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11 Thus says the (A)Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his [a](B)Maker:
“[b](C)Ask Me about the things to come [c]concerning My (D)sons,
And you shall commit to Me (E)the work of My hands.
12 “It is I who (F)made the earth, and created man upon it.
I (G)stretched out the heavens with My hands
And I [d]ordained (H)all their host.
13 “I have aroused him in (I)righteousness
And I will (J)make all his ways smooth;
He will (K)build My city and will let My exiles go (L)free,
Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of hosts.
14 Thus says the Lord,
“The [e]products of (M)Egypt and the merchandise of [f](N)Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will (O)come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in (P)chains
And will (Q)bow down to you;
They will make supplication to you:
‘[g]Surely, (R)God is [h]with you, and (S)there is none else,
No other God.’”
15 Truly, You are a God who (T)hides Himself,
O God of Israel, (U)Savior!
16 They will be (V)put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The (W)manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
17 Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an (X)everlasting salvation;
You (Y)will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.
18 For thus says the Lord, who (Z)created the heavens (He is the God who (AA)formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it [i]a (AB)waste place, but formed it to be (AC)inhabited),
“I am the Lord, and (AD)there is none else.
19 “(AE)I have not spoken in secret,
In [j]some dark land;
I did not say to the [k](AF)offspring of Jacob,
‘(AG)Seek Me in [l]a waste place’;
I, the Lord, (AH)speak righteousness,
(AI)Declaring things that are upright.
20 “(AJ)Gather yourselves and come;
Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations;
(AK)They have no knowledge,
Who (AL)carry about [m]their wooden idol
And (AM)pray to a god who cannot save.
21 “(AN)Declare and set forth your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
(AO)Who has announced this from of old?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the Lord?
And there is (AP)no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a (AQ)Savior;
There is none except Me.
22 “(AR)Turn to Me and (AS)be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 “(AT)I have sworn by Myself,
The (AU)word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me (AV)every knee will bow, every tongue will (AW)swear allegiance.
24 “They will say of Me, ‘Only (AX)in the Lord are righteousness and strength.’
Men will come to Him,
And (AY)all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
25 “In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
Will be (AZ)justified and will (BA)glory.”
Babylon’s Idols and the True God
46 (BB)Bel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;
Their images are consigned to the beasts and the cattle.
The things [n]that you carry are burdensome,
A load for the weary beast.
2 They stooped over, they have bowed down together;
They could not rescue the burden,
But [o]have themselves (BC)gone into captivity.
3 “(BD)Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all (BE)the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been (BF)borne by Me from [p]birth
And have been carried from the womb;
4 Even to your old age (BG)I [q]will be the same,
And even to your [r](BH)graying years I will bear you!
I have [s]done it, and I will carry you;
And I will bear you and I will deliver you.
5 “(BI)To whom would you liken Me
And make Me equal and compare Me,
That we would be alike?
6 “Those who (BJ)lavish gold from the purse
And weigh silver on the scale
Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
They (BK)bow down, indeed they worship it.
7 “They (BL)lift it upon the shoulder and carry it;
They set it in its place and it stands there.
(BM)It does not move from its place.
Though one may cry to it, it (BN)cannot answer;
It (BO)cannot deliver him from his distress.
8 “(BP)Remember this, and be [t]assured;
(BQ)Recall it to [u]mind, you (BR)transgressors.
9 “Remember the (BS)former things long past,
For I am God, and there is (BT)no other;
I am God, and there is (BU)no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘(BV)My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
11 Calling a (BW)bird of prey from the (BX)east,
The man of [v]My purpose from a far country.
Truly I have (BY)spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, surely I will do it.
12 “(BZ)Listen to Me, you (CA)stubborn-minded,
Who are (CB)far from righteousness.
13 “I (CC)bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant (CD)salvation in Zion,
And My (CE)glory for Israel.
Lament for Babylon
47 “(CF)Come down and sit in the dust,
O (CG)virgin (CH)daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no longer be called (CI)tender and delicate.
2 “Take the (CJ)millstones and (CK)grind meal.
Remove your (CL)veil, (CM)strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
3 “Your (CN)nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame also will be exposed;
I will (CO)take vengeance and will not [w]spare a man.”
4 Our (CP)Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “(CQ)Sit silently, and go into (CR)darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans,
For you will no longer be called
The (CS)queen of (CT)kingdoms.
6 “I was angry with My people,
I profaned My heritage
And gave them into your hand.
You did not show mercy to them,
On the (CU)aged you made your yoke very heavy.
7 “Yet you said, ‘I will be a (CV)queen forever.’
These things you did not (CW)consider
Nor remember the (CX)outcome of [x]them.
8 “Now, then, hear this, you (CY)sensual one,
Who (CZ)dwells securely,
Who says in [y]your heart,
‘(DA)I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will (DB)not sit as a widow,
Nor know loss of children.’
9 “But these (DC)two things will come on you (DD)suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many (DE)sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your spells.
10 “You felt (DF)secure in your wickedness and said,
‘(DG)No one sees me,’
Your (DH)wisdom and your knowledge, [z]they have deluded you;
For you have said in your heart,
‘(DI)I am, and there is no one besides me.’
11 “But (DJ)evil will come on you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone;
And (DK)destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you (DL)suddenly.
12 “Stand fast now in your (DM)spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you may cause trembling.
13 “You are (DN)wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the (DO)astrologers,
Those who prophesy by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and (DP)save you from what will come upon you.
14 “Behold, they have become (DQ)like stubble,
(DR)Fire burns them;
They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be (DS)no coal to warm by
Nor a fire to sit before!
15 “So have those become to you with whom you have labored,
Who have (DT)trafficked with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own [aa]way;
There is (DU)none to save you.
Israel’s Obstinacy
48 “(DV)Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel
And who came forth from the [ab](DW)loins of Judah,
Who (DX)swear by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth nor in (DY)righteousness.
2 “For they call themselves after the (DZ)holy city
And (EA)lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name.
3 “I (EB)declared the former things long ago
And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them.
(EC)Suddenly I acted, and they (ED)came to pass.
4 “Because I know that you are [ac](EE)obstinate,
And your (EF)neck is an iron sinew
And your (EG)forehead bronze,
5 Therefore I declared them to you long ago,
Before [ad]they took place I proclaimed them to you,
So that you would not say, ‘My (EH)idol has done them,
And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’
6 “You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you (EI)new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.
7 “They are created now and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard them,
So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 “You have not (EJ)heard, you have not known.
Even from long ago your ear has not been open,
Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;
And you have been called a [ae](EK)rebel from [af]birth.
9 “(EL)For the sake of My name I (EM)delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
10 “Behold, I have refined you, but (EN)not as silver;
I have tested you in the (EO)furnace of affliction.
11 “(EP)For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My (EQ)glory I will not give to another.
Unity of the Spirit
4 Therefore I, (A)the prisoner of the Lord, (B)implore you to (C)walk in a manner worthy of the (D)calling with which you have been (E)called, 2 with all (F)humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another (G)in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the (H)bond of peace. 4 There is (I)one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one (J)hope of your calling; 5 (K)one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all (L)who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But (M)to each one of us (N)grace was given (O)according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore [a]it says,
9 (Now this expression, “He (R)ascended,” what [b]does it mean except that He also [c]had descended into (S)the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended (T)far above all the heavens, so that He might (U)fill all things.) 11 And He (V)gave (W)some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as (X)evangelists, and some as pastors and (Y)teachers, 12 (Z)for the equipping of the [d]saints for the work of service, to the building up of (AA)the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to (AB)the unity of the faith, and of the [e](AC)knowledge of the Son of God, to a (AD)mature man, to the measure of the stature [f]which belongs to the (AE)fullness of Christ. 14 [g]As a result, we are (AF)no longer to be children, (AG)tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by (AH)craftiness [h]in (AI)deceitful scheming; 15 but [i]speaking the truth (AJ)in love, [j]we are to (AK)grow up in all aspects into Him who is the (AL)head, even Christ, 16 from whom (AM)the whole body, being fitted and held together [k]by what every joint supplies, according to the [l]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself (AN)in love.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily (A)bears our burden,
(B)The God who is our salvation. Selah.
20 God is to us a (C)God of deliverances;
And (D)to [a]God the Lord belong escapes [b]from death.
21 Surely God will (E)shatter the head of His enemies,
The hairy crown of him who goes on in his guilty deeds.
22 The Lord [c]said, “(F)I will bring them back from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea;
23 That [d](G)your foot may shatter them in blood,
The tongue of your (H)dogs may have its portion from your enemies.”
24 They have seen (I)Your [e]procession, O God,
The [f]procession of my God, my King, [g](J)into the sanctuary.
25 The (K)singers went on, the musicians after them,
[h]In the midst of the (L)maidens beating tambourines.
26 (M)Bless God in the congregations,
Even the Lord, you who are of the (N)fountain of Israel.
27 There is (O)Benjamin, the [i]youngest, [j]ruling them,
The princes of Judah in their throng,
The princes of (P)Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
28 [k]Your God has (Q)commanded your strength;
Show Yourself strong, O God, (R)who have acted [l]on our behalf.
29 [m]Because of Your temple at Jerusalem
(S)Kings will bring gifts to You.
30 Rebuke the (T)beasts [n]in the reeds,
The herd of (U)bulls with the calves of the peoples,
Trampling under foot the pieces of silver;
He has (V)scattered the peoples who delight in war.
31 Envoys will come out of (W)Egypt;
[o](X)Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
32 Sing to God, O (Y)kingdoms of the earth,
(Z)Sing praises to the Lord, Selah.
33 To Him who (AA)rides upon the [p](AB)highest heavens, which are from ancient times;
Behold, (AC)He [q]speaks forth with His voice, a (AD)mighty voice.
34 (AE)Ascribe strength to God;
His majesty is over Israel
And (AF)His strength is in the [r]skies.
35 [s]O God, You are (AG)awesome from Your [t]sanctuary.
The God of Israel Himself (AH)gives strength and power to the people.
(AI)Blessed be God!
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.