Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 29

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 29

Matthew 1 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 29

Bible reading based on Matthew 1 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

Matthew 1

1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram. 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. 6 Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asa. 8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram. Joram was the father [1] of Uzziah. 9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh. Manasseh was the father of Amon. Amon was the father of Josiah. 11 Josiah was the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the Babylonian exile.

12 After the Babylonian exile, Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim. Eliakim was the father of Azor. 14 Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Achim. Achim was the father of Eliud. 15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob. 16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom Jesus was born (who is called Christ).

17 So altogether there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen generations from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen generations from the Babylonian exile to Christ.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother, Mary, was pledged in marriage [2] to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her. So he decided to divorce her privately. 20 But as he was considering these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, [3] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this happened to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Look, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son. And they will name him Immanuel,” [4] which means, “God with us.”

24 When Joseph woke up from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him. He took Mary home as his wife,  [5]



Footnotes

  1. Matthew 1:8 The Greek word for father of does not always mean immediate ancestor, but can also mean grandfather or male ancestor. In this genealogy, some generations are deliberately skipped to arrive at three groups of fourteen generations (verse 17). Three names are omitted after Joram: Ahaziah (2 Kings 8:25; 2 Chronicles 22:1), Joash (2 Kings 11:21; 12:1 [Hebrew text]; 2 Chronicles 24:1), and Amaziah (2 Kings 14:1; 2 Chronicles 25:1).
  2. Matthew 1:18 Or betrothed
  3. Matthew 1:21 Jesus means the Lord saves.
  4. Matthew 1:23 Isaiah 7:14
  5. Matthew 1:25 Some witnesses to the text omit her firstborn and simply read she gave birth to a son. (“Witnesses to the text” mentioned in footnotes may include Greek manuscripts, lectionaries, translations, and quotations in the church fathers.)


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 28

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 28

Isaiah 66 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 28

Bible reading based on Isaiah 66 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Isaiah 66

This is what the Lord says.
The heavens are my throne,
and the earth is a footstool under my feet.
Where, then, is the house that you could build for me?
Where, then, is a place that could serve as my resting place?
2 For my hand made all these things,
so all these things came into existence,
declares the Lord.

Those Who Tremble at the Lord’s Word

Yet this is the person I will watch over:
    the one who is afflicted and whose spirit is crushed,
    the one who trembles at my word.

3 One who slaughters an ox, also smites a person.
One who sacrifices a lamb, also breaks the neck of a dog.
One who offers a grain offering, also offers the blood of pigs.
One who offers memorial incense, also blesses a useless idol.
Yes, they have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delights in their detestable things.
4 So I myself will choose their punishments,
and the things that terrify them I will bring to them,
because I called, and there was no one who answered.
I spoke, and they did not listen.
They did what is evil in my eyes,
and they chose things that do not please me.

5 Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word.
Your brothers, who hate you
and exclude you for the sake of my name, say:
“Let the Lord be glorified so that we may see your joy.”
But they themselves will be put to shame.

6 Listen! An uproar in the city,
the sound of an uproar from the temple,
the sound of the Lord repaying his enemies in full!

Lady Zion’s Final Blessing

7 Before she suffers labor pains, she gives birth.
Before birth pain comes upon her, she delivers a male child.
8 Who has ever heard of something like this?
Who has ever seen such a thing?
Is a land brought forth in one day?
Is a nation born all at once?
But as soon as Zion experiences labor pains, she gives birth
    to her children.
9 Would I bring a baby to the point of birth and not let it be born?
says the Lord.
Or would I let a baby be conceived but shut the womb to prevent
    its birth?
says your God.
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem and celebrate with her, all you who love her.
Share her joy with her, all you who have been mourning over her,
11 so that you may nurse and be satisfied from her comforting breast,
so that you may suck and find delight from her milk-filled breasts. [1]
12 Yes, this is what the Lord says.
I am ready to extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream.
You will be nursed. You will be carried on her side,
and you will be bounced on her knees.
13 Just like a man [2] whom his mother comforts,
in the same way I myself will comfort you,
and you will be comforted concerning Jerusalem.
14 Then you will see, and your heart will be glad.
Like grass you will receive new strength, right down to your bones.
Then the Lord’s hand will be known to his servants,
but his fury to his enemies.
15 Look, the Lord will come like fire,
and his chariots like a whirlwind,
to pour out his furious anger
and his rebuke like flames of fire.
16 For the Lord will bring judgment on all flesh
    by fire and by his sword,
and those slain by the Lord will be many.
17 Those who try to sanctify themselves
and those who try to purify themselves
    in order to follow others into the groves,
    in order to eat the meat of pigs and other disgusting things like mice—
together they will be swept away, declares the Lord.
18 As for me, because of their works and their thoughts,
the time is coming for me to gather people from all nations
    and all languages.
They will come, and they will see my glory.

19 Then I will set up a sign among them,
and I will send out survivors from among them to the nations,
to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, [3] to those who are archers,
to Tubal and Javan, [4] to the distant coastlands,
who have not heard my message and have not seen my glory.
Then they will declare my glory among the nations.

20 Then they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them on horses and chariots and wagons and mules and dromedaries [5] to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, in the same way that the people of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel to the Lord’s house. 21 Even from among these people I will take priests and Levites, says the Lord.

22 For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making will remain standing before me, declares the Lord, in the same way your offspring and your name will stand. 23 As often as one new moon follows another and one Sabbath follows another, all flesh will come to worship before me, says the Lord.

24 They will go out, and they will see the corpses of the ones who were rebelling against me, for their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and all flesh will be horrified by them.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 66:11 Literally her heavy or glorious nipple
  2. Isaiah 66:13 The Hebrew uses the word man rather than child.
  3. Isaiah 66:19 Tarshish was in the western Mediterranean, probably in Spain. Pul is probably the same as Put, a region in Libya. Lud may also be in Libya but may refer to Lydia in present-day Turkey.
  4. Isaiah 66:19 Tubal was in the distant north. Javan refers to the Ionian Greeks.
  5. Isaiah 66:20 Or two-humped camels


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 27

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 27

Isaiah 65 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 27

Bible reading based on Isaiah 65 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Lord’s Response

Isaiah 65 

1 I was available to those who did not ask.
I let myself be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that did not call on my name.
2 I reached out my hands all day to a stubborn people,
who are walking in a way that is not good,
who follow their own ideas.
3 This people continually provokes me to anger, right to my face,
    by sacrificing in the groves,
    by burning incense on the bricks.
4 They sit in tombs
and keep their vigils all night.
They eat the flesh of pigs,
and broth made from unclean meat is in their pots.
5 They say, “Keep to yourself.
Do not touch me because I am too holy for you.”
These people are smoke in my nostrils,
like a fire burning all day.

6 Look, I have put it in writing.
I will not be silent until I repay them.
I will repay into their lap
7     both their [1] guilt and the guilt of their fathers,
    says the Lord.
Because they burned incense upon the mountains,
and upon the hills they ridiculed me,
so I will measure out their full pay into their lap.

8 This is what the Lord says.
Just as sweet wine is found in the grape cluster,
so that someone says, “Do not destroy it
because there is a blessing in it,”
so I will act in the same way for the sake of my servants,
in order not to destroy the whole people.
9 I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
and from Judah those who will inherit my mountains,
so that my chosen ones will possess the land,
and my servants will dwell there.

10 Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,
and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
for my people who seek me.
11 But you who are abandoning the Lord,
you who have forgotten my holy mountain,
who are setting a table for Fortune,
who are pouring out mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword.
All of you will bow down to be slaughtered,
because I called, but you did not answer.
I spoke, but you did not listen.
You committed evil in my eyes,
and you chose that which does not please me.
13 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says.
Watch! My servants will eat,
but you will go hungry.
Watch! My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
Watch! My servants will rejoice,
but you will be ashamed.
14 Watch! My servants will shout because of the joy in their heart,
but you will cry out because of the pain in your heart,
and because of a broken spirit you will wail.
15 You will leave your name for my chosen ones to use as a curse,
and the Lord God will put you to death,
but he will call his servants by another name,
16 so that anyone on earth who blesses himself
    will bless himself by the God of Amen, [2]
and anyone on the earth who swears
    will swear by the God of Amen!
For the past troubles will be forgotten.
Yes, they are certainly hidden from my eyes.

The Lord’s New Creation

17 Watch this! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered.
They will not come to mind.
18 Instead, rejoice and celebrate forever, because of what I am creating.
Watch this! I am about to create Jerusalem to be a source of gladness,
and her people will be a source of joy.
19 I also will be glad because of Jerusalem,
and I will rejoice over my people.
The sound of weeping will not be heard in her again,
nor will the sound of crying.
20 There will never again be an infant there who lives for only a few days,
or an elderly man who does not fill out all his days,
for one who dies at a hundred will be considered a young man,
and one who fails to attain the age of one hundred will be regarded
        as cursed.
21 Then they will build houses and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build a house and have another person live in it.
They will not plant and have another person eat the crop,
for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree,
and my chosen ones will enjoy all the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor only to receive nothing,
and they will not give birth to children doomed to disaster,
for they will be offspring who are blessed by the Lord,
and their descendants will be with them.

24 Then even before they call, I will answer.
While they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together,
and lions will eat straw like cattle,
but the serpent will eat dust as its food.
They will not harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain,
says the Lord.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 65:7 Some Hebrew manuscripts read your.
  2. Isaiah 65:16 Amen is the literal rendering.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 26

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 26

Isaiah 63:7 – 64:12 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 26

Isaiah 63:7 – 64:12 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

 Isaiah’s Announcement

Isaiah 63

7 I will tell about the Lord’s mercies,
about the praises of the Lord,
about all that the Lord has done for us,
about his great goodness to the house of Israel,
which he performed for them according to his abundant compassion,
and according to his great mercy.
8 He said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely,”
so he became their Savior.
9 In all their anguish he felt anguish, [1]
and the Angel of his Presence saved them.
In his love and in his pity he himself redeemed them,
and he took them up and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit,
so he turned against them and became an enemy.
He himself fought against them.
11 Yet he remembered the days of old,
the days of Moses and his people.

Isaiah’s Plea

Where is the one who brought them up from the sea,
    with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is the one who set his Holy Spirit in their midst,
12 who sent his majestic arm to the right hand of Moses,
who divided waters before them
    to make an everlasting name for himself,
13 who let them walk through the depths?
Like a horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble.
14 Like cattle that descend into a valley,
they were given rest by the Lord’s Spirit.
This is how you led your people
    to make a majestic name for yourself.

15 Gaze down from the heavens and see,
from your holy and beautiful dwelling place.
Where is your zeal and your might?
The feelings of your heart and your compassion
    are withheld from me.

16 But you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
though Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, the Lord, are our Father.
Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
17 Why do you cause us to wander from your ways, Lord?
Why do you harden our heart so that we do not fear you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes that are your heritage.
18 For a short time your holy people possessed the land.
Now our adversaries have trampled your sanctuary.
19 We have been your people from ancient times,
but you have not ruled over the other nations.
They were not called by your name. [2]

Isaiah 64 

1 Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and come down.
Mountains then would quake because of your presence. [3]
2 As fire ignites stubble and as fire makes water boil,
make your name known to your adversaries.
Then nations would quake in your presence.
3 You did amazing things that we did not expect.
You came down. Mountains quaked because of your presence.
4 From ancient times no one has heard.
No ear has understood.
No eye has seen any god except you,
who goes into action for the one who waits for him.
5 You meet anyone who joyfully practices righteousness,
who remembers you by walking in your ways!
But you were angry because we sinned.
We have remained in our sins for a long time.

Can we still be saved?
6 All of us have become like something unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth. [4]
All of us have withered like a leaf,
and our guilt carries us away like the wind.
7 There is no one who calls on your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you.
So you hid your face from us.
You made us melt by the power of our guilt.
8 But now, Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter.
All of us are the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry, Lord, without limit.
Do not remember our guilt forever.
Please look closely.
All of us are your people.

Isaiah’s Lament

10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness.
Zion has become a wilderness.
Jerusalem is a desolation.
11 Our holy and glorious house, where our fathers praised you,
    has been burned by fire,
    and everything we desired has become a ruin.
12 Since this is so, how can you hold back, O Lord?
How can you remain silent and afflict us without limit?



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 63:9 An alternate Hebrew reading is he did not feel anguish.
  2. Isaiah 63:19 Or we have become like those you never ruled, like those who are not called by your name
  3. Isaiah 64:1 English 64:1 is part of 63:19 in Hebrew. All the subsequent verse numbers in chapter 64 are one number higher in English than they are in Hebrew.
  4. Isaiah 64:6 Literally the cloth of periods. The blood of a woman’s period made anyone who contacted it ceremonially unclean.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 25

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 25

Isaiah 61 – 63:6 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 25

Isaiah 61 – 63:6 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Fifth Servant Song

The Spirit Anoints Him [1]

Isaiah 61 

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to preach good news to the afflicted.
He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release for those who are bound,
2     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance for our God,
    to comfort all who mourn,
3     to provide for those who mourn in Zion,
    to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
    the oil of joy instead of mourning,
    a cloak of praise instead of a faint spirit,
    so that they will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord to display his beauty.

The Result of the Servant’s Work

4 Then they will rebuild ancient ruins.
They will raise up what was formerly devastated,
and they will renew ruined cities,
    which have been devastated for generations.
5 Strangers will stand and shepherd your flock,
and foreigners will be your farmers and vinedressers.
6 You will be called the Lord’s priests.
You will be named ministers of our God.
You will eat the wealth of nations,
and you will boast about their riches.
7 In place of your shame, you will receive a double portion.
Instead of dishonor, they will rejoice in their share of the land.
In fact, in their land they will inherit a double portion.
Everlasting joy will be theirs.
8 Yes, I am the Lord. I love justice.
I hate robbery in a burnt offering. [2]
I will repay them in faithfulness,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their offspring will be known among the nations,
and their descendants in the midst of the peoples.
All who see them will recognize
    that they are offspring whom the Lord has blessed.
10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord.
My soul will celebrate because of my God,
for he has clothed me in garments of salvation.
With a robe of righteousness he covered me,
like a bridegroom who wears a beautiful headdress like a priest,
and like a bride who adorns herself with her jewelry.

11 For as the earth produces its growth,
and as a garden causes what has been sown to sprout up,
so God the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up
    in the presence of all the nations.

For Zion’s Sake, Cry Out

Isaiah 62 

1 For the sake of Zion I will not be silent.
For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth shining brightly,
and her salvation burns like a torch.

2 Nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings will see your glory.
You will be called by a new name
    that the mouth of the Lord will assign to you.
3 Then you will be a beautiful crown in the Lord’s hand,
and a royal diadem in the palm of your God.
4 You will never again be called Abandoned, [3]
and your land will never again be called Desolation, [4]
for you will be called My Delight Is in Her, [5]
and your land will be called Married, [6]
because the Lord delights in you,
and your land will be married.
5 For just as a young man marries a virgin,
your sons will marry [7] you,
and just as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,
your God will rejoice over you.
6 Upon your walls, Jerusalem, I appointed watchmen.
All day and all night they will never be silent.
You who keep reminding the Lord, do not rest!
7 Do not give him rest
until he establishes Jerusalem,
and he causes her to be praised on the earth.

8 The Lord swore by his right hand
and by his strong arm:
    I will certainly never again give up your grain as food
        for your enemies,
    and foreigners will not drink the sweet new wine you worked for.
9     For those who pick fruit will eat it, and they will praise the Lord,
    and those who harvest grapes will drink in my holy courtyards.

10 Go through, go through the gates.
Prepare a way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway.
Clear it of stones.
Raise a banner for the peoples.

11 Listen, the Lord is making a proclamation to the end of the earth.
Tell the daughter of Zion:
“Look, your salvation is coming.
Look, his reward is with him,
and his compensation is out in front of him.” [8]

12 Then they will be called holy people,
the redeemed of the Lord.
Then you will be called Sought After,
A City Not Abandoned.

The Day of Vengeance

The Prophet’s Question

Isaiah 63

1 Who is this coming from Edom, with bright red garments?
Who is this coming from Bozrah, clothed majestically,

marching out [9] with great strength?

The Servant’s Response

It is I, the one who speaks in righteousness.
It is I, the one who is mighty to save.

The Prophet’s Question

2 Why is your clothing so red?
Why are your garments like those of someone
    who has been trampling grapes in a winepress?

The Servant’s Response

3 I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples there was no one with me.
So I stomped on them in my anger,
and I trampled them in my wrath,
and their juice splattered on my garments.
I stained all my clothing.
4 For the day for vengeance was in my heart,
and the year for my redemption has come.
5 I looked intently but there was no helper.
I was shocked that no one supported me.
My arm delivered me,
and my wrath supported me.
6 I trampled the peoples in my anger.
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I will pour out their juice [10] onto the ground.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 61:1 This song does not contain the title servant, but it is part of the same set of descriptions of the Messiah as the earlier Servant Songs.
  2. Isaiah 61:8 The translation follows the reading of most Hebrew manuscripts. A variant found in some Hebrew manuscripts and supported by the ancient versions reads with wrongdoing.
  3. Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Azubah
  4. Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Shemamah
  5. Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Hephzibah
  6. Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Beulah
  7. Isaiah 62:5 Or your Builder will marry you. In Hebrew the words your builder and your sons look alike.
  8. Isaiah 62:11 This may refer to the people whom the Messiah has won by his labor, or it may refer to the gifts he brings for his people.
  9. Isaiah 63:1 The translation follows the Syriac and Latin. The Hebrew reads bending over.
  10. Isaiah 63:6 That is, their lifeblood


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 24

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 24

Isaiah 60 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 24

Isaiah 60 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

A New Day Dawns for Zion

Isaiah 60 

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord is dawning upon you.
2 Look, darkness covers the earth,
and deep darkness covers the peoples,
but the Lord will dawn upon you,
and his glory will be seen over you.
3 Nations will walk to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 Look up. Look all around and see!
All of them have been gathered. They are coming to you.
Your sons will come from far away,
and people will carry your daughters on their side.
5 Then you will look and be radiant.
Your heart will race with excitement and burst with joy.
For great riches from the sea will be delivered to you.
The wealth of the nations will come to you.
6 Caravans of camels will cover your land,
young camels from Midian and Ephah.
All those from Sheba will come.
They will carry gold and incense,
and they will announce the good news of the praise of the Lord.
7 All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you.
Rams from Nebaioth will serve as sacrifices for you.
They will be accepted as burnt offerings on my altar,
and I will beautify my splendid house.

8 Who are these who fly along like a cloud,
who fly like doves to their coops?

9 Yes, the coastlands will wait for me with hope,
and the ships of Tarshish will be the first
    to bring your children from far away.
They will have their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God
and for the Holy One of Israel,
because he makes you beautiful.

10 Then foreigners will rebuild your walls,
and their kings will serve you,
because in my wrath I struck you,
but in my favor I had mercy on you.

11 Then your gates will always remain open.
Day and night they will not be shut,
    in order to bring you the wealth of the nations,
and their kings will be led in procession.
12 For the nation and the kingdom that do not serve you will perish.
Such nations will be completely devastated.
13 The glory of Lebanon will come to you:
the fir, the maple, and the pine tree together.
They will beautify my holy place,
and I will glorify my footstool.
14 Then the children of your oppressors will walk up to you and bow down.
All who despise you will fall down under the soles of your feet,
and they will call you the city of the Lord,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
15 You were abandoned and hated, with no one walking through you,
but now I will make you a source of everlasting pride,
a joy from generation to generation.

16 You will nurse on the milk of the nations,
and you will nurse at the breast of kings.
You will know that I am the Lord, your Savior,
and that your Redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.
17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold.
Instead of iron I will bring silver,
instead of wood, copper,
and instead of stones, iron.
And I will make peace your overseer,
and righteousness your strong ruler.
18 Violence will never again be heard in your land,
nor destruction and ruin in your boundaries.
Instead, you will call your walls Salvation
and your gates Praise.
19 The sun will never again be your light by day,
and the moon will not shine to provide brightness for you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your splendor.
20 Your sun will never again set,
and your moon will not wane,
because the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and the days of your mourning will be over.

21 As for your people, all of them will be righteous.
They will inherit the earth forever.
They are shoots I have planted,
the work of my hands, to display my beauty.
22 The smallest will become an army of a thousand,
and the least will become a powerful nation.
I am the Lord.
When the time is right, I will do it quickly.





The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 23

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 23

Isaiah 59 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 23

Isaiah 59 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Guilt Separates People From God

Isaiah 59 

Listen to me! The Lord’s arm is not too short to save,
and his ear is not too deaf to hear.
2 No, it is your guilt that has separated you from your God,
and your sins have hidden God’s face from you,
    so that he does not hear.
3 Look, your hands are polluted with blood,
and your fingers drip guilt.
Your lips speak lies.
Your tongue mutters dishonesty.
4 No one calls for justice,
and no one argues his cases honestly.
They rely on empty arguments and commit perjury!
They conceive trouble and give birth to wickedness!
5 They hatch viper eggs,
and they weave spider webs.
Anyone who eats their eggs will die,
and a cracked egg hatches into a venomous snake.
6 They cannot make a garment from their webs,
and they will not be able to cover themselves with their deeds.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
and violent actions fill their hands.
7 Their feet run to do evil,
and they hurry to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are futile [1] thoughts.
Destruction and ruin are the destination of their highways.
8 They do not know the road to peace,
and there is no justice on the route they follow.
They made crooked paths for themselves.
No one who walks on them will experience peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but look, there is only darkness.
We hope for bright light, but we walk around in the darkest gloom.

10 We grope along a wall like blind men.
We grope like people with no eyes.
We stumble at noon as if it were twilight.
Among the healthy, we are like dead men.
11 We growl like bears—all of us—
and like doves we always mourn.
We hope for justice, but there is none.
We hope for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 Yes, our rebellious deeds are many before you,
and our sins testify against us.
Our rebellious deeds are with us,
and as for our guilty deeds, we are aware of them.
13 Those deeds are rebellion and treachery against the Lord.
We turn back from following our God.
We incite oppression and apostasy.
We conceive and mutter deceitful words from our hearts.
14 Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away,
for truth stumbles in the city square,
and honesty cannot enter it.
15 The truth is missing,
and anyone who turns from evil makes himself prey. [2]
The Lord looked and saw something evil—
there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one.
He was appalled that there was no one who could intervene.
So his own arm worked salvation for him,
and his own righteousness supported him.
17 He clothed himself with righteousness like armor
and wore a helmet of salvation on his head.
He dressed in garments for vengeance,
and he wrapped himself with zeal like a cloak.
18 He will repay in full what they have earned,
namely, wrath to his foes and full payment to his enemies.
He will repay even the distant coastlands.
19 From the west they will fear the Lord’s name,
and from the rising of the sun they will fear his glory,
for he will come like a raging river,
driven by the Spirit [3] of the Lord.
20 Then a redeemer will come for Zion
and for those in Jacob who turn from rebellion.
This is the declaration of the Lord.

21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord. My Spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouth of your offspring or from the mouth of their offspring, from this time forward and forever, says the Lord.

Yes, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 59:7 Or sinful
  2. Isaiah 59:15 Or pays the price
  3. Isaiah 59:19 Or wind or breath


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 22

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 22

Isaiah 58 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 22

Isaiah 58 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Fast for the Right Reasons

Isaiah 58 

Cry out with a full-throated shout.
Do not hold back.
Shout like the blast of a ram’s horn.
Declare to my people their rebellious deeds.
Declare to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek me day by day,
and they are delighted to know my ways,
    as if they were a nation that does what is right,
    as if they had not forsaken the just ways of their God.
They ask me for just verdicts.
They are delighted to approach God:
3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why do we afflict ourselves, but you are not aware?”
    This is what you do!
    On the same day when you fast, you do whatever you please,
and you oppress all your workers.
4 You fast so you can fight and quarrel,
so you can strike with a wicked fist.
You should not fast the way you are doing it today
if you expect God on high to hear your voice.
5 Is this the kind of fast that I would choose:
    a day when a person afflicts himself
    and bows his head like a reed
    and makes his bed on sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast, a day to gain the Lord’s favor?

6 On the contrary, isn’t this the kind of fast that I would choose:
    to loosen the chains of wickedness,
    to tear apart the ropes of a yoke,
    to release the oppressed so they go free,
    and to tear every yoke to pieces?
7 Isn’t a true fast that you share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless and afflicted into a house?
Yes, when you see a naked person, you are to cover him,
and do not hide yourself from your own flesh and blood.

8 Then your light will break forth like dawn,
and your healing will spring up quickly.
Your righteousness will go out ahead of you,
and the Glory of the Lord will follow you.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer.
You will cry out, and he will say, “Here I am!”
If you remove the bar of the yoke from among you,
and if you stop finger-pointing and speaking wickedly,
10 if you offer your life for the hungry,
and if you satisfy the desires of the afflicted,
then your light will shine in the darkness,
and your darkest gloom will shine like the noonday sun.
11 Then the Lord will lead you continually.
He will satisfy your desire in arid places,
and he will strengthen your bones.
Then you will be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water, whose waters will not fail.
12 Then your ancient ruins will be rebuilt,
and you will restore the foundations from past generations.
Then you will be called the repairer of broken walls,
the restorer of streets to live on.

13 If you do not trample the Sabbath
    by doing whatever you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight,
if you treat the holy day of the Lord as something to be honored,
if you honor it by not going your own way, [1]
by not pursuing pleasure or negotiating a deal,
14 then you will delight in the Lord.
I will cause you to ride over the heights of the land.
I will provide food for you from the land inherited from
    your father Jacob.
Yes, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 58:13 Or doing your own thing


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 21

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 21

Isaiah 56 & 57 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 21

Isaiah 56 & 57 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Isaiah 56

This is what the Lord says.
Protect justice, and carry out righteousness,
because my salvation is coming very soon.
My righteousness is ready to be revealed.
2 How blessed is everyone who does this,
who grabs hold of it,
who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
who holds back his hand from doing any evil.

The Lord Welcomes All People

3 Therefore, the foreigner who joins himself to the Lord should not say,
“The Lord will certainly exclude me from his people.”
The eunuch should not say,
“I am just a dried-up tree.”
4 Because this is what the Lord says:
“If the eunuchs keep my Sabbaths,
choose things that delight me,
and take hold of my covenant,
5 then I will set up in my house and on my walls
    a monument and a name for them
    that is better than that of sons and daughters.
I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.”

6 Then the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
    to minister to him and to love the name of the Lord
    and to become his servants,
    every one of them who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
    those who take hold of my covenant—
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain,
and I will make them glad in my house of prayer.
Their whole burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be
    acceptable on my altar.
For my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples
    of the world.
8 This is the declaration of God the Lord,
who gathers Israel’s dispersed people:
“I will gather still more people to my house besides
    the ones already gathered.”

The Coming Judgment Against Israel’s Leaders

9 All you wild animals, come to eat—
all you animals in the forest.

10 His watchmen are blind, all of them.
They know nothing.
All of them are silent dogs.
They are not able to bark.
They are seers who lie down,
who love to sleep.
11 These dogs have a big appetite.
They are never satisfied.
These shepherds have no understanding.
All of them turn to their own ways.
Each one, without exception, turns to his own gain.
12 “Come on, I want to drink wine.
Let’s get drunk on beer.
Tomorrow will be another day, just like today,
another great day, better than ever.”

There Will Be Peace for the Righteous Even in Death

Isaiah 57 

1 The righteous one perishes,
but no one takes it to heart.
Men of mercy [1] are being taken away,
but no one understands
    that the righteous one is being spared from evil.
2 He will enter into peace.
They will rest on their beds.
He is walking in his uprightness. [2]

The Coming Judgment Against Israel’s Leaders

3 But you there, come closer,
you children of a witch,
you offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.
4 Who are you mocking? [3]
Who are you making faces at and sticking out your tongue at?
Aren’t you all children born in rebellion,
the offspring of deceit,
5 you who are in heat among the oaks and under every green tree,
you who slaughter children in the ravines under the rugged cliffs?
6 Your chosen territory is among the smooth stones of the ravines.
They, yes, they, are your lot.
You even poured out a drink offering to them,
and you offered up a grain offering.
Since you have done these things, should I spare you?
7 Upon a mountain, high and lofty, you spread out your bed.
Yes, you went up there to offer a sacrifice.
8 Behind the door and doorpost you placed your memorial.
Yes, you deserted me and uncovered yourself. [4] You climbed right into bed.
You made room for them in your bed.
You committed yourself to them.
You loved their bed.
You stared at their bodies. [5]
9 You traveled to deliver offerings of fragrant oil to the king, [6]
and you made many offerings of incense.
You sent your messengers to a distant land.
You sent them as far as hell. [7]
10 Because of the length of your journey, you became weary,
but you did not say, “It is hopeless!”
So you found new strength, and you did not faint.
11 But who is making you so anxious and so afraid that you
    practice deception?
You did not remember me
and did not keep me in your heart.
Is it because I have been silent for a long time
    that you do not fear me?
12 I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,
but they will not benefit you.
13 When you cry out for help,
let your collections of idols deliver you.
But the wind will blow them all away.
A breeze will take them away.
But the one who takes refuge in me will inherit the land.
He will possess my holy mountain.

14 I will say, [8]
“Build up, build up the highway.
Prepare the way.
Remove the stumbling block from the way of my people.”
15 Certainly this is what the High and Lofty One says,
the one who dwells with his people forever,
and whose name is holy:
    I dwell in a high and holy place,
    yet also with the one who is crushed and lowly in spirit,
    in order to revive the spirit of those who have been pushed down,
    and to revive the hearts of those who have been crushed.
16     Surely I will not accuse forever,
    and I will not always be angry,
    because every spirit would grow weak in my presence,
    and every breath of life, which I made, would fail.
17     Because of the guilt from their selfish gain, I was angry,
    and I struck them and hid my face.
    I was angry,
    but the deserter [9]  kept walking in the way his heart desired.
18     I saw his ways,
    but I will heal him, and I will lead him,
    and I will restore comfort to him
    and to all who mourn with him.
19     I am the one who creates praise as the fruit of their lips. [10]

Peace, peace to the one far off and to the one nearby,
says the Lord,
and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
    which is not able to rest.
Its waters toss up dirt and mud.
21 There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 57:1 Men of mercy are the recipients and dispensers of mercy.
  2. Isaiah 57:2 The alternation of singular and plural forms (he and they) in verses 1 and 2 is not unusual in Hebrew poetry. It does not necessarily refer to two different groups.
  3. Isaiah 57:4 EHV generally preserves the distinction between who and whom but recognizes that it is rapidly disappearing in speech.
  4. Isaiah 57:8 Or your bed
  5. Isaiah 57:8 The base meaning of the Hebrew word yad is hand, but here it seems to be a euphemism for genitals.
  6. Isaiah 57:9 Or Molek
  7. Isaiah 57:9 Hebrew sheol
  8. Isaiah 57:14 The translation follows the Latin. The Hebrew reads he will say. The two verb forms look alike in Hebrew script.
  9. Isaiah 57:17 Or apostate
  10. Isaiah 57:19 The line is difficult.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 20

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 20

Isaiah 55 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 20

Isaiah 55 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Come to the Water

Isaiah 55 

Hey, [1] all of you who are thirsty, come to the water,
even if you have no money!
Come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
2 Why do you spend money on something that is not bread?
Why do you waste your labor on something that does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good.
Satisfy your appetite with rich food.
3 Turn your ear toward me, and come to me.
Listen, so that you may continue to live.

The Creator’s Everlasting Covenant

Yes, I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
the faithful mercies promised to David.
4 Look, I appointed him as a witness for peoples,
a leader and commander of peoples.
5 Look, you will call out to a nation you do not know,
and a nation that does not know you will run to you,
on account of the Lord your God,
because of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found!
Call on him while he is near!
7 Let the wicked man abandon his way.
Let an evil man abandon his thoughts.
Let him turn to the Lord,
and he will show him mercy.
Let him turn to our God,
because he will abundantly pardon.

8 Certainly my plans are not your plans,
and your ways are not my ways, declares the Lord.
9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my plans are higher than your plans.

10 Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky
and do not return there
unless they first water the earth, make it give birth, and cause it to sprout,
so that it gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 in the same way my word that goes out from my mouth
    will not return to me empty.
Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please,
and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.

12 Yes, you will go out with joy,
and in peace you will be carried along.
The mountains and the hills will break out in shouts of joy before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 Instead of thorns, a fir tree will grow up.
Instead of briers, a myrtle tree will grow up.
This will make a name for the Lord.
It will serve as an everlasting sign that will not be cut off.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 55:1 English hey expresses the same urgency as the Hebrew hoi. It is the cry of the street vendor who is eager to sell.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 19

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 19

Isaiah 54 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 19

Isaiah 54 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Jerusalem Will Have Many Children

Isaiah 54 

You barren woman who never gave birth, shout for joy.
Burst forth with shouts of joy!
Cry aloud, you who have never been in labor,
because the deserted woman has more children
    than the woman who is married, says the Lord.
2 Make more room for your tent.
Tell them to stretch out the curtains of your dwelling.
Do not hold back!
Make your tent ropes longer.
Make your tent stakes stronger,
3 because you will spread out to the right and to the left.
Your offspring will take possession of nations,
and they will repopulate devastated cities.
4 Do not be afraid,
because you will not be put to shame.
Do not be worried,
because you will not be embarrassed.
You will forget the shame of your youth,
and you will never remember the disgrace of your widowhood,
5 because your Maker is your husband.
The Lord of Armies is his name.
Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
He is called the God of all the earth.
6 Though you are like an abandoned wife with a wounded spirit,
though you are like the wife from a man’s youth who has been rejected,
the Lord is calling you back, says your God.
7 For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great compassion I am gathering you.
8 In a flood of anger I hid my face from you for a moment,
but in everlasting mercy I will have compassion on you,
says your Redeemer, the Lord.
9 To me this is like the time of the waters of Noah.
As I swore that the waters of Noah will never again cover the earth,
so I am swearing that I will not be angry at you,
and I will not rebuke you.
10 For even if the mountains are removed,
and the hills are overthrown,
my mercy will not be removed from you,
and my covenant of peace will not be overthrown,
says the Lord, who is showing you mercy.
11 Watch me, you afflicted woman, storm-tossed and not comforted,
I will set your precious stones in black mortar [1]
and lay down sapphires as your foundation.
12 I will decorate your parapets with rubies,
your gates with sparkling stones,
and your city boundaries with precious gems. [2]
13 All your children will be taught by the Lord,
and the peace and prosperity of your children will be great.
14 In righteousness you will be established.
Oppression will be far from you, so you will not be afraid.
Terror will be far from you. It will never come near you.
15 If anyone attacks you, because of me he will accomplish nothing. [3]
Whoever launches an attack against you will fall before you.

16 See, I myself created the craftsman
    who blows on the charcoal in the fire
    to produce weapons for their task.
I myself have created a destroyer to cause devastation.
17 Every weapon formed against you will fail,
and you will condemn every tongue that rises up to judge you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.
Their righteousness is from me, declares the Lord.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 54:11 Literally antimony
  2. Isaiah 54:12 The identification of the gems in verses 11 and 12 is uncertain.
  3. Isaiah 54:15 Or it will not be because of me


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 18

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 18

Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 18

Bible reading based on Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Fourth Servant Song
The Lord’s

Servant Suffers for Straying Sheep

Isaiah 52

13 Look, my servant will succeed. [1]
He will rise. He will be lifted up. He will be highly exalted.
14 Just as many were appalled at him [2] —
his appearance was so disfigured that he did not look like a man,
and his form was disfigured more than any other person—
15 so he will sprinkle [3]  many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him,
because they will see something they had never been told before,
and they will understand something they had never heard before.

Isaiah 53 

Who has believed our report,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot [4]
and like a root from dry ground.
He had no attractiveness and no majesty.
When we saw him, nothing about his appearance made us desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man who knew grief,
who was well acquainted with suffering.
Like someone whom people cannot bear to look at,
he was despised,
and we thought nothing of him.

4 Surely he was taking up our weaknesses, [5]
and he was carrying our sufferings.
We thought it was because of God
    that he was stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
5 but it was because of our rebellion that he was pierced.
He was crushed for the guilt our sins deserved.
The punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all have gone astray like sheep.
Each of us has turned to his own way,
but the Lord has charged all our guilt to him.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb he was led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep [6]  that is silent in front of its shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8 He was taken away without a fair trial [7]  and without justice,
and of his generation, who even cared? [8]
So, he was cut off from the land of the living.
He was struck because of the rebellion of my people.
9 They would have assigned him a grave with the wicked,
but he was given a grave with the rich in his death,
because he had done no violence,
and no deceit was in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him
and to allow him to suffer.
Because you [9]  made his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring.

He will prolong his days,
and the Lord’s gracious plan will succeed in his hand.
11 After his soul experiences anguish, he will see the light of life. [10]
He will provide satisfaction. [11]
Through their knowledge of him, my just servant will justify the many,
for he himself carried their guilt. [12]
12 Therefore I will give him an allotment among the great, [13]
and with the strong he will share plunder,
because he poured out his life to death,
and he let himself be counted with rebellious sinners.
He himself carried the sin of many,
and he intercedes for the rebels.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 52:13 Or act wisely
  2. Isaiah 52:14 The translation follows some Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions. The main Hebrew reading is at you. Sudden shifts in person are not unusual in Hebrew poetry.
  3. Isaiah 52:15 Or startle
  4. Isaiah 53:2 A shoot or sucker is a plant that grows up from the stump where a tree has been cut down.
  5. Isaiah 53:4 Or sicknesses
  6. Isaiah 53:7 Or ewe
  7. Isaiah 53:8 Or protection
  8. Isaiah 53:8 Verse 8 is difficult, and translations and arrangements of the verse vary widely.
  9. Isaiah 53:10 The shift to the second person pronoun you must refer to God, who gives his Son as a sin offering.
  10. Isaiah 53:11 The words the light of life are not included in the standard Hebrew text but are in the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah.
  11. Isaiah 53:11 Or be satisfied. The understanding of this line depends on whether the subject is the Messiah, as is the case in all the other lines of this verse, or it is God the Father, who is satisfied by the Messiah’s suffering. The understanding of the verse also depends on whether the variant the light of life is included in the preceding line. Another factor is whether this line goes with what precedes or with what follows. What is clear is that the Messiah provides a full payment for sin (satisfaction), and the Lord is satisfied with that payment. What is uncertain is which of these two points is stressed by this verb.
  12. Isaiah 53:11 As in verse 5, the Hebrew term is plural and refers to the guilt deserved for sins.
  13. Isaiah 53:12 Or give him the many as his portion


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 17

/in

Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 17

Isaiah 51:17 – 52:12 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 17

Bible reading based on Isaiah 51:17 – 52:12 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath

Isaiah 51

17 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Get up, Jerusalem!
You have drunk the cup filled with the Lord’s wrath from his hand.
You drank it. You drained the chalice, the cup that makes you stagger.
18 There is no one to guide her from among all the sons she bore.
There is no one to take her hand from among all the sons she raised.
19 Those two things are happening to you.[1]

Who will grieve for you?
Devastation and destruction and famine and sword!
Who will comfort you? [2]
20 Your children faint and collapse at the corner of every street,
    like an antelope in a net.
They are full of the wrath of the Lord,
full of the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore hear this, you afflicted woman,
a woman drunk, but not from wine.
22 This is what the Lord God says,
your God, who will contend for his people.
    Look, I am taking the cup that makes you stagger out of your hand,
    the chalice, the cup filled with my wrath.
    Never again will you drink from it,
23  because I will place it into the hand of your tormentors,
    who have said to you,
    “Lie down so that we can walk over you.”
    You made your back like the ground
    and like the street for those who walked over you.

Freedom for Zion

Isaiah 52 

Wake, awake!
Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion.
Put on your beautiful garments,
Jerusalem, you holy city,
for never again will the uncircumcised
and the unclean enter you.
2 Shake off the dust.
Get up and take your seat, Jerusalem.
Loosen the chains from your neck,
you captive daughter of Zion.

3 Yes, this is what the Lord says.
You were sold for nothing,
and you will be redeemed without money.

4 Yes, this is what the Lord God says.
In the beginning, my people went down to Egypt to stay there
    for a while.
Later Assyria oppressed them without cause.

5 Now what do I have here? declares the Lord.
Indeed, my people have been taken away for nothing.
Their rulers howl with mockery, declares the Lord.
My name is continually despised all day.
6 Therefore my people will know my name.
So on that day they will know that I am the one—
the one who is saying, “Here I am!”

The Herald of the Gospel

7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of a herald,
    who proclaims peace and preaches good news,
    who proclaims salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God is king!”
8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voices.
Together they shout for joy,
because with both eyes they will see it
when the Lord returns to Zion.
9 Break out, shout for joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem,
because the Lord is comforting his people.
    He is redeeming Jerusalem.
10 The Lord lays bare 3  his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation from our God.

Get Away From Babylon

11 Get away! Get away! Get out of there!
Do not touch any unclean thing!
Go out from her midst.
Purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the Lord!
12 You will not be in a hurry when you go out.
You will not be fleeing when you walk out,
because the one who walks in front of you is the Lord,
and your rearguard is the God of Israel.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 51:19 It is uncertain whether this line goes with what precedes it or with what follows, but it seems to be preceded by two disasters and followed by four disasters.
  2. Isaiah 51:19 The translation follows the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and the ancient versions. The Hebrew reads how can I comfort you?
  3. Isaiah 52:10 Or flexes


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 16

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 16

Isaiah 50:4 – 51:16 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 16

Bible reading based on Isaiah 50:4 – 51:16 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Third Servant Song
The Lord’s Servant Is Vindicated

Isaiah 50

4 The Lord God gave me a tongue like the learned, an instructed tongue,
so I know how to sustain the weary with a word.
He wakes me up morning by morning.
He wakes up my ears so that I listen like the learned.
5 The Lord God opened my ear,
and I myself was not rebellious.
I did not turn back.
6 I submitted my back to those who beat me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard.
I did not hide my face from disgrace and from spit.
7 The Lord God will help me,
so I will not be disgraced.
Therefore I have made my face hard like flint.
I know that I will not be put to shame.
8 The one who will acquit me is near!
Who can accuse me?
Let us take our stand.
Who can pass judgment on me?
Let him approach me.
9 Look, the Lord God will help me.
Who then can declare me guilty?
Look, all of them will wear out like a garment.
A moth will consume them.

10 Who among you worships the Lord
and listens to the voice of his servant?
Anyone who walks in darkness
and who has no bright light—
let him trust in the name of the Lord,
and let him lean on his God.
11 Watch out, all of you who are lighting fires
    to arm yourselves with flaming arrows. [1] 
Go ahead, walk by the light of your fires
and by the flaming arrows you lit!
But from my hand you will receive this:
You will lie down in a place of torment.

The Creator Comforts His People

Isaiah 51 

Listen to me, you people who pursue righteousness,
you people who seek the Lord!
Look confidently to the rock from which you were hewn
and to the quarry from which you were cut.
2 Look confidently to Abraham your father,
and to Sarah, who gave birth to you.
Yes, when I called him, Abraham was only one person,
but I blessed him and multiplied him.
3 The Lord is certain to comfort Zion.
He will comfort all her ruins.
Certainly he will make her wilderness like Eden
and her wasteland like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.

4 Pay attention to me, O my people.
My nation, listen to me!
For the law [2]  will go out from me,
and I will establish my justice [3] as a light to the peoples.
5 My righteousness is near.
My salvation goes forth,
and my arms will bring justice to the peoples.
The seacoasts will wait for me.
They will have confidence in my arm.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens.
Look closely at the earth beneath,
because the heavens will vanish like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants will die like gnats. [4]
But my salvation will remain forever,
and my righteousness will never be abolished.
7 Listen to me, you people who know righteousness,
you people who have my law in your hearts.
Do not fear the insults of men,
and do not be discouraged by their abuse.
8 Because a moth will consume them like a garment,
and its worm will consume them like wool.
But my righteousness will remain forever,
and my salvation will last for all generations.

9 Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, you arm of the Lord!
Awake as in days of old,
as in generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut Rahab [5]  to pieces,
and who pierced the sea monster? [6] 
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,
    the waters of the great deep,
and who made a road through the depths of the sea
    for the redeemed to cross over?
11 Then those ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Zion with a joyful shout,
and everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Happiness and joy will overtake them.
Sorrow and sighing will flee away.

12 I, even I, am the one who comforts you.
Who are you, Zion, [7]  that you fear humans, who die,
or a child of Adam, who passes away like grass?
13 You have forgotten the Lord, your Creator,
who stretches out the heavens,
who makes the earth stand firm.
You tremble continually all day,
because of the rage of the oppressor,
who is preparing to destroy.
But where is the rage of the oppressor now?
14 The prisoner [8]  will soon be released.
He will not die and go to the pit,
and he will not lack bread.

15 I am the Lord your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar.
The Lord of Armies is his name!
16 I have placed my words in your mouth,
and with the shadow of my hand I have covered you—
I, who planted the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth,
I, who say to Zion, “You are my people.”



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 50:11 Or torches
  2. Isaiah 51:4 Or teaching. The word torah here refers to the whole word of God, including the gospel.
  3. Isaiah 51:4 Or just verdict
  4. Isaiah 51:6 Or in the same way
  5. Isaiah 51:9 Rahab is the name of a monster that sometimes represents the wild sea and sometimes hostile nations.
  6. Isaiah 51:9 Or dragon
  7. Isaiah 51:12 The pronouns are feminine, addressing Zion as a woman.
  8. Isaiah 51:14 The meaning of this term is uncertain.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 15

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 15

Isaiah 49:1 – 50:3 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 15

Bible reading based on Isaiah 49:1 – 50:3 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Second Servant Song
The Lord’s Servant Saves the Nations

Isaiah 49 

Listen to me, you coastlands.
Pay attention, you faraway peoples!
The Lord called me from the womb.
When I was inside my mother, he mentioned my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword.
He hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me a polished arrow.
He concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant Israel,
in whom I will display my glory.”

4 But I said to myself, “I have labored in vain.
I spent my strength and came up empty, with nothing.
Yet a just verdict for me rests with the Lord,
and my reward is with my God.”

5 But now the Lord,
who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to turn Jacob back to him,
so that Israel might be gathered to him,
so that I will be honored in the eyes of the Lord,
because my God has been my strength—
6 the Lord said:
It is too small a thing that you should just be my servant
    to raise up only the tribes of Jacob
    and to restore the ones I have preserved in Israel,
so I will appoint you to be a light for the nations,
so that my salvation will be known to the end of the earth.

7 This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, its Holy One,
says to the one deeply despised,
to the one who is detested by the nation,
to the servant of rulers.
    Kings will see and stand up.
    Officials will see and bow down,
    because of the Lord, who is faithful,
    because of the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.

8 This is what the Lord says.
In the time of favor, I will answer you.
In the day of salvation, I will help you.
I will guard you,
and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people,
to re-establish the land,
to redistribute inheritances that are now deserted,
9 to say to the prisoners, “Go forth!”
to those who are in the darkness, “Show yourselves!”
They will graze beside roads,
and they will find pasture on all the barren heights.
10 They will not hunger, and they will not thirst,
and neither scorching wind nor sun will strike them,
because the one who shows them mercy will lead them.
He will guide them beside springs of water.
11 I will make all my mountains into a smooth road,
and my highways will be raised up.
12 Look, people will come from far away.
Look, some will come from the north and the west,
and some from the land of Sinim.[1]
13 Shout for joy, O heavens,
and rejoice, O earth.
Let mountains burst forth with shouts of joy,
because the Lord is comforting his people,
and he is showing mercy to his afflicted ones.

The Faithful Few Are Not Forgotten

14 But Zion said, “The Lord has abandoned me.
The Lord has forgotten me.”

15 Can a woman forget her nursing child
and not show mercy to the son from her womb?
Even if these women could forget,
I will never forget you.
16 Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are never out of my sight.
17 Your children[2] are hurrying back.
Those who destroyed and devastated you will depart from you.
18 Lift up your eyes all around and see!
All of them are gathered. They are coming to you.
As surely as I live, declares the Lord,
all of them are like jewelry that you will put on.
You will wear them like a bride.

19 Though your land was wasted and desolate and devastated,
now it will be too small for its inhabitants.
Then those who are swallowing you will be far from you.
20 The children you lost will say this into your ears once again,
“The place is too small for me.
Make room for me so that I can settle there.”
21 Then you will say in your heart,
“Who has given birth to these for me?
I had lost my children and could have no more.
I was exiled and divorced.
So who raised these?
I was left all by myself.
Where did these come from?”

22 This is what God the Lord says.
Look, I will lift up my hand to nations,
and I will raise my signal flag for peoples.
Then they will bring your sons in their embrace,
and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
23 Then kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens will be your nursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground, they will bow down to you.
They will lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.
Those who wait hopefully for me will not be ashamed.

24 Can plunder be taken from a mighty man?
Can captives be rescued from a tyrant?[3]
25 This is what the Lord says.
Even from a mighty man captives can be taken,
and the victims of a tyrant can be rescued.
So I myself will contend with the one who contends with you,
and I myself will save your children.
26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh.
They will get drunk on the new wine of their own blood.
So all flesh will know that I am the Lord, your Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

Isaiah 50

1 This is what the Lord says.
So where are the divorce papers of your mother,
whom I sent away?
To which of my creditors did I sell you?
It was because of your guilt that you were sold.
Because of your rebellions, your mother was sent away.
2 When I came, why was no one there?
Why, when I called, was there no one who answered?
Is my arm really too short to redeem?
Do I not have enough power to rescue?
Yes! By my rebuke I can dry up the sea.
I can turn rivers into a wilderness,
so that their fish will stink from having no water,
and they will die of thirst.
3 I can clothe the heavens with blackness,
and I can cover them with sackcloth.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 49:12 Sinim, the reading of the Hebrew, may be a name for China. The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah reads Syene, a place in the southern part of Egypt.
  2. Isaiah 49:17 Hebrew variant your builders
  3. Isaiah 49:24 The translation follows the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and ancient versions. The Hebrew reads the righteous.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 14

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 14

Isaiah 48 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 14

Bible reading based on Isaiah 48 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Judgment Is Coming on Stubborn Israel

Isaiah 48 

1 Hear this, you house of Jacob,
you who call yourselves by the name of Israel,
who came forth from the waters of Judah,
who swear by the name of the Lord
and invoke the God of Israel,
but not in true righteousness.
2 Yes, they name themselves after the Holy City,
and they lean on the God of Israel—
the Lord of Armies is his name.
3 Things that took place long ago,
I announced before they happened.
From my mouth the announcement went out.
I made these things known.
Then suddenly I acted, and they came about.
4 I did this because I know that you are stubborn.
Your neck is as stiff as iron,
and your forehead is as hard as bronze.
5 I declared this to you long ago.
Before it came about, I announced it to you,
to prevent you from saying, “My false god did it.
My wooden idol and my metal image commanded it.”
6 You heard all this.
Now look at the facts.
Won’t you admit that I am right?

From now on I will also announce new things to you,
hidden things that you never knew.
7 These things are being created right now, not long ago.
You have not heard of them before today,
so you cannot say, “Oh, I already knew that!”
8 No, you have never heard them.
You certainly never knew them.
Your ear was not open, even back then.
Yes, I knew that you would be extremely unfaithful.
You were called a rebel before you were born.

9 For my name’s sake, I am slow to express my anger.
So that I will be praised, I will hold it back from you.
As a result, you are not cut off.

10 You see, I refined you, but not in the same way silver is refined.
I tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I will act.
Why should my name be defiled?
My glory I will not give to another.

12 Listen to me, Jacob.
Listen to me, Israel, whom I called.
I am he. I am the first.
I am also the last.
13 It was my hand that laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens.
I summon them and they stand together.
14 Gather together, all of you, and listen.
Who among them announced these things?

The Lord’s Servant Cyrus

The Lord loves him.
He will carry out his desire against Babylon,
and his arm is against Chaldea.
15 I, yes I, have spoken. I am the one who called him.
I have brought him, and his mission will succeed.
16 Come close to me and hear this.
From the beginning, I have not spoken in secret.
From the time it first existed, I was there.
And now God the Lord has sent me with his Spirit.

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 leads you in the way you should walk.
18 If only you would have listened carefully to my commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants [1] would have been like sand,
and the children from your body like grains of sand.
Their name would never have been cut off or destroyed
    from my presence.

20 Get out of Babylon. Flee from Chaldea.
With a joyful voice declare and announce this.
Send it out to the end of the earth.
Say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob.”
21 They did not suffer thirst in the desolate places
    through which he led them.
He made water flow for them from a rock.
He split open a rock, and water gushed out.

22 There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 48:19 Or your seed


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 13

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 13

Isaiah 46 & 47 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 13

Bible reading based on Isaiah 46 & 47 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Isaiah 46

Judgment Against the Idols of Babylon

1 Bel bows down. Nebo stoops.
Babylon’s idols are a heavy load, carried by animals and cattle.
They are dead weight for the tired animals that carry them.
2 The animals stoop. They bow down together.
They are not able to save their burdensome load.
They go into captivity.

3 Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all of you who are left from the house of Israel,
you who have been carried from birth,
you who have been lifted up from before you were born.
4     Until your old age, I am he,
    and until you have gray hair, I myself will hold you up.
    I myself made you, and I myself will lift you up.
    I myself will hold you up, and I will rescue you.

5 Whom can you set beside me as if we were equal?
Whom can you compare to me as if we were alike?
6 People pour out gold from a purse
and weigh out silver on a scale.
They hire a smith,
and he makes the metal into a god.
They bow down to it. They even worship it.
7 They lift it up. They carry it on their shoulders.
They set it up in its place, but it just stands there.
It cannot move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not answer.
It cannot save him from his distress.
8 Remember this, and stand firm.
You rebels, take this to heart!

9 Remember the former [1] things that took place long ago,
for I am God, and there is no other.
I am God, and there is no one like me.
10 I am the one who announces the final outcome already in the beginning.
I announce ahead of time things that have not yet been done.
I am the one who says, “My plan will stand,
and I will do everything I want to do.”
11 I am the one who calls a bird of prey from the east.
I call the man who fulfills my plan from a faraway land.
Yes, I have spoken. I will certainly bring it to pass.
I have formed a plan, and I will certainly carry it out.
12 Listen to me, you who have stubborn hearts,
you who are far from righteousness.
13 I will bring my righteousness near. It will not be far away.
I will bring my salvation near. It will not be delayed.
I will set up salvation in Zion,
and I will show my splendor to Israel.

Babylon’s Fall

Isaiah 47 

Go down and sit in the dust, you virgin daughter of Babylon.
Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans,
for you will never again be called delicate and pampered.
2 Take millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil. Strip off your skirt.
Expose your thighs. Wade through rivers.
3 Let your nakedness be exposed.
Let your shame be seen!
I will take vengeance.
I will not spare anyone.

4 Our Redeemer—the Lord of Armies is his name—is the Holy One of Israel.

5 Daughter of the Chaldeans, sit silently, and enter into the darkness,
for you will never again be called queen of the kingdoms.
6 I was angry with my people.
I defiled my heritage.
I gave them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy.
Even on the aged you made your yoke very heavy.
7 You said, “I will be a lady forever.”
You did not take these things to heart.
You did not remember how this will turn out.
8 But now hear this, you wanton lover of pleasure,
who sits securely,
who says in her heart,
“I am the one, and there is no one except me.
I will not live as a widow.
I will not experience the loss of children.”
9 But these two things will come upon you in an instant, in one day:
loss of children and widowhood.
They will come to you in full measure
in spite of your many magic spells,
in spite of the great power of your magic charms.

10 You felt secure in your wickedness.
You said, “No one sees me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray.
So you said in your heart, “I am the one,
and there is not another one beside me.”
11 But disaster will come upon you.
You do not know when it will come.
Calamity will fall upon you.
You will not be able to atone for it.
A devastating blow that you did not expect will come
    upon you suddenly.
12 Go ahead, stand secure in your magic charms
    and in your many magic spells,
    with which you have been laboring since your youth.
Perhaps you will be able to profit.
Perhaps you will be able to inspire terror.
13 You are worn out by all the advice you receive.
Let them stand up and save you—
those who make charts of the skies to practice astrology,
those who gaze at the stars to obtain omens,
those who predict what will happen to you on each new moon.
14 Look, they are nothing but stubble.
Fire consumes them.
They are not able to save themselves from the power of the flame.
There are no burning coals to warm their food. [2]
There is no firelight to sit in front of.
15 They can do nothing more for you—
those who have worn you out with all their dealings with you
    from your youth.
Each one wanders in his own direction.
There is no one left to save you.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 46:9 Or first
  2. Isaiah 47:14 The translation follows the standard Hebrew reading. The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and some ancient versions read to warm them up.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 12

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 12

Isaiah 44:24 – 45:25 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 12

Bible reading based on Isaiah 44:24 – 45:25 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Isaiah 44

24 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer,
the Lord who formed you from the womb, says.
    I am the Lord, the one who does all things,
    who stretched out the heavens by myself,
    who hammered out the earth.
    (Who was with me then?)
25     I frustrate the signs of the deceivers
    and make fools of the fortune tellers. [1]
    I overturn the wisdom of the wise
    and turn their knowledge into foolishness.

26 He is the one who fulfills the word of his servants,
who completes the plan announced by his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, “It will be inhabited,”
and about the cities of Judah, “They will be rebuilt,
and I will raise up their ruins.”
27 He is the one who says to the deep ocean, “Dry up,”
the one who says, “I will dry up your rivers.”
28 He is the one who says about Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
and he will complete everything I desire.”
He is the one who says about Jerusalem, “It will be rebuilt,”
and who says to the temple, “Your foundations will be laid.”

Cyrus the Lord’s Anointed Shepherd

Isaiah 45 

1 This is what the Lord says to his anointed one,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped,
    to subdue nations before him
    by stripping kings of their weapons,
    to open doors before him
    so that the gates cannot be shut.

2     I myself will go before you,
    and I will level high mountains. [2]
    I will break bronze doors into pieces,
    and I will cut through iron bars.
3     I will give you treasures hidden in darkness
    and riches concealed in secret places,
    so that you will acknowledge that I am the Lord,
    the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.
4     For the sake of my servant Jacob,
    for the sake of Israel my chosen one,
    I will call you by your name.
    I will give you an honored name, though you do not know me.
5     I am the Lord, and there is no other.
    Except for me, there is no god.
    I will equip you even though you do not know me,
6     so that people will know from the rising of the sun
            to the place where it sets
        that there is no one except me.
    I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7     I am the one who forms light and creates darkness,
    the one who makes peace and creates disaster.
    I am the Lord, the one who does all these things.

Coming Blessings

8 Shower down, you heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain down righteousness.
Let the earth open up,
so that salvation will produce fruit.
Let righteousness sprout up along with it.
I, the Lord, am creating this.

Arguing With the Lord

9 Woe to anyone who argues against the potter who formed him.
He is just a potsherd among the broken pieces of pottery on the ground.
Does clay say to its potter, “What are you making?
Your work looks like something made by a potter with no hands”?
10 Woe to anyone who says to his father, “What have you fathered?”
or to a woman, “What are you giving birth to?”

11 This is what the Lord says,
the Holy One of Israel, who formed Israel.
    Do you wish to question me concerning things to come?
    Will you give me orders about my children
    and about the work of my hands?
12     I myself made the earth,
    and I created Adam [3] upon it.
    With my hands I stretched out the heavens,
    and I commanded all their army.

Cyrus as the Lord’s Servant

13 I myself will arouse him in righteousness,
and I will make all his roads level for him.
He himself will rebuild my city.
He will set my exiles free—
but not for a price and not for a gift,
says the Lord of Armies.
14 This is what the Lord says.
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush
    and those tall Sabeans will cross over to you and become yours.
They will walk behind you and approach you in chains.
They will bow down to you and plead with you and say,
“Yes, God is with you, and there is no other.
There is no other God.”

The Hidden God Is Revealed

15 Indeed, you are a God who hides himself.
You are the God of Israel, the Savior.
16 They will be ashamed.
All of them will also be disgraced.
Together they will walk in humiliation—those experts at crafting images.
17 Israel will be saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation.
You will not be ashamed or disgraced for all eternity.

18 This is what the Lord says.
He created the heavens,
He is God!
He formed the earth and made it.
Yes, he established it!
He did not create it to remain empty. [4]
He formed it to be inhabited.

I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 I did not speak in secret,
or from someplace in a land of darkness.
I did not say to the descendants [5] of Jacob,
“Seek me in the midst of chaos.” [6]
I, the Lord, am speaking in righteousness.
I am declaring what is right.

20 Gather! Come! Draw near together,
you survivors from the nations.
They have no knowledge—
those who are lifting up their idols of wood
and praying to a god that cannot save.
21 Make an announcement and come close.
Let them consult together.
Who made this known ahead of time?
From time past who announced it?
Was it not I, the Lord?
There is no god except me,
a righteous God and Savior.
There is no one except me.
22 Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth,
because I am God,
and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by myself.
From my mouth a righteous word has gone out,
and it will not return unfulfilled.
Indeed, to me every knee will bow,
and every tongue will swear allegiance.
24 “Only in the Lord,” they will say of me,
“Only in the Lord is there true righteousness and strength.”
To him they will come and be ashamed—
all those who are angry at him.
25 In the Lord, all the descendants [7] of Israel will be justified.
They will be praised by him. [8]



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 44:25 Or omen readers
  2. Isaiah 45:2 The translation mountains follows the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and the Greek Old Testament. The word in the standard Hebrew text occurs only here. It may mean rough places or walls.
  3. Isaiah 45:12 Or mankind
  4. Isaiah 45:18 The same Hebrew word translated empty describes the first stage of creation in Genesis 1.
  5. Isaiah 45:19 Literally the seed
  6. Isaiah 45:19 The same Hebrew translated chaos describes the first stage of creation in Genesis 1.
  7. Isaiah 45:25 Or all the seed
  8. Isaiah 45:25 Or be confident in him or shine in glory


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 11

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 11

Isaiah 43:14 – 44:23 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 11

Bible reading based on Isaiah 43:14 – 44:23 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Isaiah 43

14 This is what the Lord says,
    the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
    For your sake I am taking action against Babylon,
    and I will bring down all the Chaldeans as refugees,
        in the ships over which they rejoiced.
15     I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    Israel’s Creator, your King.
16     This is what the Lord says,
    who makes a road through the sea
    and a path through mighty waters,
17     who brings out the chariot and the horses,
    the army and the strong warrior.
    They will all lie down together.
    They will not get up.
    They are extinguished.
    Like a wick they go out.

18     Do not remember the former [1] things.
    Do not keep thinking about ancient things.
19     Watch, I am about to do a new thing.
    Now it will spring up. Don’t you know about it?
    Indeed I will make a road in the wilderness.
    In the wasteland I will make rivers.
20     The wild animals, the jackals and ostriches, will honor me,
    because I am providing water in the wilderness,
    rivers in a parched wasteland,
    water for my chosen people to drink.
21     This people that I formed for myself will declare my praise.

22     But you have not called on me, O Jacob.
    Instead, you have become weary of me, O Israel.
23     You have not brought me sheep as your whole burnt offerings.
    You did not glorify me with your sacrifices.
    I did not make you serve me with a grain offering.
    I did not make you weary with demands for incense.
24     You did not purchase fragrant cane for me with silver
    or satisfy me with the fat from your sacrifices.
    Instead you have made me serve because of your sins.
    You have made me weary because of your guilt.
25     I, yes I, am he.
    I blot out your rebellious deeds for my own sake,
    and I will not remember your sins.
26     Refresh my memory.
    Let us review your case together.
    Present your defense so that you may be acquitted.
27     Your first father sinned,
    and your mediators rebelled against me.
28     Therefore I am repudiating the officials of the sanctuary,
    and I am giving Jacob over to complete destruction
    and Israel to insults. [2]

The Lord Comforts His People

Isaiah 44 

But now listen, O Jacob my servant,
O Israel, whom I have chosen.
2 This is what the Lord, your Maker, says,
the Lord who formed you from the womb, who will help you.
    Do not be afraid, my servant Jacob,

    Jeshurun, [3] whom I have chosen,
3     because I will pour out water upon a thirsty land,
    and streams of water upon dry ground.
    I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
    and my blessing on your descendants.
4     They will spring up like a tree in a grassy meadow, [4]
    like willows beside flowing streams.

5     One person will say, “I belong to the Lord.”
    Another will be called by the name of Jacob.
    Another will write on his hand, “Belonging to the Lord,”
    and he will take the name of Israel.

The Lord Confronts Idols

6 This is what the Lord, the King of Israel,
Israel’s Redeemer, the Lord of Armies, says.
    I am the first, and I am the last.
    Except for me, there is no god.
7     For who is like me? Let him declare it.
    Let him recite in order for me the things that took place
        since the time I established an ancient people.
    Or let them declare what is yet to come,
    and what is going to take place.

8     Do not tremble, and do not be frightened.
    Did I not announce this to you,
    and declare it already long ago?
    You are my witnesses.
    Is there any god except me?
    There is no other Rock. I am not aware of any other.
9     All those who form an idol are good for nothing.
    All the things which delight them provide no benefit.
    As for their witnesses—they do not see.
    They know nothing, so they will be ashamed.

10 Who is this who forms a god or casts a metal image that can provide no profit? 11 Look at him! All his associates will be ashamed. The craftsmen are merely men. Let them all gather themselves and take a stand. They will be terrified and ashamed together.

12 A blacksmith uses a cutting tool and makes an idol over hot coals. With hammers he shapes it. He makes it with his strong arm, but he becomes hungry and has no strength left. He does not drink water, and so he grows faint.

13 A woodworker stretches out a measuring line. He marks the lines with a stylus. He shapes the idol with chisels. He marks it with a compass. Then he carves it till it is shaped like a person, like a splendid man to inhabit a shrine.

14 He goes to cut down cedars for himself, or he chooses a holm tree [5] or an oak, and he lets it grow strong among the trees of a forest. Or he plants a cedar, and rain causes it to grow tall, 15 but it becomes fuel for a man to burn. He takes part of it to warm himself. He lights a fire to bake bread, and then from the rest he makes a god and worships it. He carves an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of it he burns in a fire—over that half he eats meat. He roasts meat and is satisfied. So he is warm and says, “Ah! I am warm. I see the light of the fire.” 17 Then from what is left he makes a god to serve as his idol. He bows down to it. He worships it, and he prays to it, “Save me, because you are my god.”

18 They are ignorant. They do not understand, because their eyes are plastered shut, [6] and they cannot see. Their hearts are unable to gain insight. 19 A person does not take this to heart, so he has no knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I burn in the fire, and I bake bread on its coals. I roast meat, and I eat. Should I make the rest of it into a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to a piece of wood?” 20 He is like a sheep grazing on ashes. A deceived mind leads him astray. He will not save his life, nor will he say, “Isn’t what I am holding in my right hand a fraud?”

Israel Will Be Restored

21 Remember these things, O Jacob, because you are my servant, Israel. I am forming you to be my servant. You, Israel, you will never be forgotten by me. [7] 22 I am blowing away your rebellious deeds like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, because I am redeeming you.

23 Shout for joy, you heavens, because of what the Lord is doing.
Make a joyful shout, you depths of the earth.
Burst forth with shouts of joy, you mountains,
you forest and every tree in it,
because the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
and in Israel he will display his beauty.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 43:18 Or first
  2. Isaiah 43:28 Or condemnation
  3. Isaiah 44:2 Jeshurun is another name for Israel. It means the upright one.
  4. Isaiah 44:4 The translation follows the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah and some other manuscripts. The standard Hebrew text reads spring up between the grass.
  5. Isaiah 44:14 Also called an evergreen oak
  6. Isaiah 44:18 Or he has blinded their eyes
  7. Isaiah 44:21 Or you must not forget me


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 10

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 10

Isaiah 42:1 – 43:13 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 10

Bible reading based on Isaiah 42:1 – 43:13 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Isaiah 42

The First Servant Song [1]

The Servant Is Called to Bring Justice

1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight.
I am placing my Spirit on him.
He will announce a just verdict [2] for the nations.

2 He will not cry out.
He will not raise his voice.
He will not make his voice heard in the street.
3 A bent reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not snuff out.
He will faithfully bring forth a just verdict.
4 He will not burn out, and he will not be broken
until he establishes justice on the earth.
The coastlands will wait for his law. [3]
5 This is what the true God says,
the Lord who creates the heavens and stretches them out,
who spreads out the earth
and everything that it produces,
who gives breath to the people on it
and life to those who walk on it.
6     I am the Lord.
    I have called you in righteousness.
    I will hold on to your hand,
    and I will guard you.
    I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people,
    to be a light for the nations,
7     to open the eyes of the blind,
    to bring the prisoners out from the dungeon,
    and to bring those who sit in darkness out of prison.

8     I am the Lord; that is my name.
    I will not give my glory to another,
    nor my praise to idols.
9     Look, the former things have taken place,
    and I am declaring new things.
    I am making them known to you before they spring forth.

Creation Rejoices

10 Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing his praise from the end of the earth,
you people who go down to the sea
    and everything that fills it,
you coastlands and those who inhabit them.
11 Let the wilderness and its towns lift up their voice,
along with the settlements where Kedar lives.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy.
Let them shout from the mountain tops.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord,
and let them declare his praise among the coastlands.
13 The Lord will set out like a hero.
Like a warrior, he will work himself into a frenzy.
He will shout. Yes, he will raise a war cry.
He will be heroic against his enemies.

The Lord Shouts

14 I have been silent for a long time.
I have kept still. I have restrained myself.
But now, like a woman giving birth, I will scream.
I will gasp and pant.
15 I will dry up mountains and hills.
I will make all their grass wither.
I will turn rivers into islands.
I will dry up pools.
16 I will lead the blind on a way they do not know.
Along paths they do not know I will direct them.
Ahead of them I will turn darkness into light
and rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will accomplish for them.
I will not abandon them.

17 They will be turned back and completely disgraced—
those who trust in an idol,
those who say to molten images, “You are our gods.”

But Israel Does Not Notice

18 You deaf ones, listen!
You blind ones, watch carefully so that you can see!
19 Who is as blind as my servant?
Who is as deaf as my messenger whom I sent?
Who is as blind as my associate, [4]
as blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 You, Israel, see many things, but you do not observe.
Israel opens his ears, but he does not hear.
21 Because of his own righteousness,
the Lord was pleased to make his law [5] great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted.
All of them are trapped in holes,
and they are hidden in prisons.
They have become plunder, and there is no rescuer.
They have become loot and no one says, “Give it back!”
23 Who among you will turn his ear toward this?
Who will pay attention and listen for the future?
24 Who gave up Jacob to looters
and Israel to plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned?
But they were not willing to walk in his ways,
and they did not listen to his law.
25 So he poured out wrath on them,
his anger, and the violence of battle.
It set them on fire all around, but they did not understand.
It burned in them, but they did not take it to heart.

The Lord’s New Act of Salvation

Isaiah 43 

1 But now this is what the Lord says,
the Lord who created you, O Jacob,
the Lord who formed you, O Israel.
    Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you.
    I have called you by name. You are mine.
2     When you cross through the waters, I will be with you.
    When you cross the rivers, they will not sweep you away.
    When you walk through fire, you will not be burned,
    and the flame will not set you on fire.

3     Because I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior,
    I gave Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4     Because you are precious and honored in my eyes,
    and I myself love you,
    I will give people in exchange for you,
    and peoples in exchange for your life.
5     Do not be afraid, because I am with you.
    From the east I will bring your offspring,
    and from the west I will gather you.
6     I will say to the north, “Give them back!”
    and to the south, “Do not hold them.”
    Bring my sons from far away
    and my daughters from the end of the earth—
7     everyone who is called by my name,
    everyone I created for my glory,
    everyone I formed,
    yes, everyone I have made.

8     Bring out the people who are blind, though they have eyes,
    and the people who are deaf, though they have ears.
9     Let all the nations be gathered together,
    and let peoples be assembled.
    Who among them has declared this?
    Who has made known to us the former things?
    Let them produce their witnesses to show that they were right,
    so that people can hear and say, “This is truth.”

10     You are my witnesses, declares the Lord.
    You are my servant, whom I have chosen,
    so that you may know me and believe in me,
    so that you will understand that I am he.
    Before me no god was formed,
    and after me there will not be another.
11     I, yes I, am the Lord,
    and apart from me there is no savior.
12     I myself declared it.
    I brought salvation, and I announced it.
    It was not some strange god among you.
    You are my witnesses, declares the Lord,
    and I am God.
13     Indeed, from the first day, I am he.
    There is no one who can deliver anyone from my hand.
    I act, and who can reverse it?



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 42:1 The Lord has many servants. Among his servants in Isaiah are Israel and Cyrus. In this collection of songs his Servant par excellance is Jesus the Messiah.
  2. Isaiah 42:1 Or bring forth justice
  3. Isaiah 42:4 Or teaching. Law here refers to the whole Word of God.
  4. Isaiah 42:19 Or my dedicated one or the one at peace with me. The meaning of this word is uncertain.
  5. Isaiah 42:21 Or teaching


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 9

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 9

Isaiah 41 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 9

Bible reading based on Isaiah 41 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Isaiah 41

A Summons to Judgment

1 Prepare to present your case to me, [1] you coastlands,
and let the peoples renew their strength.
Let them come near. Yes, let them say,
“We will gather together for the verdict.”

A Mystery Man Is Summoned From the East

2 Who has aroused this one from the east?
In righteousness he summons him to his feet.
He gives nations to him
and causes him to rule over kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like wind-driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes by safely.
His feet do not touch the ground. [2]
4 Who accomplished this and carried it out
by summoning generations from the beginning?

The Lord Controls History

I, the Lord, am the first,
and at the very end I will still be the one.
5 The coastlands see and fear.
The ends of the earth tremble.
They draw near. They come.

The Idol Makers Appear

6 Each one assists his neighbor,
and to his brother he says, “Be strong.”
7 The craftsman strengthens the refiner.
The one who flattens with the hammer
    strengthens the one who strikes the anvil.
Concerning the soldering he says, “It is good.”
He fastens it with nails so that it cannot be moved.

The Lord Is Your Defender

8 But you, O Israel, my servant,
O Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring [3] of Abraham, whom I love,
9 whom I have snatched from the ends of the earth,
whom I have called from its corners—
I have said to you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
10 Do not fear, for I am with you.
Do not be overwhelmed, [4] for I am your God.
I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you.
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11 Just watch, they will be ashamed and humiliated—
all those who are angry with you.
They will become nothing and perish—
those men who oppose you.
12 You will look for them, but you will not find them—
those men who contend against you.
They will become absolutely nothing, less than nothing—
those men who battle against you.
13 For I am the Lord your God.
I am the one who is holding on to your right hand.
I am the one who says to you, “Do not fear. I myself am helping you.”
14 Do not fear, you worm, Jacob, you few men of Israel. [5]
I myself am helping you, declares the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 Look, I am making you into a sharp, new threshing sledge
    with double-edged blades.
You will thresh mountains and crush them.
You will turn hills into chaff.
16 You will winnow them,
and a wind will lift them up.
A strong wind will scatter them.
But you, you will rejoice in the Lord.
In the Holy One of Israel you will be confident.
17 The afflicted and the poor seek water, but there is none.
Their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, I myself will answer them.
I, the God of Israel, will not leave them.
18 I will open rivers on the barren heights.
In the middle of valleys there will be springs.
I will turn the wilderness into a pool of water,
and the dry land will pour out water.
19 In the wilderness I will place cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees.
In the wasteland I will plant fir, maple, and pines together,
20 so that they may see and know,
and pay attention and perceive this all together,
    that the hand of the Lord has done this,
    and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

The Idols Are Placed on Trial

21 “Present your case,” says the Lord.
“Set forth your strongest points,” says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them present and declare to us what is going to occur.
What were the first things you predicted?
Tell us, so that we can ponder them,
so that we can know their outcome.
Or, announce to us the coming things.
23 Declare to us the things that are still coming in the distant future.
Then we will know that you are gods.
In fact, just do something, do anything—good or evil,
so that we may be overwhelmed and terrified together.
24 Look, you are less than nothing,
and your work is less than zero.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

The Man From the North

25 I have stirred up someone from the north,
and he is coming from the rising of the sun.
He will call upon my name.
He will walk over rulers as if they were mud,
the way a potter tramples clay.

26 Who declared this from the beginning so that we could know it,
and ahead of time so that we could say, “He is right”?
In fact, not one of them declares this.
In fact, not one of them makes this known.
In fact, no one hears you say anything.
27 I was first to announce to Zion, “Look, here they are,”
and I sent a herald of good news to Jerusalem.
28 When I looked, there was no one.
None of them could give advice,
even when I kept asking them to respond.
29 Look, all of them are useless.
Their works are nothing.
Their images are empty wind.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 41:1 Or be silent before me. The Hebrew root used here does often mean be silent, but the context seems to require a preparation for legal action. There is a Hebrew homonym that means fabricate. This meaning fits the context. The Greek Old Testament and the parallelism also support this meaning.
  2. Isaiah 41:3 Literally he does not enter a path with his feet. This seems to mean that he moves so fast that his feet don’t touch the ground, or that he goes in new paths where he has never gone before, or that he quickly gains new territory.
  3. Isaiah 41:8 Literally the seed
  4. Isaiah 41:10 Or dismayed
  5. Isaiah 41:14 Or you insect, Israel. The Isaiah Dead Sea Scroll reads dead ones.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 8

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 8

Isaiah 40 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 8

Bible reading based on Isaiah 40 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Isaiah 40

Overview of the Lord’s Plan

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her.
Her warfare [1] really is over.
Her guilt is fully paid for.
Yes, she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice is calling out:
In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord.
In the wasteland make a level [2] highway for our God.
4 Every valley will be raised up,
and every mountain and hill will be made low.
The rugged ground will become level,
and the rough places will become a plain.
5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all flesh together will see it.
    Yes, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
6 A voice was saying, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry out?”
    All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty [3] is like a wildflower in the countryside.
7     Grass withers, flowers fade,
    when the breath [4] of the Lord blows on them.
    Yes, the people are grass.
8     Grass withers, flowers fade,
    but the Word of our God endures forever.

9 Get up on a high mountain,
O Zion, you herald of good news.
Lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, you herald of good news.
Lift it up! Do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 Look, God the Lord will come with strength,
and his arm is ruling for him.
Look, his reward is with him.
The result of his work is in front of him.
11 Like a shepherd he will care for his flock.
With his arm he will gather the lambs.
He will lift them up on his lap.
He will gently lead the nursing mothers.

The Lord Is Beyond Compare

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?
Who marked off the heavens with the width of his hand?
Who scooped up the dust of the earth with a measuring cup?
Who weighed the mountains with a balance
and the hills with scales?

13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord?
Who can teach him anything or serve as his advisor?
14 Who was his advisor to give him insight?
Who taught him the path of justice?
Who taught him knowledge?
Who showed him the way to complete understanding?

15 Indeed, nations are like a drop in a bucket,
and they are treated like powder on a scale.
Look, he lifts up islands like dust!
16 Not even the forests of Lebanon could provide enough wood to burn,
and its animals are not enough for a whole burnt offering.
17 All the nations are nothing to him.
By him they are regarded as worthless,
as less than nothing.

18 So to whom will you compare God?
What image can you compare to him?
19 A craftsman casts the idol,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold.
He forges silver chains for it.
20 He chooses mulberry wood as an offering, [5]
wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skillful craftsman
    to erect an idol that will not fall over.

21 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood it from the founding of the earth?
22 He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth.
To him its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and he spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He is the one who reduces dignitaries to nothing.
He makes the judges of the world useless.
24 They have hardly been planted.
They have hardly been sown.
Their stem has hardly taken root in the earth.
Then he blows on them, and they dry up.
A driving storm carries them away like chaff.

25 To whom can you compare me as if we were equals?
says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and see who created these things.
See who brings out their army in great number
and calls them all by name.
Because of his great strength and mighty power,
not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you speak, O Jacob?
O Israel, why do you say,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and justice for me is ignored by my God”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the eternal God.
He is the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired, and he will not become weary.
No one can find a limit to his understanding.
29 He is the one who gives strength to the weak,
and he increases the strength of those who lack power.
30 Young men grow tired and become weary.
Even strong men stumble and fall.
31 But those who wait for the Lord will receive new strength.
They will lift up their wings and soar like eagles.
They will run and not become weary.
They will walk and not become tired.



Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 40:2 Or hard labor
  2. Isaiah 40:3 Or straight
  3. Isaiah 40:6 The Hebrew literally reads mercy or faithfulness.
  4. Isaiah 40:7 The word also means wind and Spirit.
  5. Isaiah 40:20 Or the poor person chooses wood as an offering


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 7

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 7

2 John & 3 John (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 7

Bible reading based on 2 John and 3 John (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

2 John

Greeting

The Elder,

To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—not only I, but also everyone who knows the truth— 2 because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever:

3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from [1] Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

Keep on Walking According to God’s Word

4 I was overjoyed to find out that some of your children are walking in the truth, in keeping with the command we received from the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing a new command to you, but the one we have had from the beginning—let us love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command: Just as you have heard from the beginning, keep on walking in it.

Beware of Deceivers

7 Many deceivers who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh have gone out into the world. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves so that you do not lose what we [2] have labored for but receive a full reward.

9 Anyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If someone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house. Do not even wish him well. 11 For the one who wishes him well shares in his wicked works.

Final Greetings

12 I have many things to write to you, but I did not want to do it with paper and ink. I hope instead to be with you and speak to you face to face so that our [3] joy may be made complete.

13 The children of your chosen sister greet you.

3 John

Greeting

The Elder,

To dear Gaius, whom I love in the truth:

Joy at Gaius’ Faithfulness and Cooperation in the Truth

2 Dear friend, I pray that you are doing well in every way and have good health, just as your soul is doing well. 3 Indeed, I was overjoyed when brothers [4] came and testified to your truthfulness because you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than when I hear that my children are walking in the truth.

5 Dear friend, you are being faithful in what you are doing for the brothers even though they are strangers. 6 They have testified before the church about your love. You will do well to send them off in a manner worthy of God. 7 They went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore, we have an obligation to support such men, so that we may be coworkers for the truth.

A Warning About Diotrephes

9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, does not welcome us. 10 For this reason, if I do come, I will call attention to what he is doing. He is disparaging us with wicked words, and he is not content with that. He also refuses to welcome the brothers. He even hinders and puts out of the church those who wish to welcome them.

11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is from God. The one who does what is evil has not seen God.

12 Demetrius has been endorsed by everyone, even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

Final Greeting

13 I had many things to write you, but I do not want to do it with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face.

15 Peace to you. Your friends here send their greetings to you. Greet our friends there by name.



Footnotes

  1. 2 John 1:3 Some witnesses to the text add the Lord. (“Witnesses to the text” mentioned in footnotes may include Greek manuscripts, lectionaries, translations, and quotations in the church fathers.)
  2. 2 John 1:8 Some witnesses to the text read you.
  3. 2 John 1:12 Some witnesses to the text read your
  4. 3 John 1:3 When context indicates it, the Greek word for brothers may refer to all fellow believers, male and female.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 6

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 6

1 John 5:4-21 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 6

Bible reading based on 1 John 5:4-21 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

1 John 5

4 because everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

6 This is the one who came by water and blood: Jesus Christ. He did not come by the water alone but by the water and by the blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 In fact, there are three that testify: [1] 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three are one.

9 If we accept the testimony of people, God’s testimony is even greater, because it is the testimony that God gave about his Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in him, but the one who does not believe has made God out to be a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God gave about his Son. 11 This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

14 This is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we also know that we receive the things we have asked from him.

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not result in death, he will ask, and God will give life—to those who commit sin that does not result in death. There is sin that results in death; I am not saying that he should ask about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, but there is sin that does not result in death.

18 We know that anyone who has been born of God does not go on sinning. But the one who was born of God protects him, [2] and the Evil One cannot take hold of him. 19 We know that we are from God and that the whole world lies in the grip of the Evil One. 20 We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

21 Dear children, guard yourselves from idols.



Footnotes

  1. 1 John 5:7 Only a very few late Greek witnesses to the text read testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth:
  2. 1 John 5:18 Some witnesses to the text read himself.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 5

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 5

1 John 4:7-5:3 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 5

Bible reading based on 1 John 4:7-5:3 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

1 John 4

God Is Love

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love has not known God, because God is love. 9 This is how God’s love for us was revealed: God has sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we may live through him. 10 This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us so much, we also should love one another.

12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love has been brought to its goal in us. 13 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God. 16 We also have come to know and trust the love that God has for us.

God is love. Whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. 17 In this way his love has been brought to its goal among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are just like Jesus. [1] 18 There is no fear in love, but complete love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who continues to be afraid has not been brought to the goal in love.

19 We love [2] because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For how can anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, [3] love God, whom he has not seen? 21 This then is the command we have from him: The one who loves God should also love his brother.

1 John 5

Faith, Love, and Obedience

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the God who has given birth [4] also loves one who has been born of him. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: that we keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,



Footnotes

  1. 1 John 4:17 Literally that one
  2. 1 John 4:19 A few witnesses to the text add God or him.
  3. 1 John 4:20 A few witnesses to the text read For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God.
  4. 1 John 5:1 Or everyone who loves the Father


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 4

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 4

1 John 3:11-4:6 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 4

Bible reading based on 1 John 3:11-4:6 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

1 John 3

Love One Another

11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: Love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the Evil One and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own works were evil, while those of his brother were righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,[1] if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have crossed over from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love[2] remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. 16 This is how we have come to know love: Jesus[3] laid down his life for us. And we also should lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 Whoever has worldly wealth and sees his brother in need but closes his heart against him—how can God’s love remain in him? 18 Dear children, let us love not only with word or with our tongue, but also in action and truth.

19 This is how we know that we are of the truth and how we will set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God. 22 We also receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight. 23 This then is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and that we love one another just as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps his commands remains in God[4] and God[5] in him. This is how we know that he remains in us: We know it from the Spirit, whom he has given to us.

John 4

Test the Spirits

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit who does not confess Jesus[6] is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and is already in the world. 4 You are from God, dear children, and you have overcome the false prophets,[7] because the one in you is greater than the one in the world. 5 They are from the world. That is why they speak from a worldly perspective and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we can distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.



Footnotes

  1. 1 John 3:13 When context indicates it, the Greek word for brothers may refer to all fellow believers, male and female.
  2. 1 John 3:14 Some witnesses to the text add his brother.
  3. 1 John 3:16 Literally that one
  4. 1 John 3:24 Literally him
  5. 1 John 3:24 Literally he
  6. 1 John 4:3 Some witnesses to the text read that Jesus has come in the flesh.
  7. 1 John 4:4 Literally them, referring to the false prophets of verse 1.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 3

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 3

1 John 2:28-3:10 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 3

Bible reading based on 1 John 2:28-3:10 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

1 John 2

28 So now, dear children, remain in him so that we may be confident when he appears and may be unashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, then you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

1 John 3

Love From the Father

1 See the kind of love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are! The world does not know us, because it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, we are children of God now, but what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he is revealed we will be like him, and we will see him as he really is. 3 Everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as Jesus [1] is pure.

4 Everyone who commits sin also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away our sins and in him there is no sin. 6 Anyone who remains in him does not sin. The person who keeps on sinning has not seen him or known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone deceive you. Whoever does what is right is righteous just as Jesus [2] is righteous. 8 The one who continues to sin is of the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. This is why the Son of God appeared: to destroy the works of the Devil. 9 Nobody who has been born of God continues to commit sin, because God’s seed remains in him. He cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how the children of God and the children of the Devil are obvious: Everyone who does not do what is right is not from God, along with everyone who does not love his brother.



Footnotes

  1. 1 John 3:3 Literally that one
  2. 1 John 3:7 Literally that one


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 2

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 2

1 John 2:3-27 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 2

Bible reading based on 1 John 2:3-27 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

1 John 2

3 This is how we know that we have known him: if we keep his commands. 4 The one who says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 If anyone keeps God’s word, the love of God is truly made complete in him. This is how we know that we are in him: 6 The one who says he remains in him should walk as Jesus[1] walked.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one that you have had since the beginning. The old command is the message you heard. 8 At the same time, the command I am writing is new—it is true in Jesus[2] and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10 The one who loves his brother remains in the light, and nothing causes him to stumble. 11 The one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 I am writing to you, dear children,
    because your sins have been forgiven because of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
    because you have overcome the Evil One.
14 I have written to you, little children,
    because you have known the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
    because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God remains in you,
    and you have overcome the Evil One.

Do Not Love the World

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, boasting about material possessions—is not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

Warning Against False Teachers

18 Dear children, it is the last hour. The Antichrist is coming, just as you have heard, and even now many antichrists have come. (This is how you know that it is the last hour.) 19 They went out from us, but they really were not part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. Instead they all showed that they were not part of us.

20 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.[3] 21 I did not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is a liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is an antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father. But the one who confesses the Son has the Father as well. 24 Let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and the Father. 25 And this is what he promised you: eternal life.

26 I have written these things to you about those who are misleading you. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you have no need for someone to teach you. Rather, since his anointing teaches you all things and since it is true and is no lie, remain in him, just as it has taught you.



Footnotes

  1. 1 John 2:6 Literally that one
  2. 1 John 2:8 Literally him
  3. 1 John 2:20 A few witnesses to the text read But all of you know that you have an anointing from the Holy One.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 1

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Through My Bible Yr 2 – January 1

1 John 1-2:2 (EHV)


Through My Bible – January 1

Bible reading based on 1 John 1-2:2 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

1 John 1

The Word of Life

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have observed and our hands have touched regarding the Word of Life— 2 the life appeared, and we have seen it. We testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We are proclaiming what we have seen and heard also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us. Our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We write these things to you so that our[1] joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

5 This is the message we heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him but still walk in darkness, we are lying and do not put the truth into practice. 7 But if we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ,[2] his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar, and his Word[3] is not in us.

1 John 2

1 My children, I write these things to you so that you will not sin. If anyone does sin, we have an Advocate before the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world.



Footnotes

  1. 1 John 1:4 Some witnesses to the text read your. (“Witnesses to the text” mentioned in footnotes may include Greek manuscripts, lectionaries, translations, and quotations in the church fathers.)
  2. 1 John 1:7 Some witnesses to the text omit Christ.
  3. 1 John 1:10 Or word. This term could refer to Jesus (Word) or God’s message (word).


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 1 – December 31

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Through My Bible Yr 1 – December 31

Isaiah 38-39 (NIV84)


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Through My Bible – December 31

Bible reading based on Isaiah 38-39 (NIV84)

See series: Through My Bible

Isaiah 38

Hezekiah’s Illness

1In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3“Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. 6And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.

7 ” ‘This is the LORD’s sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: 8I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’ ” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.

9A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

10 I said, “In the prime of my life
must I go through the gates of death [a]
and be robbed of the rest of my years?”

11 I said, “I will not again see the LORD,
the LORD, in the land of the living;
no longer will I look on mankind,
or be with those who now dwell in this world. [b]

12 Like a shepherd’s tent my house
has been pulled down and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled up my life,
and he has cut me off from the loom;
day and night you made an end of me.

13 I waited patiently till dawn,
but like a lion he broke all my bones;
day and night you made an end of me.

14 I cried like a swift or thrush,
I moaned like a mourning dove.
My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens.
I am troubled; O Lord, come to my aid!”

15 But what can I say?
He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.
I will walk humbly all my years
because of this anguish of my soul.

16 Lord, by such things men live;
and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
and let me live.

17 Surely it was for my benefit
that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me
from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins
behind your back.

18 For the grave [c] cannot praise you,
death cannot sing your praise;
those who go down to the pit
cannot hope for your faithfulness.

19 The living, the livingóthey praise you,
as I am doing today;
fathers tell their children
about your faithfulness.

20 The LORD will save me,
and we will sing with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
in the temple of the LORD.

21Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”

22Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the temple of the LORD ?”

Isaiah 39

Envoys From Babylon

1 At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. 2Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehousesóthe silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came to me from Babylon.”

4 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 7And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

8 “The word of the LORD you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.”



Footnotes:

  1. Isaiah 33:6 Or is a treasure from him
  2. Isaiah 33:8 Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text / the cities
  3. Isaiah 33:9 Or dries up
  4. Isaiah 34:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the LORD, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 5.
  5. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  6. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  7. Isaiah 34:11 The precise identification of these birds is uncertain.
  8. Isaiah 35:8 Or / the simple will not stray from it


Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.