Isaiah 40, John 5:25-6:71, Psalms 67 - 68

The Glory of Yahweh Will Be Revealed

40“^aComfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.²“^aSpeak to the heart of Jerusalem;And call out to her, that her ¹^,^bwarfare has been fulfilled,That her ²^,^ciniquity has been removed,That she has received from the hand of Yahweh^dDouble for all her sins.”³^aA voice ¹is calling,“^bPrepare the way for Yahweh in the wilderness;Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.⁴“Let every valley be lifted up,And every mountain and hill be made low;And let the rough ground become a plain,And the rugged terrain a broad valley;⁵¹Then the ^aglory of Yahweh will be revealed,And ^ball flesh will see it together;For the ^cmouth of Yahweh has spoken.”⁶A voice says, “Call out.”Then ¹he answered, “What shall I call out?”^aAll flesh is grass, and all its lovingkindness is like the flower of the field.⁷The ^agrass ¹withers, the flower fades,²When the ^bbreath of Yahweh blows upon it;Surely the people are grass.⁸The grass ¹withers, the flower fades,But ^athe word of our God stands forever.⁹Get yourself up on a ^ahigh mountain,O Zion, bearer of ^bgood news,Raise up your voice powerfully,O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;Raise it up, do not fear.Say to the ^ccities of Judah,“^dBehold your God!”¹⁰Behold, Lord Yahweh will come ^awith strength,With His ^barm ruling for Him.Behold, His ^creward is with HimAnd His recompense before Him.¹¹Like a shepherd He will ^ashepherd His flock;In His arm He will gather the lambsAnd carry them in His bosom;He will gently lead the nursing ewes.¹²Who has ^ameasured the ¹waters in the hollow of His hand,And ²encompassed the heavens by the ³span,And ⁴calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,And weighed the mountains in a balanceAnd the hills in a pair of scales?¹³^aWho has ¹encompassed the Spirit of Yahweh,Or as His ^bcounselor has informed Him?¹⁴^aWith whom did He take counsel and who ^bgave Him understanding?And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledgeAnd made Him know the way of understanding?¹⁵Behold, the ^anations are like a drop from a bucket,And are counted as a speck of ^bdust on the scales;Behold, He lifts up the coastlands like fine dust.¹⁶Even Lebanon is not enough to burn,Nor its ^abeasts enough for a burnt offering.¹⁷^aAll the nations are as nothing before Him;They are counted by Him as non-existent and utterly formless.¹⁸^aTo whom then will you liken God?Or what likeness will you compare with Him?¹⁹As for the ^agraven images, a craftsman casts it,A goldsmith ^bplates it with gold,And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.²⁰He who is too impoverished to make such a contributionChooses a ^atree that does not rot;He seeks out for himself a wise craftsmanTo ¹prepare a graven image that ^bwill not be shaken.²¹^aDo you not know? Have you not heard?Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?Have you not understood ^bfrom the foundations of the earth?²²It is He who ¹inhabits above the ²^,^acircle of the earth,And its inhabitants are like ^bgrasshoppers;It is He who ^cstretches out the heavens like a ^dcurtainAnd spreads them out like a ^etent to inhabit.²³It is He who reduces ^arulers to nothing,Who ^bmakes the ¹judges of the earth utterly formless.²⁴¹Scarcely have they been planted;²Scarcely have they been sown;³Scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,But He merely blows on them, and they ⁴wither,And the ^astorm carries them away like stubble.²⁵“^aTo whom then will you liken MeThat I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.²⁶^aLift up your eyes on highAnd see ^bwho has created these stars,The ^cOne who leads forth their host by number,He calls them all by name;Because of the ^dgreatness of His vigor and the ¹strength of His power,^eNot one of them is missing.²⁷^aWhy do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,“My way is ^bhidden from Yahweh,And the ^cjustice due me passes by ^dmy God”?²⁸^aDo you not know? Have you not heard?The ^bEverlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth,Does not become weary or tired.His understanding is ^cunsearchable.²⁹He gives power to the ^aweary,And to him who lacks vigor He ^bincreases might.³⁰Though ^ayouths grow weary and tired,And choice ^byoung men stumble badly,³¹Yet those who hope in YahwehWill ^again new power;They will ¹^,^bmount up with ²wings like eagles;They will run and not get tired;They will walk and not become weary.

Two Resurrections

²⁵“Truly, truly, I say to you, ^aan hour is coming and now is, when ^bthe dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who ^chear will live. ²⁶“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He ^agave to the Son also to have life in Himself; ²⁷and He gave Him authority to ^aexecute judgment, because He is ¹the Son of Man. ²⁸“Do not marvel at this; for ^aan hour is coming, in which ^ball who are in the tombs will hear His voice, ²⁹and will come forth; ^athose who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

³⁰“^aI can do nothing from Myself. As I hear, I judge; and ^bMy judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but ^cthe will of Him who sent Me.

³¹“^aIf I alone bear witness about Myself, My witness is not ¹true. ³²“There is ^aanother who bears witness about Me, and I know that the witness which He gives about Me is true.

Witnesses to Jesus: The Father and the Scriptures

³³“You have sent to John, and he ^ahas borne witness to the truth. ³⁴“But ^athe witness I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵“He was ^athe lamp that was burning and shining and you ^bwere willing to rejoice for ¹a while in his light. ³⁶“But the witness I have is greater than the witness of John; for ^athe works which the Father has given Me ^bto finish—the very works that I do—bear witness about Me, that the Father ^chas sent Me. ³⁷“And the Father who sent Me, ^aHe has borne witness about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. ³⁸“And you do not have ^aHis word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He ^bsent. ³⁹“¹^,^aYou search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is ^bthese that bear witness about Me; ⁴⁰and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. ⁴¹“^aI do not receive glory from men; ⁴²but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. ⁴³“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; ^aif another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴“How can you believe, when you ^areceive ¹glory from one another and you do not seek ^bthe ²glory that is from ^cthe only God? ⁴⁵“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; the one who accuses you is ^aMoses, in whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for ^ahe wrote about Me. ⁴⁷“But ^aif you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

6After these things ^aJesus went away to the other side of ^bthe Sea of Galilee (or ^cTiberias). ²Now a large crowd was following Him, because they were seeing the ¹^,^asigns which He was doing on those who were sick. ³Then ^aJesus went up on the mountain, and there He was sitting down with His disciples. ⁴Now ^athe Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *said to ^aPhilip, “Where should we buy bread, so that these people may eat?” ⁶And this He was saying to ^atest him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. ⁷^aPhilip answered Him, “^bTwo hundred ¹denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” ⁸One of His ^adisciples, ^bAndrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *said to Him, ⁹“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two ^afish, but what are these for so many people?” ¹⁰Jesus said, “Have the people ¹sit down.” Now there was ^amuch grass in the place. So the men ²sat down, in number about ^bfive thousand. ¹¹Jesus then took the loaves, and ^ahaving given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated; likewise also of the ^bfish, as much as they wanted. ¹²And when they were filled, He *said to His ^adisciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.” ¹³So they gathered them up, and filled twelve ^abaskets with pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. ¹⁴Therefore when the people saw the ¹sign which He had done, they were saying, “This is truly the ^aProphet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Sea

¹⁵So Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force ^ato make Him king, ^bwithdrew again to ^cthe mountain by Himself alone.

¹⁶Now when evening came, His ^adisciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷and after getting into a boat, they began to cross the sea ^ato Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸And the sea *was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹Then, when they had rowed about ¹twenty-five or thirty stadia, they *saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. ²⁰But He *said to them, ¹“It is I; ²^,^ado not be afraid.” ²¹So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

²²On the next day, ^athe crowd which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus ^bhad not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. ²³Other small boats came from ^aTiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the ^bLord ^chad given thanks. ²⁴So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and ^acame to Capernaum seeking Jesus. ²⁵And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “^aRabbi, when did You come here?”

I Am the Bread of Life

²⁶Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you ^aseek Me, not because you saw ^bsigns, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷“Do not ^awork for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to ^beternal life, which ^cthe Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, ^dset His seal.” ²⁸Therefore they said to Him, “What should we do, so that we may work the works of God?” ²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “This is ^athe work of God, that you believe in Him whom He ^bhas sent.” ³⁰So they said to Him, “^aWhat then do You do for a ^bsign so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? ³¹“^aOur fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘^bHe gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³²Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³“For the bread of God is ¹that which ^acomes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴Then they said to Him, “Lord, always ^agive us this bread.”

³⁵Jesus said to them, “^aI am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me ^bwill never thirst. ³⁶“But ^aI said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. ³⁷“^aAll that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. ³⁸“For ^aI have come down from heaven, ^bnot to do My own will, but ^cthe will of Him who ^dsent Me. ³⁹“Now this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of ^aall that He has given Me I ^blose nothing, but ^craise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who ^asees the Son and ^bbelieves in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will ^craise him up on the last day.”

Words to the Jews

⁴¹^aTherefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that ^bcame down from heaven.” ⁴²They were saying, “^aIs not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother ^bwe know? How does He now say, ‘^cI have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. ⁴⁴“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me ^adraws him; and I will ^braise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵“It is written ^ain the prophets, ‘^bAnd they shall all be ^ctaught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. ⁴⁶“^aNot that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes ^ahas eternal life. ⁴⁸“^aI am the bread of life. ⁴⁹“^aYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰“This is the bread which ^acomes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and ^bnot die. ⁵¹“^aI am the living bread that ^bcame down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, ^che will live forever; and also the bread which I will give ^dfor the life of the world is ^eMy flesh.”

⁵²^aThen the Jews ^bbegan to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” ⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of ^athe Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. ⁵⁴“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will ^araise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵“For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. ⁵⁶“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^aabides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷“As the ^aliving Father ^bsent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. ⁵⁸“This is the bread which ^acame down out of heaven, not as ^bthe fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread ^cwill live forever.”

Words to the Disciples

⁵⁹These things He said ^ain the synagogue as He taught ^bin Capernaum.

⁶⁰Therefore many of His ^adisciples, when they heard this said, “^bThis is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹But Jesus, ^aknowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling at this, said to them, “Does this ^bcause you to stumble? ⁶²“What then if you see ^athe Son of Man ^bascending to where He was before? ⁶³“^aThe Spirit is the One who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; ^bthe words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. ⁶⁴“But there are ^asome of you who do not believe.” For Jesus ^bknew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and ^cwho it was that would ¹betray Him. ⁶⁵And He was saying, “For this reason I have ^asaid to you, that no one can come to Me unless ^bit has been granted him from the Father.”

Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ

⁶⁶As a result of this many of His ^adisciples ¹^,^bwent away and were not walking with Him anymore. ⁶⁷So Jesus said to ^athe twelve, “Do you also want to go?” ⁶⁸^aSimon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^bwords of eternal life. ⁶⁹“And we have believed and have come to know that You are ^athe Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰Jesus answered them, “^aDid I Myself not choose you, ^bthe twelve, and yet one of you is ^ca devil?” ⁷¹Now He was speaking of Judas ^athe son of Simon Iscariot, for he, ^bone of ^cthe twelve, ¹was going to betray Him.

Cause Your Face to Shine upon Us

For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

God be gracious to us and ^abless us,And ^bcause His face to shine ¹upon us— ² Selah.²That ^aYour way may be known on the earth,^bYour salvation among all nations.³Let the ^apeoples praise You, O God;Let all the peoples praise You.⁴Let the ^anations be glad and sing for joy;For You will ^bjudge the peoples with uprightnessAnd ^clead the nations on the earth. Selah.⁵Let the ^apeoples praise You, O God;Let all the peoples praise You.⁶The ^aearth has yielded its produce;God, our God, ^bblesses us.⁷God blesses us,¹That ^aall the ends of the earth may fear Him.

Let God’s Enemies Be Scattered

For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song.

¹Let ^aGod arise, ²let His enemies be scattered,And ³let those who hate Him flee before Him.²As ^asmoke is driven away, so drive them away;As ^bwax melts before the fire,So let the ^cwicked perish before God.³But let the ^arighteous be glad; let them exult before God;And let them rejoice with gladness.⁴Sing to God, ^asing praises to His name;¹^,^bLift up a song for Him who ^crides through the deserts,Whose ^dname is ²Yah, and exult before Him.⁵A ^afather of the fatherless and a ^bjudge ¹for the widows,Is God in His ^choly habitation.⁶God ^acauses the lonely to inhabit a home;He ^bleads out the prisoners into prosperity,Only ^cthe rebellious dwell in a parched land.⁷O God, when You ^awent forth before Your people,When You ^bmarched through the wasteland, ¹ Selah.⁸The ^aearth quaked;The ^bheavens also dripped rain at the presence of God;¹^,^cSinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.⁹You ^acaused abundant rain to sprinkle down, O God;You established Your inheritance when it was ¹parched.¹⁰Your creatures inhabited it;You ^aestablished it in Your goodness for the poor, O God.¹¹The Lord gives the word;The ^awomen who proclaim the good news are a great host:¹²“^aKings of armies retreat, they retreat,And she who remains at home will ^bdivide the spoil!”¹³If you men lie down ^aamong the ¹sheepfolds,You all would be like the wings of a dove covered with silver,And its pinions with glistening gold.¹⁴When the Almighty ^adispersed the kings ¹there,It was snowing in ^bZalmon.¹⁵A ¹^,^amountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.¹⁶Why do you look with envy, O mountains with many peaks,At the mountain which God has ^aprized for His habitation?Surely ^bYahweh will dwell there forever.¹⁷The ^achariots of God are ¹myriads, ^bthousands upon thousands;²The Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness.¹⁸You have ^aascended on high, You have ^bled captive Your captives;You have received gifts among men,Even among the rebellious also, that Yah—God—may dwell there.¹⁹Blessed be the Lord, who daily ^abears our burden,^bThe God who is our salvation. Selah.²⁰God is to us a ^aGod of ¹salvation;And ^bto Yahweh the Lord belong escapes ²from death.²¹Surely God will ^acrush the head of His enemies,The hairy ¹skull of him who goes on in his guilty deeds.²²The Lord ¹said, “^aI will bring them back from Bashan.I will bring them back from the depths of the sea;²³That ¹^,^ayour foot may crush them in blood,The tongue of your ^bdogs may have its portion from your enemies.”²⁴They have seen ^aYour ¹procession, O God,The ²procession of my God, my King, ³^,^binto the sanctuary.²⁵The ^asingers went on, the musicians after them,¹In the midst of the ^bmaidens beating tambourines.²⁶^aBless God in the congregations,Yahweh, the ^bfountain of Israel.²⁷There is ^aBenjamin, the ¹youngest, ²having dominion over them,The princes of Judah in their throng,The princes of ^bZebulun, the princes of Naphtali.²⁸¹Your God has ^acommanded your strength;Show Yourself strong, O God, ^bwho has worked ²on our behalf.²⁹¹Because of Your temple at Jerusalem^aKings will bring gifts to You.³⁰Rebuke the ^abeast ¹in the reeds,The herd of ^bbulls with the calves of the peoples,Trampling under foot the pieces of silver;He has ^ccast out the peoples who delight in war.³¹Envoys will come out of ^aEgypt;¹^,^bEthiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.³²Sing to God, O ^akingdoms of the earth,^bSing praises to the Lord, Selah.³³To Him who ^arides upon the ¹^,^bhighest heavens, which are from ancient times;Behold, ^cHe gives forth His voice, a ^dvoice that is strong.³⁴^aAscribe strength to God;His majesty is over IsraelAnd ^bHis strength is in the ¹skies.³⁵¹O God, You are ^aawesome from Your ²sanctuary.The God of Israel Himself ^bgives strength and might to the people.^cBlessed be God!