Isaiah 47 - 48 - Legacy Standard Bible

Isaiah 47 - 48

Lament for Babylon

“Come down and sit in the dust,

O virgin daughter of Babylon;

Sit on the ground without a throne,

O daughter of the Chaldeans!

For you shall no longer be called tender and delicate.

Take the millstones and grind flour.

Uncover your veil, strip off the skirt,

Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.

Your nakedness will be uncovered;

Your reproach also will be seen;

I will take vengeance and will not spare a man.”

Our Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts is His name,

The Holy One of Israel.

“Sit silently, and go into darkness,

O daughter of the Chaldeans,

For you will no longer be called

The queen of kingdoms.

I was furious with My people;

I profaned My inheritance

And gave them into your hand.

You did not show compassion to them,

On the aged you made your yoke very heavy.

Yet you said, ‘I will be a queen forever.’

These things you did not put on your heart

Nor remember the outcome of them.

“So now, hear this, you sensual one,

Who sits securely,

Who says in your heart,

‘I am, and there is no one besides me.

I will not sit as a widow,

Nor know loss of children.’

But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day:

Loss of children and widowhood.

They will come on you in full measure

In spite of your many sorceries,

In spite of the great might of your spells.

You felt secure in your evil and said,

‘No one sees me,’

Your wisdom and your knowledge have turned you astray;

So you have said in your heart,

‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’

But evil will come on you

Which you will not know how to charm away;

And disaster will fall on you

For which you cannot atone;

And destruction about which you do not know

Will come on you suddenly.

“Stand fast now in your spells

And in your many sorceries

With which you have labored from your youth;

Perhaps you will be able to profit;

Perhaps you may cause trembling.

You are wearied with your many counsels;

Let now the astrologers,

Those who behold visions by the stars,

Those who predict by the new moons,

Stand up and save you from what will come upon you.

Behold, they have become like stubble,

Fire burns them;

They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame;

There will be no coal to warm by

Nor a fire to sit before!

Thus they have become for you, those among whom you have labored,

Who have traded with you from your youth;

Each has wandered in his own way;

There is none to save you.

My Glory I Will Not Give to Another

“Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name Israel

And who came forth from the loins of Judah,

Who swear by the name of Yahweh

And bring to remembrance the God of Israel,

But not in truth or in righteousness.

For they call themselves after the holy city

And are supported by the God of Israel;

Yahweh of hosts is His name.

I declared the former things long ago,

And they went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to be heard.

Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

Because I know that you are stiff,

And your neck is an iron sinew

And your forehead bronze,

Therefore I declared them to you long ago,

Before they happened I caused them to be heard by you,

Lest you say, ‘My idol has done them,

And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’

You have heard; look at all this.

And you, will you not declare it?

I caused you to hear new things from this time,

Even hidden things which you have not known.

They are created now and not long ago;

And before today you have not heard them,

Lest you say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’

Indeed, you have not heard; indeed, you have not known.

Indeed, even from long ago your ear has not been open

Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously;

And you have been called a transgressor from the womb.

For the sake of My name I delay My anger,

And for My praise I restrain it for you,

In order not to cut you off.

Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;

For how can My name be profaned?

And My glory I will not give to another.

Yahweh Redeems Jacob

“Hear Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called;

I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.

Also, My hand founded the earth,

And My right hand spread out the heavens;

When I call to them, they stand together.

Assemble, all of you, and hear!

Who among them has declared these things?

Yahweh loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon,

And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him,

I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful.

Draw near to Me, hear this:

From the first I have not spoken in secret,

From the time it took place, I was there.

So now Lord Yahweh has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

17 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,

“I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit,

Who leads you in the way you should go.

If only you had paid attention to My commandments!

Then your peace would have been like a river,

And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

Your seed would have been like the sand,

And the offspring from your loins like its grains;

Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”

Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans!

Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, cause this to be heard,

Bring it forth to the end of the earth;

Say, “Yahweh has redeemed His servant Jacob.”

And they did not thirst when He led them through the waste places.

He made the water flow out of the rock for them;

He split the rock, and the water gushed forth.

“There is no peace for the wicked,” says Yahweh.

John 12

Mary Anoints Jesus with Costly Perfume

Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3 Mary then took a litra of perfume of very costly pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was going to betray Him, *said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to take from what was put into it. 7 Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” 9 Then the large crowd from the Jews learned that He was there. And they came, not because of Jesus only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

12 On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” 14 And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 16 These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him, and that they had done these things to Him. 17 So the crowd, who was with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to bear witness about Him. 18 For this reason also the crowd went and met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing; look, the world has gone after Him.”

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip *came and *told Andrew; Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus. 23 And Jesus *answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

27 “Now My soul has become dismayed; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” 30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sake. 31 Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” 33 But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was about to die. 34 The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how do You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. 36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. 37 But though He had done so many signs before them, they still were not believing in Him, 38 so that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and return and I heal them.” 41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him. 42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory of men rather than the glory of God. 44 And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 And he who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. 46 I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me and does not receive My words, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him on the last day. 49 For I did not speak from Myself, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

Psalm 73

The Nearness of God Is My Good

A Psalm of Asaph.

Surely God is good to Israel,

To those who are pure in heart!

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

My steps had almost slipped.

For I was envious of the boastful,

I saw the peace of the wicked.

For there are no pains in their death,

And their body is fat.

They are not in trouble as other men,

And they are not stricken along with the rest of mankind.

Therefore lofty pride is their necklace;

The garment of violence covers them.

Their eye bulges from fatness;

The delusions of their heart overflow.

They scoff and wickedly speak of oppression;

They speak from on high.

They have set their mouth against the heavens,

And their tongue goes through the earth.

Therefore his people return here, to his place,

And waters of fullness are drunk by them.

They say, “How does God know?

And is there knowledge with the Most High?”

Behold, these are the wicked;

And always at ease, they have increased in wealth.

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure

And washed my hands in innocence;

For I have been stricken all day long

And reproved every morning.

If I had said, “I will recount thus,”

Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

When I gave thought to know this,

It was trouble in my sight

Until I came into the sanctuary of God;

Then I understood their end.

Surely You set them in slippery places;

You cause them to fall to destruction.

How they become desolate in a moment!

They are completely swept away by terrors!

Like a dream when one awakes,

O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.

When my heart was embittered

And I was pierced within,

Then I was senseless and ignorant;

I was like an animal before You.

Nevertheless I am continually with You;

You have taken hold of my right hand.

With Your counsel You will lead me,

And afterward take me in glory.

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

My flesh and my heart fail,

But God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.

For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;

You have destroyed everyone who is unfaithful to You.

But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;

I have set Lord Yahweh as my refuge,

That I may recount all Your works.