Isaiah 10 - 11, Luke 7, Psalm 40 — Legacy Standard Bible

10Woe to those who ^aenact evil statutesAnd to those who constantly record ¹mischief,²So as ^ato turn the poor away from their causeAnd rob the afflicted of My people of their justice,So ^bthat widows may be their spoilAnd that they may plunder the ¹orphans.³Now ^awhat will you do in the ^bday of visitation,And in the devastation which will come ^cfrom afar?^dTo whom will you flee for help?And where will you leave your ¹glory?⁴Nothing remains but to crouch ¹among the ^acaptivesOr fall ²among those ^bkilled.^cIn spite of all this, His anger does not turn backAnd His hand is still stretched out.

Yahweh’s Anger with Assyria’s Arrogance

⁵Woe to ^aAssyria, the ^brod of My angerAnd the staff in whose hands is ^cMy indignation,⁶I send it against a ^agodless nationAnd command it against the ^bpeople of My furyTo capture spoil and ^cto seize plunder,And to ¹trample them down like ^dmud in the streets.⁷But it ^adoes not intend to act in this way,And it does not think in its heart in this way,Rather, what is in its heart is to destroyAnd to cut off ¹many nations.⁸For it says, “Are not my princes ¹all kings?⁹“Is not ^aCalno like ^bCarchemish,Or ^cHamath like Arpad,Or ^dSamaria like ^eDamascus?¹⁰“As my hand has reached to the ^akingdoms of the idols,Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,¹¹Shall I not ¹do to Jerusalem and her imagesJust as I have done to Samaria and ^aher idols?”

¹²So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His ^awork on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will ¹punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and ^bthe pomp of his eyes which are raised high.” ¹³For ^ahe has said, “By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,For I have understanding;And I ^bremoved the boundaries of the peoplesAnd plundered their treasures,And like a mighty man I brought down ¹their inhabitants,

¹⁴And my hand reached for the wealth of the peoples like a ^anest,And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”¹⁵Is the ^aaxe to ^bboast itself over the one who chops with it?Is the saw to magnify itself over the one who wields it?That would be like ^ca rod wielding those who lift it,Or like ^da staff lifting him who is not wood.¹⁶Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will send a ^awasting disease among his ^bstout warriors;And under his ^cglory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.¹⁷And the ^alight of Israel will become a fire and his ^bHoly One a flame,And it will ^cburn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.¹⁸And He will ^abring to an end the glory of his forest and of his fruitful orchard, both soul and body,And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.¹⁹And the ^arest of the trees of his forest will be so small in numberThat a child could write them down.

A Remnant Will Return

²⁰Now it will be in that day, that the ^aremnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob ^bwho have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly ^crely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.

²¹A ^aremnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the ^bmighty God.²²For ^athough your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,Only a remnant within them will return;A ^bdestructive end is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.

²³For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, ^aLord Yahweh of hosts will do in the midst of the whole land.

²⁴Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts, “O My people who inhabit ^aZion, ^bdo not fear the Assyrian ¹who ^cstrikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did. ²⁵“For in a very ^alittle while ^bMy indignation against you will end and My anger will be directed to their destruction.” ²⁶And Yahweh of hosts will ^awaken a scourge against him like the slaughter of ^bMidian at the rock of Oreb; and His ^cstaff will be over the sea and He will lift it up ^dthe way He did in Egypt. ²⁷So it will be in that day, that ¹his ^aburden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because ^bof fatness.

²⁸He has come against Aiath,He has passed through ^aMigron;At ^bMichmash he deposited his ^cbaggage.²⁹They have gone through ^athe pass, saying,“^bGeba will be our lodging place.”^cRamah trembles, and ^dGibeah of Saul has fled away.³⁰Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of ^aGallim!Pay attention, Laishah and ¹afflicted ^bAnathoth!³¹Madmenah has fled.The inhabitants of Gebim have sought refuge.³²Yet today he will stand at ^aNob;He ^bshakes his fist at the mountain of the ¹^,^cdaughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.³³Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash;Those also who are ^ahigh in stature will be cut in piecesAnd those who are lofty will be made low.³⁴He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an iron axe,And ^aLebanon will fall ¹by the Mighty One.

The Judgments of the Branch

11Then a ^ashoot will spring from the ^bstem of Jesse,And a ^cbranch from ^dhis roots will bear fruit.²The ^aSpirit of Yahweh will rest on Him,The spirit of ^bwisdom and understanding,The spirit of counsel and ^cmight,The spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yahweh.³And He will delight in the fear of Yahweh,And He will not judge by what His eyes ^asee,Nor render a decision by what His ears hear;⁴But with ^arighteousness He will judge the ^bpoor,And decide with uprightness for the ^cafflicted of the earth;And He will strike the earth with the ^drod of His mouth,And with the ^ebreath of His lips He will put the wicked to death.⁵Also ^arighteousness will be the belt about His loins,And ^bfaithfulness the belt about His waist.⁶And the ^awolf will ¹dwell with the lamb,And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,And the calf and the young lion ²and the fatling together;And a young boy will lead them.⁷Also the cow and the bear will graze,Their young will lie down together,And the ^alion will eat straw like the ox.⁸And the nursing baby will play by the hole of the cobra,And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.⁹They will ^ado no evil nor act corruptly in all My holy mountain,For the ^bearth will be full of the knowledge of YahwehAs the waters cover the sea.

A Remnant Remains

¹⁰Then it will be in that day,That the ^anations will seek the ^broot of Jesse,Who will stand as a ¹^,^cstandard for the peoples;And His ^dresting place will be ²glorious.¹¹Then it will be in that day, that the LordWill again acquire the second time with His handThe ^aremnant of His people, who will remain,From ^bAssyria, ^cEgypt, Pathros, ¹Ethiopia, ^dElam, Shinar, Hamath,And from the ^ecoastlands of the sea.¹²And He will lift up a ^astandard for the nationsAnd ^bassemble the banished ones of Israel,And will gather the scattered of JudahFrom the four corners of the earth.¹³Then the ^ajealousy of Ephraim will depart,And those who assail Judah will be cut off;Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,And Judah will not assail Ephraim.¹⁴And they will ^aswoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the ^bwest;Together they will ^cplunder the sons of the east;¹They will stretch out their hands over ^dEdom and ^eMoab,And the sons of Ammon ²will obey them.¹⁵And Yahweh will ^adevote to destructionThe tongue of the ¹Sea of Egypt;And He will ^bwave His hand over the ²^,^cRiverWith His scorching wind;And He will strike it into seven streamsAnd make men walk over ³dry-shod.¹⁶And there will be a ^ahighway from AssyriaFor the ^bremnant of His people who will remain,Just as there was for IsraelIn ^cthe day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.

The Centurion’s Faith

7^aWhen He had completed all His words in the hearing of the people, ^bHe went to Capernaum.

²And a centurion’s slave, ¹who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. ³Now when he heard about Jesus, ^ahe sent some ¹Jewish elders asking Him to come and ²save the life of his slave. ⁴And when they came to Jesus, they were earnestly pleading with Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; ⁵for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” ⁶Now Jesus was going on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “¹Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not good enough for You to come under my roof. ⁷“For this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just ¹say the word, and my ²servant will be healed. ⁸“For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” ⁹Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him. And He turned to the crowd that was following Him and said, “I say to you, ^anot even in Israel have I found such great faith.” ¹⁰And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

¹¹And it happened that soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain, and His disciples were going along with Him, ¹accompanied by a large crowd. ¹²Now as He approached the gate of the city, behold, ¹a dead man was being carried out, the ²only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. ¹³And when ^athe Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.” ¹⁴And He came up and touched the coffin, and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” ¹⁵And the ¹dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. ¹⁶^aAnd fear gripped them all, and they began ^bglorifying God, saying, “A great ^cprophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has ¹visited His people!” ¹⁷^aAnd this report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.

Questions from John the Baptist

¹⁸^aAnd the disciples of John reported to him about all these things. ¹⁹Summoning ¹two of his disciples, John sent them to ^athe Lord, saying, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?” ²⁰When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?’” ²¹At that ¹very time He ^acured many people of diseases and ^bafflictions and evil spirits, and He granted sight to many who were blind. ²²And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the ^ablind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the ^bpoor have the gospel preached to them. ²³“Blessed is he ¹who does not take offense at Me.”

²⁴And when the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵“¹But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft garments? Behold, those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! ²⁶“But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and even more than a prophet. ²⁷“This is the one about whom it is written, ‘^aBehold, I send My messenger ¹ahead of You,Who will prepare Your way before You.’

²⁸“I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is ¹least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹And when all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they ¹acknowledged ^aGod’s justice, ^bhaving been baptized with ^cthe baptism of John. ³⁰But the Pharisees and the ^ascholars of the Law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by ¹John.

³¹“To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? ³²“They are like children, sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, who say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’ ³³“For John the Baptist has come ^aeating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ ³⁴“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a ¹drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and ²sinners!’ ³⁵“Yet wisdom ^ais vindicated ¹by all her children.”

³⁶Now one of the Pharisees was asking Him to eat with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷^aAnd behold, there was a woman in the city who was a ¹sinner. And when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸And standing behind Him at His feet, crying, she began to wet His feet with her tears. And she kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. ³⁹Now when the Pharisee, who had invited Him, saw this, he said to himself, saying, “If this man were ^aa prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”

Parable of Two Debtors

⁴⁰And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he ¹replied, “Say it, Teacher.” ⁴¹“A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred ¹^,^adenarii, and the other fifty. ⁴²“When they ^awere unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” ⁴³Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he graciously forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” ⁴⁴And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you ^agave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵“You ^agave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. ⁴⁶“^aYou did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. ⁴⁷“For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸Then He said to her, “^aYour sins have been forgiven.” ⁴⁹And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say ¹to themselves, “^aWho is this man who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰And He said to the woman, “^aYour faith has saved you; ^bgo in peace.”

The One Who Rescues Me

For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm.

I ^ahoped ¹earnestly for Yahweh;And He inclined to me and ^bheard my cry for help.²He brought me up out of the ^apit of destruction, out of the ¹miry clay,And ^bHe set my feet upon a high rock, ^cHe established my steps.³He put a ^anew song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;Many will ^bsee and fearAnd will trust in Yahweh.⁴How ^ablessed is the man who has made Yahweh his trust,And ^bhas not ¹turned to the proud, nor to those who ^cstray into falsehood.⁵Many, O Yahweh my God, are ^athe wondrous deeds You have done,And Your ^bthoughts toward us;There is none to compare with You.I would declare and speak of them,But they ^care too numerous to recount.⁶¹^,^aSacrifice and meal offering ²You have not desired;My ears You have ³opened;Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.⁷Then I said, “Behold, I come;In the scroll of the book it is ¹written of me.⁸“^aI desire to do Your will, O my God;^bYour law is within my inner being.”⁹I ^aproclaim good news of righteousness in the great assembly;Behold, I do ^bnot restrain my lips,O Yahweh, ^cYou know.¹⁰I do ^anot conceal Your righteousness within my heart;I ^bspeak of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;I do not hide Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.¹¹You, O Yahweh, will not withhold Your compassion from me;¹Your ^alovingkindness and Your truth will continually guard me.¹²For evils beyond number have ^asurrounded me;My ^biniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;They are ^cmore numerous than the hairs of my head,And my ^dheart has ¹failed me.¹³^aBe pleased, O Yahweh, to deliver me;Make ^bhaste, O Yahweh, to help me.¹⁴Let those be ^aashamed and humiliated togetherWho ^bseek my ¹life to sweep it away;Let those be turned back and dishonoredWho delight in ²evil against me.¹⁵Let those ^abe ¹appalled because of their shameWho ^bsay to me, “Aha, aha!”¹⁶^aLet all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;Let those who love Your salvation ^bsay continually,“Yahweh be magnified!”¹⁷As for me, ^aI am afflicted and needy,¹^,^bMay the Lord think of me.You are my help and the One who rescues me;Do not delay, O my God.