Isaiah 41 - 42 - Legacy Standard Bible

Isaiah 41 - 42

Do Not Fear, for I Am with You

“Coastlands, listen to Me in silence,

And let the peoples gain new power;

Let them come forward, then let them speak;

Let us draw near together for judgment.

Who has awakened one from the east

Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet?

He gives up nations before him

And has dominion over kings.

He makes them like dust with his sword,

As the wind‑driven chaff with his bow.

He pursues them, passing on in peace,

By a way he had not come with his feet.

Who has worked and done it,

Calling forth the generations from the beginning?

‘I, Yahweh, am the first; and with the last, I am He.’”

The coastlands have seen and are afraid;

The ends of the earth tremble;

They have drawn near and have come.

Each one helps his neighbor

And says to his brother, “Be strong!”

So the craftsman strengthens the smelter,

And he who smooths metal with the hammer strengthens him who beats the anvil,

Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;

And he strengthens it with nails,

So that it will not be shaken.

“But you, Israel, My servant,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

Seed of Abraham My friend,

You whom I have strongly taken hold of from the ends of the earth,

And called from its remotest parts

And said to you, ‘You are My servant,

I have chosen you and not rejected you.

Do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

I will make you mighty, surely I will help you;

Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;

Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,

Those who war with you will be as nothing and non‑existent.

For I am Yahweh your God, who strongly takes hold of your right hand,

Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;

I will help you,” declares Yahweh, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;

You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them,

And will make the hills like chaff.

You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,

And the storm will scatter them;

But you will rejoice in Yahweh;

You will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

“The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,

And their tongue is parched with thirst;

I, Yahweh, will answer them Myself,

As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.

I will open rivers on the bare heights

And springs in the midst of the valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water

And the dry land fountains of water.

I will put the cedar in the wilderness,

The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree;

I will place the juniper in the desert

Together with the box tree and the cypress,

That they may see and know,

And establish and gain insight as well,

That the hand of Yahweh has done this,

And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

“Bring near your case,” Yahweh says.

“Bring forward your mighty arguments,”

The King of Jacob says.

Let them bring it forth and declare to us what is going to take place;

As for the former events, declare what they were,

That we may establish our heart on them and know their outcome.

Or cause us to hear of what is coming;

Declare the things that are to come afterward,

That we may know that you are gods;

Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.

Behold, you are nothing,

And your work is non‑existent;

He who chooses you is an abomination.

“I have awakened one from the north, and he has come;

From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;

And he will come upon officials as upon mortar,

Even as the potter treads clay.”

Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know?

Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?

Surely there was no one who declared;

Surely there was no one who caused those words to be heard;

Surely there was no one who heard your words.

“Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’

And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’

But I look, and there is no one,

And there is no counselor among them

Who, if I ask, can respond with a word.

Behold, all of them are false;

Their works are non‑existent;

Their molten images are wind and utter formlessness.

Yahweh’s Chosen Servant

“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;

My chosen one in whom My soul is well‑pleased.

I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry out or raise His voice,

Nor make His voice heard in the street.

A crushed reed He will not break

And a faintly burning wick He will not extinguish;

He will bring forth justice in truth.

He will not be faint or crushed

Until He has established justice in the earth;

And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

5 Thus says the God, Yahweh,

Who created the heavens and stretched them out,

Who spread out the earth and its offspring,

Who gives breath to the people on it

And spirit to those who walk in it,

“I am Yahweh, I have called You in righteousness;

I will also take hold of You by the hand and guard You,

And I will give You as a covenant to the people,

As a light to the nations,

To open blind eyes,

To bring out prisoners from the dungeon

And those who inhabit darkness from the prison.

I am Yahweh, that is My name;

I will not give My glory to another,

Nor My praise to graven images.

Behold, the former things have come to pass;

Now I declare new things;

Before they spring forth I cause you to hear them.”

Sing to Yahweh a new song,

Sing His praise from the end of the earth!

You who go down to the sea, as well as its fullness.

You coastlands, and those who inhabit them.

Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,

The villages where Kedar inhabits.

Let the inhabitants of Sela sing aloud,

Let them shout for joy from the tops of the mountains.

Let them give glory to Yahweh

And declare His praise in the coastlands.

Yahweh will go forth like a warrior;

He will awaken His zeal like a man of war.

He will make a loud shout, indeed, He will raise a war cry.

He will prevail against His enemies.

Israel’s Blindness and Deafness

“I have kept silent for a long time;

I have kept still and restrained Myself.

Now like a woman in labor I will groan;

I will both gasp and pant.

I will lay waste the mountains and hills

And dry up all their vegetation;

I will make the rivers into coastlands

And dry up the pools of waters.

I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,

In paths they do not know I will guide them.

I will make darkness into light before them

And rugged places into plains.

These are the things I will do,

And I will not forsake them.”

They will be turned back and be utterly put to shame,

Who trust in graven images,

Who say to molten images,

“You are our gods.”

Hear, you deaf!

And look, you blind, that you may see.

Who is blind but My servant,

Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send?

Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me,

Or so blind as the servant of Yahweh?

You have seen many things, but you do not keep them;

Your ears are open, but none hears.

Yahweh was pleased for His righteousness’ sake

That He make the law great and majestic.

But this is a people plundered and pillaged as spoil;

All of them are trapped in caves,

Or are hidden away in prisons;

They have become a plunder with none to deliver them,

And a spoil, with none to say, “Have them return!”

Who among you will give ear to this?

Who will give heed and hear hereafter?

Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers?

Was it not Yahweh, against whom we have sinned,

And in whose ways they were not willing to walk,

And whose law they did not obey?

So He poured out on him the heat of His anger

And the fierceness of battle;

And it set him aflame all around,

Yet he did not know it;

And it burned him, but he did not set it upon his heart.

John 7:1 - 8:11

Jesus Teaches at the Feast of Booths

And after these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. 2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. 3 Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself publicly to the world.” 5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him. 6 So Jesus *said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I bear witness about it, that its deeds are evil. 8 Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not yet going up to this feast because My time has not yet been fulfilled.” 9 Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. 10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as in secret. 11 So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and saying, “Where is He?” 12 And there was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the crowd astray.” 13 Yet no one was speaking openly about Him for fear of the Jews. 14 But when it was now the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. 15 The Jews then were marveling, saying, “How has this man become learned, not having been educated?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but from Him who sent Me. 17 If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God or I speak from Myself. 18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. 19 “Did not Moses give you the Law? And yet none of you does the Law. Why do you seek to kill Me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. 22 For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” 25 So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26 And look, He is speaking openly, and they are saying nothing to Him. Do the rulers truly know that this is the Christ? 27 However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.” 28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” 30 So they were seeking to seize Him; yet no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than this man did?” 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. 33 Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? Is He intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?” 37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were going to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division of People over Jesus

40 Some of the crowd therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This truly is the Prophet.” 41 Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “No, for is the Christ going to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. 44 Some of them were wanting to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him. 45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” 46 The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken like this!” 47 The Pharisees then answered them, “Have you also been led astray? 48 Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus (he who came to Him before), being one of them, *said to them, 51 “Does our Law judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing?” 52 They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” 53 [Everyone went to his home.

An Adulteress Forgiven

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, 4 they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” 6 They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have evidence to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. 10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go, and from now on sin no more.”]

Psalm 69 - 70

Save Me, O God

For the choir director. According to Shoshannim. Of David.

Save me, O God,

For the waters have threatened my life.

I have sunk in deep clay, and there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.

I am weary with my calling out; my throat is parched;

My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head;

Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies;

What I did not steal, I then have to restore.

O God, it is You who knows my folly,

And all my guilt is not hidden from You.

May those who hope for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord Yahweh of hosts;

May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,

Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;

Dishonor has covered my face.

I have become estranged from my brothers

And a foreigner to my mother’s sons.

For zeal for Your house has consumed me,

And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

When I wept in my soul with fasting,

It became my reproach.

When I made sackcloth my clothing,

I became a byword to them.

Those who dwell at the gate moan about me,

And I am the drunkards’ songs.

But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Yahweh, at an acceptable time;

O God, in the abundance of Your lovingkindness,

Answer me with the truth of Your salvation.

Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink;

May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters.

May the flood of water not overflow me

Nor the deep swallow me up,

Nor the pit shut its mouth on me.

Answer me, O Yahweh, for Your lovingkindness is good;

According to the abundance of Your compassion, turn to me,

And do not hide Your face from Your slave,

For I am in distress; answer me quickly.

Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it;

Ransom me because of my enemies!

You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor;

All my adversaries are before You.

Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick.

And I hoped for sympathy, but there was none,

And for comforters, but I found none.

They also gave me gall for my food

And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

May their table before them become a snare;

And when they are in peace, may it become a trap.

May their eyes darken so that they cannot see,

And make their loins quake continually.

Pour out Your indignation on them,

And may Your burning anger overtake them.

May their camp be desolate;

May none dwell in their tents.

For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have struck down,

And they recount the pain of those whom You have wounded.

Add iniquity to their iniquity,

And may they not come into Your righteousness.

May they be blotted out of the book of life

And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

But I am afflicted and in pain;

May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high.

I will praise the name of God with song

And magnify Him with thanksgiving.

And this will please Yahweh better than an ox

Or a young bull with horns and hoofs.

The humble see it and are glad;

You who seek God, let your heart revive.

For Yahweh hears the needy

And does not despise His who are prisoners.

Let heaven and earth praise Him,

The seas and everything that moves in them.

For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah,

That they may dwell there and possess it.

The seed of His slaves will inherit it,

And those who love His name will dwell in it.

O Yahweh, Do Not Delay

For the choir director. Of David. To bring to remembrance.

O God, hasten to deliver me;

O Yahweh, hasten to my help!

Let those be ashamed and humiliated

Who seek my life;

Let those be turned back and dishonored

Who delight in evil against me.

Let those turn back because of their shame

Who say, “Aha, aha!”

Let those be joyful and glad in You

All who seek You

And let them say continually,

“Let God be magnified,”

Those who love Your salvation.

But I am afflicted and needy;

Hasten to me, O God!

You are my help and my protector;

O Yahweh, do not delay.