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Israel Exhorted
51 “(A)Listen to Me, you who (B)pursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the (C)rock from which you were cut,
And to the [a]quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to (D)Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he (E)was only one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”
3 Indeed, (F)the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her (G)ruins.
And He will make her (H)wilderness like (I)Eden,
And her desert like the (J)garden of the Lord.
(K)Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and the sound of a melody.
4 “(L)Pay attention to Me, My people,
And listen to Me, My [b]nation;
For a (M)law will go out from Me,
And I will bring My (N)justice as a (O)light of the peoples.
5 My (P)righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My (Q)arms will judge the peoples;
The (R)coastlands will wait for Me,
And they will wait expectantly for My (S)arm.
6 (T)Raise your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the (U)sky will vanish like smoke,
And the (V)earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die [c]in the same way.
But My (W)salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not fail.
7 (X)Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose (Y)heart is My Law;
Do not fear the (Z)taunting of [d]people,
Nor be terrified of their abuses.
8 For the (AA)moth will eat them like a garment;
Yes, the (AB)moth will eat them like wool.
But My (AC)righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”
9 (AD)Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the (AE)days of old, the generations of long ago.
(AF)Was it not You who cut [e]Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the (AG)dragon?
10 Was it not You who (AH)dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the (AI)redeemed to cross over?
11 And the (AJ)redeemed of the Lord will return
And come to Zion with joyful shouting,
And (AK)everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And (AL)sorrow and sighing will flee away.
12 “I, I Myself, am He who (AM)comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of [f](AN)mortal man,
And of a son of man who is made like (AO)grass,
13 That you have (AP)forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who (AQ)stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you (AR)fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
And where is the rage of the (AS)oppressor?
14 The [g](AT)exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the [h]dungeon, (AU)nor will his bread be lacking. 15 For I am the Lord your God, who (AV)stirs up the sea so that its waves roar (the Lord of armies is His name). 16 And I have (AW)put My words in your mouth and have (AX)covered you with the shadow of My hand, to [i](AY)establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
17 (AZ)Pull yourself up! Pull yourself up! Arise, Jerusalem!
You who have (BA)drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger;
The [j]chalice of staggering you have drunk to the dregs.
18 There is (BB)no one to guide her among all the sons to whom she has given birth,
Nor is there anyone to take her by the hand among all the sons she has raised.
19 These two things have happened to you;
Who will mourn for you?
The (BC)devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
How shall I comfort you?
20 Your sons have fainted,
They (BD)lie helpless at the head of every street,
Like an (BE)antelope in a net,
Full of the wrath of the Lord,
The (BF)rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore, listen to this, you (BG)afflicted,
Who are (BH)drunk, but not with wine:
22 This is what your Lord, the Lord, your God
Who (BI)contends for His people says:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand the (BJ)cup of staggering,
The [k]chalice of My anger;
You will never drink it again.
23 I will (BK)put it into the hand of your tormentors,
Who have said to [l]you, ‘(BL)Lie down so that we may walk over you.’
You have also made your back like the ground,
And like the street for those who walk over it.”
Cheer for Prostrate Zion
52 (BM)Awake, awake,
Clothe yourself in your strength, Zion;
Clothe yourself with your (BN)beautiful garments,
Jerusalem, the (BO)holy city;
For the uncircumcised and the (BP)unclean
Will no longer come into you.
2 Shake yourself (BQ)from the dust, (BR)rise up,
Captive Jerusalem;
(BS)Release yourself from the chains around your neck,
Captive daughter of Zion.
3 For this is what the Lord says: “You were (BT)sold for nothing, and you will be (BU)redeemed (BV)without money.” 4 For this is what the Lord [m]God says: “My people (BW)went down to Egypt first to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without reason. 5 And now, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without reason?” Again the Lord declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My (BX)name is continually reviled all day long. 6 Therefore, My people shall (BY)know My name; therefore on that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’”
7 How delightful on the mountains
Are the feet of one who brings (BZ)good news,
Who announces [n]peace
And brings good news of [o]happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your (CA)God [p]reigns!”
8 Listen! Your watchmen raise their (CB)voices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see [q]with their own eyes
When the Lord restores Zion.
9 (CC)Be cheerful, shout joyfully together,
You (CD)ruins of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has (CE)redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared His holy (CF)arm
In the sight of all the nations,
[r]So that (CG)all the ends of the earth may see
The salvation of our God.
11 (CH)Depart, depart, go out from there,
(CI)Do not touch what is unclean;
Go out of the midst of her, (CJ)purify yourselves,
You who carry the vessels of the Lord.
12 But you will not go out in (CK)a hurry,
Nor will you go [s]as fugitives;
For the (CL)Lord will go before you,
And (CM)the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
The Exalted Servant
13 Behold, My (CN)Servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and [t]greatly (CO)exalted.
14 Just as many were appalled at you, My people,
So His (CP)appearance was marred beyond that of a man,
And His form beyond the sons of mankind.
15 So [u]He will (CQ)sprinkle many nations,
Kings will (CR)shut their mouths on account of Him;
For (CS)what they had not been told, they will see,
And what they had not heard, they will understand.
The Suffering Servant
53 (CT)Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a (CU)tender [v]shoot,
And like a root out of dry ground;
He has (CV)no stately form or majesty
That we would look at Him,
Nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him.
3 He was (CW)despised and abandoned by men,
A man of [w]great pain and (CX)familiar with sickness;
And like one from whom people hide their faces,
He was (CY)despised, and we had no (CZ)regard for Him.
4 However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself (DA)bore,
And our pains that He carried;
Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,
Struck down by (DB)God, and humiliated.
5 But He was [x]pierced for (DC)our offenses,
He was crushed for (DD)our wrongdoings;
The (DE)punishment for our [y]well-being was laid upon Him,
And by (DF)His wounds we are healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all
To [z]fall on Him.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
Yet He did not (DG)open His mouth;
(DH)Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off from the land of the [aa]living
(DI)For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?
9 And His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a (DJ)rich man in His death,
(DK)Because He had (DL)done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 But the Lord desired
To (DM)crush Him, [ab](DN)causing Him grief;
If He renders [ac]Himself as a guilt (DO)offering,
He will see (DP)His [ad]offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the [ae]good (DQ)pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the [af]anguish of His soul,
He will [ag](DR)see it and be satisfied;
By His (DS)knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
For He will (DT)bear their wrongdoings.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a (DU)portion with the great,
And He will divide the plunder with the strong,
Because He poured out His [ah](DV)life unto death,
And was (DW)counted with wrongdoers;
Yet He Himself (DX)bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the wrongdoers.
Be Imitators of God
5 (A)Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and (B)walk in love, just as Christ also (C)loved [a]you and (D)gave Himself up for us, an (E)offering and a sacrifice to God [b]as a (F)fragrant aroma.
3 But (G)sexual immorality [c]or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among [d]saints; 4 and there must be no (H)filthiness [e]or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which (I)are not fitting, but rather (J)giving of thanks. 5 For this you know with certainty, that (K)no sexually immoral or [f]impure or greedy person, which [g]amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom (L)of Christ and God.
6 (M)See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things (N)the wrath of God comes upon (O)the [h]sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become (P)partners with them; 8 for (Q)you were once (R)darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as (S)children of light 9 (for (T)the fruit of the light consists in all (U)goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 [i](V)as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 (W)Do not participate in the useless (X)deeds of (Y)darkness, but instead even (Z)expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible (AA)when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason [j]it says,
15 So then, [k]be careful how you (AE)walk, not (AF)as unwise people but as wise, 16 [l](AG)making the most of your time, because (AH)the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but (AI)understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And (AJ)do not get drunk with wine, [m]in which there is (AK)debauchery, but be (AL)filled with the Spirit, 19 (AM)speaking to [n]one another in (AN)psalms and (AO)hymns and spiritual (AP)songs, (AQ)singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord; 20 (AR)always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our (AS)God and Father; 21 [o](AT)and subject yourselves to one another in the [p](AU)fear of Christ.
Marriage like Christ and the Church
22 (AV)Wives, (AW)subject yourselves to your own husbands, (AX)as to the Lord. 23 For (AY)the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the (AZ)head of the church, He Himself (BA)being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25 (BB)Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and (BC)gave Himself up for her, 26 (BD)so that He might sanctify her, having (BE)cleansed her by the (BF)washing of water with (BG)the word, 27 that He might (BH)present to Himself the church [q]in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be (BI)holy and blameless. 28 So husbands also ought to (BJ)love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are (BK)parts of His (BL)body. 31 (BM)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, as for you individually, each husband is to (BN)love his own wife the same as himself, and the wife must see to it that she (BO)respects her husband.
20 Disgrace has (B)broken my heart, and I am so sick.
And (C)I waited for sympathy, but there was none;
And for (D)comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me [b](E)a bitter herb in my food,
And for my thirst they (F)gave me vinegar to drink.
22 May (G)their table before them become a snare;
And [c](H)when they are at peace, may it become a trap.
23 May their (I)eyes grow dim so that they cannot see,
And make their (J)hips shake continually.
24 (K)Pour out Your indignation on them,
And may Your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their [d](L)camp be desolated;
May there be none living in their tents.
26 For they have (M)persecuted him whom (N)You Yourself struck,
And they tell of the pain of those whom (O)You have [e]wounded.
27 Add (P)guilt to their guilt,
And (Q)may they not come into (R)Your righteousness.
28 May they be (S)wiped out of the (T)book of life,
And may they not be [f](U)recorded with the righteous.
29 But I am (V)afflicted and in pain;
[g]May Your salvation, God, (W)set me safely on high.
30 I will (X)praise the name of God with song,
And (Y)exalt Him with (Z)thanksgiving.
31 And it will (AA)please the Lord better than an ox
Or bull with horns and hoofs.
32 The (AB)humble [h]have seen it and are glad;
You who seek God, (AC)let your heart [i]revive.
33 For (AD)the Lord hears the needy,
And (AE)does not despise those of His who are prisoners.
34 (AF)Heaven and earth shall praise Him,
The seas and (AG)everything that moves in them.
35 For God will (AH)save Zion and (AI)build the cities of Judah,
So that they may live there and (AJ)possess it.
36 The [j](AK)descendants of His servants will inherit it,
And those who love His name (AL)will live in it.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.