’ll judge the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity and I’ll make it a desolation forever. ¹³ I’ll bring on that land all the things I spoke against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied about the nations. ¹⁴ Indeed many nations and great kings will make slaves even of them, and I’ll repay them according to their deeds, according to what they have done.’”

³ The LORD asked me, “Son of Man, will these bones ever live?”
“Lord GOD,” I replied, “you know the answer to that!”

¹¹ The Vision is Interpreted for Ezekiel“These bones represent the entire house of Israel,” the LORD explained to me. “Look how they keep saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our future is lost. We’ve been completely eliminated!’

²⁹ How can someone go into a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions without first tying up the strong man? Then he can ransack his house.

²¹ “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own mansion, his property is safe. ²² But when a stronger man than he attacks and defeats him, the stronger man strips off that man’s armor in which he trusted and then divides his plunder.

³ I’ll bless those who bless you, but I’ll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed.”

⁸ But how can I curse those whom God hasn’t cursed? How can I denounce those whom the LORD hasn’t denounced? ⁹ I saw them from the top of the rocks. I watched them from the hills. Truly this is a people that lives by itself and doesn’t matter among the nations.

²⁷ At that time, his burden will depart from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck. Indeed, the yoke will be broken, because you’ve become obese.”

¹¹ The Coming Defeat of God’s Enemies“Look! All who are enraged at you will be put to shame and disgraced; those who contend with you will all die. ¹² Those who quarrel with you will be as nothing; those who fight you like nothing at all!”

² Shake yourself from the dust and arise, and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem! Loosen the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
³ For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and you’ll be redeemed without money.”
⁴ For this is what the LORD says: “My people went down long ago into Egypt to live there; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause.
⁵ “Now therefore, what am I doing here,” asks the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Those who rule over them are deluded,” says the LORD, “and continuously, all the day long, my name is blasphemed.

¹³ Then all your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children’s prosperity.

¹⁵ Watch! If anyone does attack you, it will not be from me; whoever may attack you will fall because of you. ¹⁶ Look! It is I who have created the blacksmith who fans coals in the fire, and produces a weapon for his purpose. It is I who have created the ravager to wreak havoc; ¹⁷ no weapon that is forged against you will be effective. This is the heritage of the LORD’s servants, and their righteousness from me,” says the LORD.

¹⁰ “For this is what the LORD says: ‘When Babylon’s seventy years are completed, I’ll take note of you and will fulfill my good promises to you by bringing you back to this place.

¹⁷ Hope for Israel“Israel is a scattered flock, driven out by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria, and then afterward King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnawed his bones. ¹⁸ Therefore this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Look, I’m about to judge the king of Babylon and his land, just as I’ve judged the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ I’ll bring Israel back to his pasture. He will graze on Carmel, on Bashan, on Mt. Ephraim, and on Gilead—his hunger will be satisfied.

³³ This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “The people of Israel are oppressed, along with the people of Judah. All their captors have held on to them and refused to let them go. ³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name. He will vigorously plead their case in order to bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵ May the violence done to me and my flesh be on Babylon,” says the inhabitant of Zion. “May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem. ³⁶ Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Look, I’m going to argue your case and take vengeance for you. I’ll dry up her sea and make her fountain dry.

¹¹ Now concerning you and my blood covenant with you, I have liberated your prisoners from a waterless pit.

¹³ For I have bent Judah as if it were my bow, loading it with Ephraim. I raised up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, wielding you like a mighty warrior’s sword.”
¹⁴ Israel’s LORD AppearsThe LORD will appear over them— his arrow will shoot like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and go out with the southern windstorm. ¹⁵ The LORD of the Heavenly Armies will defend them; they will devour and conquer those who sling stones. They will drink and be boisterous like those who are drunk. They will be filled to the brim with blood, like the corners of the altar. ¹⁶ The LORD their God will save them at that time as his very own flock of people, because they are his crown jewels, exalted throughout his land.

³ It will come about at that time that I will make Jerusalem a heavy weight; so everyone who burdens themselves with it will be crushed, even though all of the nations of the earth gather themselves against it. ⁴ At that time,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will strike every horse with panic and every rider with insanity. I will keep my eyes on the house of Judah, but I will blind every horse of the invading armies. ⁵ The leaders of Judah will say to themselves, “Those who live in Jerusalem are my strength through the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, their God.” ⁶ ‘At that time, I will make the leaders of Judah like a brazier filled with blazing wood, or like a torch setting fire to harvested grain. They will devour all the invading armies, both on the right hand and on the left. As a result, Jerusalem will again be inhabited in its rightful place—as the real Jerusalem.’”

³ Then the LORD will go out to battle against those nations, waging war as in a day of battle.

¹² God’s Judgment on Jerusalem’s Attackers“This will be the plague with which the LORD inflicts all of the people who have attacked Jerusalem: he will cause their flesh to rot away, even while they’re standing on their feet. He will cause their eyes to rot away in their sockets, and their tongues to rot away in their mouths.

³¹ Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s LoveWhat, then, can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² The one who did not spare his own Son, but offered him as a sacrifice for all of us, surely will give us all things, along with his Son, won’t he? ³³ Who will accuse God’s elect? It is God who justifies! ³⁴ Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.
³⁵ Who will separate us from the Messiah’s love? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or a violent death do this? ³⁶ As it is written, “For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are thought of as sheep headed for slaughter.”
³⁷ In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in union with the Messiah Jesus, our Lord.

²⁶ But the heavenly Jerusalem is the free woman, and she is our spiritual mother.

¹⁴ Therefore, since the children have flesh and blood, he himself also shared the same things, so that by his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death (that is, the devil) ¹⁵ and might free those who were slaves all their lives because they were terrified by death.

⁸ The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy what the devil has been doing.

²⁰ Be happy about her, heaven, saints, apostles, and prophets, for God has condemned her for you!”

²² As the 300 trumpets were being sounded, the LORD turned the swords of the Midianite soldiers against one another throughout the entire army, and the army ran away as far as Beth-shittah in the direction of Zererah. They got as far as the outskirts of Abel-meholah, near Tabbath.

¹⁶ The LORD has made himself known, executing judgment. The wicked are ensnared by what their hands have made. Interlude

¹⁰ The righteous person will rejoice when he sees your vengeance; when he washes his feet in the blood of the wicked. ¹¹ A person will say, “Certainly, the righteous are rewarded; certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”

¹⁸ Then they will know that you alone— whose name is LORD— are the Most High over all the earth.

⁴ Now as to the yoke that has been his burden, and the bar laid on his shoulder— the rod of his oppressor— you have broken it as on the day of Midiam.

²⁰ They cut meat on the right, but they’re still hungry, and they devour also on the left, but they’re not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own children.

¹⁴ Don’t be afraid, you little worm Jacob, and you insects of Israel! I myself will help you,’ declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”
¹⁵ A Promise of Victory“See, I’m making you 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 you’ll make your boast in the Holy One of Israel.” ¹⁷ “As for the poor, the needy, those seeking 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 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 trees, and pine trees together— ²⁰ all so that people may see and recognize, perceive, 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.”

³ “I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Redeemer. And I’ve given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and the people of Seba in exchange for you.

⁶ so that from the sun’s rising to the west people may know that there is none besides me. “I am the LORD, and there is no other.”

⁷ I’ll make my holiness and reputation known in the midst of my people Israel, and I won’t let my holiness be profaned anymore. The nations will learn that I, the LORD, am holy in the midst of Israel.

²⁰ The wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press as high as a horse’s bridle for about 1,600 stadia.

³ They sang the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the lamb: “Your deeds are both spectacular and amazing, Lord God Almighty. Your ways are just and true, King of the nations. ⁴ Lord, who won’t fear and praise your name? For you alone are holy, and all the nations will come and worship you because your judgments have been revealed.”

⁶ You have given them blood to drink because they spilled the blood of saints and prophets. This is what they deserve.”

⁶ I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. I was very surprised when I saw her.