Isaiah 43 - 44, John 8:12-9:41, Psalm 71

The Redemption of Israel

43But now, thus says Yahweh, your ^aCreator, O Jacob,And He who ^bformed you, O Israel,“Do not ^cfear, for I have ^dredeemed you;I have ^ecalled you by name; you are ^fMine!²“When you ^apass through the waters, ^bI will be with you;And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.When you ^cwalk through the fire, you will not be scorched,Nor will the flame burn you.³“For ^aI am Yahweh your God,The Holy One of Israel, your ^bSavior;I have given Egypt as your ransom,¹^,^cEthiopia and Seba in your place.⁴“Since you are ^aprecious in My sight,Since you are ^bhonored and I ^clove you,I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.⁵“Do not fear, for ^aI am with you;I will bring ^byour seed from the east,And ^cgather you from the west.⁶“I will say to the ^anorth, ‘Give them up!’And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’Bring My ^bsons from afarAnd My daughters from the ^cends of the earth,⁷Everyone who is ^acalled by My name,And whom I have ^bcreated for My ^cglory,^dWhom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

Israel Is Yahweh’s Witness

⁸Bring out the people who are ^ablind, even though they have eyes,And the deaf, even though they have ears.⁹All the nations have ^agathered togetherSo that the peoples may be assembled.Who among them can ^bdeclare thisAnd make us hear the former things?Let them present ^ctheir witnesses ^dthat they may be justified,Or let them hear and say, “It is true.”¹⁰“You are ^aMy witnesses,” declares Yahweh,“And ^bMy servant whom I have chosen,So that you may know and believe MeAnd understand that ^cI am He.^dBefore Me there was no god formed,And there will be none after Me.¹¹“I, even I, am Yahweh,And there is no ^asavior ^bbesides Me.¹²“It is I who have declared and saved and caused it to be heard,And there was no ^astrange god among you;So you are My witnesses,” declares Yahweh,“And I am God.¹³“Even ¹^,^afrom eternity ^bI am He,And there is ^cnone who can deliver out of My hand;^dI act and who can reverse it?”

Rivers in the Wasteland

¹⁴Thus says Yahweh your ^aRedeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “For your sake I have sent to Babylon,And will bring down those who fled—all of them,¹Even the ^bChaldeans—into the ^cships ²in which they shouted for joy.

¹⁵“I am Yahweh, your Holy One,^aThe Creator of Israel, your ^bKing.”

¹⁶Thus says Yahweh, Who ^amakes a way through the seaAnd a path through the mighty waters,

¹⁷Who brings forth the ^achariot and the horse,The military force and the mighty man;They will lie down together and not rise again;They have been ^bextinguished and quenched like a wick:¹⁸“^aDo not remember the former things,Nor carefully consider things of the past.¹⁹“Behold, I will do something ^anew;Now it will spring forth;Will you not know it?I will even ^bmake a roadway in the wilderness,Rivers in the wasteland.²⁰“The beasts of the field will glorify Me,The ^ajackals and the ostriches,Because I have ^bgiven waters in the wildernessAnd rivers in the wasteland,To give drink to My chosen people.²¹“The people whom ^aI formed for Myself^bWill recount My praise.²²“Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;But you have become ^aweary of Me, O Israel.²³“You have ^anot brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings,Nor have you ^bglorified Me with your sacrifices.I have not ^cburdened you with ¹offerings,Nor wearied you with ^dfrankincense.²⁴“You have not bought Me ¹^,^asweet cane with money,Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices;Rather you have burdened Me with your sins;You have ^bwearied Me with your iniquities.²⁵“I, even I, am the one who ^awipes out your transgressions ^bfor My own sake,And I will ^cnot remember your sins.²⁶“¹Bring Me to remembrance, ^alet us enter into judgment together;Recount your cause, ^bthat you may be proved right.²⁷“Your ^afirst father sinned,And your ¹^,^bspokesmen have ²transgressed against Me.²⁸“So I will ¹profane the ²princes of the sanctuary,And I will give Jacob to be ^adevoted to destruction and Israel to ^brevilement.

No God Besides Yahweh

44“But now hear, O Jacob, My ^aservant,And Israel, whom I have chosen:²Thus says Yahweh who made youAnd ^aformed you from the womb, who ^bwill help you,‘^cDo not fear, O Jacob My servant,And you ^dJeshurun whom I have chosen.³‘For ^aI will pour out water on ¹the thirsty groundAnd streams on the dry land;I will ^bpour out My Spirit on your ^cseedAnd My blessing on your offspring;⁴And they will spring up ¹among the grassLike ^apoplars by streams of water.’⁵“This one will say, ‘I am Yahweh’s’;And this one ¹will call on the name of Jacob;And this one will ^awrite ²on his hand, ‘Belonging to Yahweh,’And will name Israel’s name with honor.

⁶“Thus says Yahweh, the ^aKing of Israel and his ^bRedeemer, Yahweh of hosts: ‘I am the ^cfirst, and I am the last,And there is no God ^dbesides Me.

⁷‘Who is like Me? ^aLet him call out and declare it;And let him tell it to Me in order,¹From the time that I established the ancient ²people.And let them declare to them the things that are to comeAnd the events that are going to take place.⁸‘Do not be in dread and do not be afraid;^aHave I not long since caused it to be heard to you and declared it?And ^byou are My witnesses.Is there any God ^cbesides Me,Or is there any other ^dRock?I know of none.’”

The Futility of Idolatry

⁹Those who form ¹a graven image are all of them ²futile, and their desirable things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be ^aput to shame. ¹⁰Who has formed a god or cast a graven image to ^ano profit? ¹¹Behold, all his companions will be ^aput to shame. The craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them be in dread, let them together be put to shame.

¹²The ^aman crafts iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, ¹forming it with hammers and working it with his powerful arm. He also gets hungry and has no power; he drinks no water and becomes weary. ¹³^aAnother crafts wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with ¹a stylus. He makes it with planes and outlines it with a compass and makes it like the form of a man, like the glory of ^bman, so that it may sit in a ^chouse. ¹⁴In order to cut cedars for himself, he takes a ¹cypress or an oak and ²raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also kindles a fire to bake bread. He also ^aworks to produce a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and ^bfalls down before it. ¹⁶Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm; I have seen the fire.” ¹⁷But the rest of it he ^amakes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also ^bprays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”

¹⁸They do not ^aknow, nor do they understand, for He has ^bsmeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they will have no insight. ¹⁹No one causes this to return to his heart, nor is there ^aknowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then ¹I make the rest of it into an ^babomination; ²I fall down before a block of wood!” ²⁰He ¹^,^afeeds on ashes; a ^bdeceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver his soul, and he cannot say, “^cIs there not a lie in my right hand?”

Yahweh Forgives and Redeems

²¹“^aRemember these things, O Jacob,And Israel, for you are ^bMy servant;I have formed you, you are My servant;O Israel, you will ^cnot be forgotten by Me.²²“I have ^awiped out your transgressions like a thick cloudAnd your sins like a cloud.^bReturn to Me, for I have ^credeemed you.”²³^aShout for joy, O heavens, for Yahweh has done it!Make a loud shout, you lower parts of the earth;^bBreak forth into a shout of joy, you mountains,O forest, and every tree in it;For ^cYahweh has redeemed JacobAnd in Israel He ^dshows forth His beautiful glory.

²⁴Thus says Yahweh, your ^aRedeemer, and the one who ^bformed you from the womb, “I, Yahweh, am the maker of all things,^cStretching out the heavens by MyselfAnd spreading out the earth ¹all alone,

²⁵^aCausing the ¹omens of boasters to be annulled,And ²making fools out of diviners,^bCausing wise men to turn back,And ³making foolishness out of their knowledge,²⁶^aConfirming the word of His servant—And the counsel of His messengers He will complete—And being the One who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’And of the ^bcities of Judah, ‘^cThey shall be built.’And I will raise up her waste places again.²⁷“It is I who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’And I will make your rivers ^adry.²⁸“It is I who says of ^aCyrus, ‘He is My shepherd!And all My good pleasure he will complete.’And saying of Jerusalem, ‘^bShe will be built,’And of the temple, ‘¹Your foundation will be laid.’”

I Am the Light of the World

¹²Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “^aI am the Light of the world; ^bhe who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” ¹³So the Pharisees said to Him, “^aYou are bearing witness about Yourself; Your witness is not ¹true.” ¹⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “^aEven if I bear witness about Myself, My witness is ¹true, for I know ^bwhere I came from and where I am going; but ^cyou do not know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵“^aYou judge ¹according to the flesh; ^bI am not judging anyone. ¹⁶“But even ^aif I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷“Even in ^ayour law it has been written that the witness of ^btwo men is ¹true. ¹⁸“I am He who bears witness about Myself, and ^athe Father who sent Me bears witness about Me.” ¹⁹So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; ^aif you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” ²⁰These words He spoke in ^athe treasury, as ^bHe was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because ^cHis hour had not yet come.

²¹Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and ^ayou will seek Me, and ^bwill die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²²So ^athe Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, since He says, ‘^bWhere I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³And He was saying to them, “^aYou are from below, I am from above. ^bYou are of this world, ^cI am not of this world. ²⁴“Therefore I said to you that you ^awill die in your sins. For unless you believe that ¹^,^bI am He, ^cyou will die in your sins.” ²⁵So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “¹What have I been saying to you from the beginning? ²⁶“I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but ^aHe who sent Me is true; and ^bthe things which I heard from Him, these I am saying to the world.” ²⁷They did not know that He had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said, “When you ^alift up the Son of Man, then you will know that ¹^,^bI am He, and ^cI do nothing from Myself, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. ²⁹“And He who sent Me is with Me; ^aHe ¹has not left Me alone, for ^bI always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” ³⁰As He was speaking these things, ^amany believed in Him.

The Son Will Make You Free

³¹So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “^aIf you abide in My word, then you are truly My ^bdisciples; ³²and ^ayou will know the truth, and ^bthe truth will make you free.” ³³They answered Him, “^aWe are Abraham’s seed and have never yet been enslaved to anyone. How is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^aeveryone who commits sin is the slave of sin. ³⁵“^aAnd the slave does not remain in the house forever; ^bthe son does remain forever. ³⁶“So if the Son ^amakes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷“I know that you are ^aAbraham’s seed; yet ^byou are seeking to kill Me, because My word ¹has no place in you. ³⁸“I speak the things which I have seen ¹with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from ^ayour father.”

³⁹They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is ^aour father.” Jesus *said to them, “^bIf you are Abraham’s children, you would do the deeds of Abraham. ⁴⁰“But now ^ayou are seeking to kill Me, a man who has ^btold you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. ⁴¹“You are doing the deeds of ^ayour father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of sexual immorality; ^bwe have one Father: God.” ⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, ^ayou would love Me, ^bfor I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have ^cnot even come of Myself, but ¹^,^dHe sent Me. ⁴³“Why do you not understand ¹^,^awhat I am saying? It is because you cannot ^bhear My word. ⁴⁴“^aYou are of ^byour father the devil, and ^cyou want to do the desires of your father. ^dHe was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because ^ethere is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks ¹a lie, he ^fspeaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of ²lies. ⁴⁵“But because ^aI speak the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶“Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If ^aI speak truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷“^aHe who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

⁴⁸^aThe Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a ^bSamaritan and ^chave a demon?” ⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not ^ahave a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰“But ^aI do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. ⁵¹“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone ^akeeps My word he will never ^bsee death—ever.” ⁵²^aThe Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You ^bhave a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone ^ckeeps My word, he will never ^dtaste of death—ever.’ ⁵³“Surely You ^aare not greater than our father Abraham who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴Jesus answered, “^aIf I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; ^bit is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; ⁵⁵and ^ayou have not known Him, ^bbut I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be ^ca liar like you, ^dbut I do know Him and ^ekeep His word. ⁵⁶“^aYour father Abraham ^brejoiced ¹to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷^aSo the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, ^aI am.” ⁵⁹Therefore they ^apicked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus ¹^,^bhid Himself and went out of the temple.

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

9As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. ²And His disciples asked Him, saying, “^aRabbi, who sinned, ^bthis man or his ^cparents, that he would be born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this was so ^athat the works of God might be manifested in him. ⁴“We must work the works of Him who sent Me ^aas long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵“While I am in the world, I am ^athe light of the world.” ⁶When He had said this, He ^aspat on the ground, made clay of the saliva, and rubbed the clay on his eyes, ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in ^athe pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and ^bwashed, and ^ccame back seeing. ⁸Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to ^asit and beg?” ⁹Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.” ¹He kept saying, “I am the one.” ¹⁰So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?” ¹¹He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and rubbed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to ^aSiloam and wash’; so when I went away and washed, I received sight.” ¹²And they said to him, “Where is He?” He *said, “I do not know.”

Controversy over the Man Born Blind

¹³They *brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind. ¹⁴^aNow it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. ¹⁵^aSo the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶So then some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He ^adoes not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man do such ¹^,^bsigns?” And ^cthere was a division among them. ¹⁷Therefore, they *said to the blind man ^aagain, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a ^bprophet.”

¹⁸^aThen, the Jews did not believe it of him that he was blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, ¹⁹and questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” ²⁰So his parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” ²²His parents said this because they ^awere afraid of the Jews; for the Jews ^bhad already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be ¹Christ, ^che was to be put out of the synagogue. ²³For this reason his parents said, “^aHe is of age; ask him.”

²⁴Therefore, a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “^aGive glory to God; we know that ^bthis man is a sinner.” ²⁵He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” ²⁷He answered them, “^aI told you already and you did not ^blisten. Why do you want to listen again? Do you want to become His disciples too?” ²⁸And they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but ^awe are disciples of Moses. ²⁹“We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, ^awe do not know where He is from.” ³⁰The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and He opened my eyes. ³¹“We know that ^aGod does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. ³²“¹Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³“^aIf this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” ³⁴They answered and said to him, “^aYou were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they ^bput him out.

Jesus Affirms His Deity

³⁵Jesus heard that they had ^aput him out, and after finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the ^bSon of Man?” ³⁶He answered and said, “^aWho is He, ¹Lord, that I may believe in Him?” ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and ^aHe is the one who is talking with you.” ³⁸And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he ^aworshiped Him. ³⁹And Jesus said, “^aFor judgment I came into this world, so that ^bthose who do not see may see, and that ^cthose who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “^aAre we blind too?” ⁴¹Jesus said to them, “^aIf you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you say, ‘^bWe see,’ your sin remains.

O God, Do Not Forsake Me

71^aIn You, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge;Let me never be ashamed.²^aIn Your righteousness deliver me and protect me;^bIncline Your ear to me and save me.³^aBe to me a rock of ^bhabitation to which I may continually come;You have given the ^ccommand to save me,For You are ^dmy ¹rock and my fortress.⁴^aProtect me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,Out of the ¹grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man,⁵For You are my ^ahope;O Lord Yahweh, You are my ^btrust from my youth.⁶¹By You I have been ^asustained from my birth;You are He who ^btook me from my mother’s womb;My ^cpraise is continually ²of You.⁷I have become a ^amarvel to many,For You are ^bmy strong refuge.⁸My ^amouth is filled with Your praiseAnd with ^bYour beauty all day long.⁹Do not cast me off in the ^atime of old age;Do not forsake me when my strength fails.¹⁰For my enemies have spoken ¹against me;And those who ^awatch my ²life ^bhave counseled together,¹¹Saying, “^aGod has forsaken him;Pursue and seize him, for there is ^bno one to deliver.”¹²O God, ^ado not be far from me;O my God, ^bhasten to my help!¹³Let those who accuse my soul be ^aashamed and consumed;Let them be ^bwrapped up with reproach and dishonor, who ^cseek ¹to do me evil.¹⁴But as for me, I will ^await continually,And will ¹^,^bpraise You yet more and more.¹⁵My ^amouth shall recount Your righteousnessAnd ^bYour salvation all day long;For I ^cdo not know the ¹sum of them.¹⁶I will come ^awith the mighty deeds of Lord Yahweh;I will ^bbring to remembrance Your righteousness, Yours alone.¹⁷O God, You ^ahave taught me from my youth,And I still ^bdeclare Your wondrous deeds.¹⁸And even when I am ^aold and gray, O God, do not forsake me,Until I ^bdeclare Your ¹strength to this generation,Your might to all who are to come.¹⁹¹For Your ^arighteousness, O God, reaches to the ²heavens,You who have ^bdone great things;O God, ^cwho is like You?²⁰You, who have ^ashown ¹me many troubles and ²evils,Will ^brevive ³me again,And will bring ⁴me up again ^cfrom the depths of the earth.²¹May You increase my ^agreatnessAnd turn to ^bcomfort me.²²I will also praise You with ¹^,^aa harp,Even Your ²truth, O my God;To You I will sing praises with the ^blyre,O ^cHoly One of Israel.²³My lips will ^asing for joy when I sing praises to You;And my ^bsoul, which You have redeemed.²⁴My ^atongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;For they are ^bashamed, for they are humiliated who seek ¹to do me evil.