Isaiah 12 - 13, Luke 8, Psalm 41 — Legacy Standard Bible

Yahweh Is My Strength and My Song

12Then you will say in that day,“^aI will give thanks to You, O Yahweh;For ^balthough You were angry with me,Your anger is turned away,And You comfort me.²“Behold, ^aGod is my salvation,I will ^btrust and not dread;For ¹^,^cYah—Yahweh Himself—is my strength and song,And He has become my salvation.”³Therefore you will joyously ^adraw waterFrom the ^bsprings of salvation.⁴And in that day you will ^asay,“^bGive thanks to Yahweh, call on His name.^cMake known His deeds among the peoples;¹Make them remember that His name is exalted.”⁵^aPraise Yahweh in song, for He has done ¹majestic things;Let this be known throughout the earth.⁶^aCry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,For ^bgreat in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

An Oracle Concerning Babylon

13The ¹^,^aoracle concerning ^bBabylon which ^cIsaiah the son of Amoz beheld.

²^aLift up a standard on the ¹^,^bbare hill,Heighten your voice at them,^cWave the hand that they may ^denter the doors of the nobles.³I have commanded My set apart ones,I have even called My ^amighty warriors,My ¹proudly exulting ones,To execute My anger.⁴A ^asound of tumult on the mountains,Like that of many people!A sound of the rumbling of kingdoms,Of nations gathered together!Yahweh of hosts is mustering the host for battle.⁵They are coming from a far country,From the ^aend of the sky,Yahweh and His instruments of ^bindignation,To ^cwreak destruction on the whole land.⁶Wail, for the ^aday of Yahweh is near!It will come as ^bdestruction from ¹the Almighty.⁷Therefore ^aall hands will fall limp,And every man’s ^bheart will melt.⁸They will be ^aterrified,Pains and labor pangs will take hold of them;They will ^bwrithe like a woman in labor,They will look at one another in astonishment,Their faces aflame.⁹Behold, ^athe day of Yahweh is coming,Cruel, with fury and burning anger,To make the land a desolation;And He will exterminate its sinners from it.¹⁰For the ^astars of heaven and their constellationsWill not flash forth their light;The ^bsun will be dark when it risesAnd the moon will not shed its light.¹¹Thus I will ^apunish the world for its evilAnd the ^bwicked for their iniquity;I will also put an end to the ^cpride of the arrogantAnd bring low the ^dlofty pride of the ¹^,^eruthless.¹²I will make mortal man ¹^,^ascarcer than fine goldAnd mankind than the ^bgold of Ophir.¹³Therefore I will make the ^aheavens tremble,And ^bthe earth will be shaken from its placeAt the fury of Yahweh of hostsIn ^cthe day of His burning anger.¹⁴And it will be that like a hunted gazelle,Or like ^asheep with none to gather them,They will each turn to his own people,And each one flee to his own land.¹⁵Anyone who is found will be ^apierced through,And anyone who is captured will fall by the sword.¹⁶Their ^ainfants also will be dashed to piecesBefore their eyes;Their houses will be plunderedAnd their wives ravished.¹⁷Behold, I am going to ^aawaken the Medes against them,Who will not think about silver or ^btake pleasure in gold.¹⁸And their bows will dash the ^ayoung men to pieces,They will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,Nor will their ^beye pity ¹children.¹⁹And it will be that ^aBabylon, the ^bbeauty of kingdoms, the ¹honor of the Chaldeans’ pride,Will be as when God ^coverthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.²⁰It will ^anever be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation;Nor will the ¹^,^bArab pitch his tent there,Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.²¹But ^adesert creatures will lie down there,And their houses will be full of ¹owls;Ostriches also will dwell there, and ²shaggy goats will leap there.²²¹And hyenas will howl in their fortified towersAnd jackals in their luxurious ^apalaces.Her fateful time also ²will soon comeAnd her days will not be prolonged.

Many Women Contribute to Jesus’ Ministry

8And it happened that soon afterward He was going around from one city and village to another, ^apreaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, ²and also ^asome women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: ^bMary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, ³and Joanna the wife of Chuza, ^aHerod’s ^bmanager, and Susanna, and many others who were ministering to them from their possessions.

The Parable of the Sower

⁴^aNow when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: ⁵“The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the ¹air ate it up. ⁶“And other seed fell on rock and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷“And other seed fell among the thorns, and when the thorns grew up with it, they choked it out. ⁸“And other seed fell into the good soil; and growing up, it produced a crop one hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “^aHe who has ears to hear, ¹let him hear.”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

⁹^aAnd His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. ¹⁰And He said, “^aTo you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that ^bseeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

¹¹“Now the parable is this: ^athe seed is the word of God. ¹²“And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. ¹³“And those on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root; ¹they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. ¹⁴“And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of life, and do not bear ripe fruit. ¹⁵“But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with ¹perseverance.

A Lampstand and the Light

¹⁶“Now ^ano one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. ¹⁷“^aFor nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ¹⁸“So beware how you listen, ^afor whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he ¹thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

¹⁹^aAnd His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. ²⁰And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.” ²¹But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these ^awho hear the word of God and do it.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

²²^aNow it happened that on one of those days He and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of ^bthe lake.” So they set sail. ²³But as they were sailing along, He fell asleep, and a windstorm descended on ^athe lake, and they began to be swamped and in danger. ²⁴And they came to Him and woke Him up, saying, “^aMaster, Master, we are perishing!” And He woke up and ^brebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and ¹it became calm. ²⁵And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

Jesus Saves a Man from Many Demons

²⁶^aThen they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷And when He came out onto the land, a man from the city met Him, one who was possessed with demons and had not put on any garment for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. ²⁸Now seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “¹^,^aWhat do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of ^bthe Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” ²⁹For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles, being kept under guard. And yet breaking his bonds, he was driven by the demon into the desolate regions. ³⁰And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “^aLegion,” for many demons had entered him. ³¹And they were pleading with Him not to command them to go away into ^athe abyss.

³²Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain, and the demons pleaded with Him to permit them to enter ¹the swine. And He gave them permission. ³³And when the demons came out of the man, they entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into ^athe lake and was drowned.

³⁴And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. ³⁵And the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down ^aat the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. ³⁶And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was ^ademon-possessed had been ¹saved. ³⁷And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear. And He got into a boat and returned. ³⁸^aBut the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might ¹accompany Him. But He sent him away, saying, ³⁹“Return to your house and recount what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus’ Daughter

⁴⁰^aAnd as Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. ⁴¹^aAnd behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was ¹^,^ban official of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he began to plead with Him to come to his house, ⁴²for he had an ¹only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.

⁴³And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, ⁴⁴came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. ⁴⁵And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “^aMaster, the crowds are surrounding and pressing in on You.” ⁴⁶But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I knew that ^apower had gone out of Me.” ⁴⁷And when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling. And falling down before Him, she declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸And He said to her, “Daughter, ^ayour faith has ¹saved you; ^bgo in peace.”

⁴⁹While He was still speaking, someone *came from the house of ^athe synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.” ⁵⁰But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, “^aDo not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be ¹saved.” ⁵¹So when He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James, and the girl’s father and mother. ⁵²Now they were all crying and ^alamenting for her, but He said, “Stop crying, for she has not died, but ^bis asleep.” ⁵³And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died. ⁵⁴He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Child, arise!” ⁵⁵And her spirit returned, and she stood up immediately. And He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. ⁵⁶And her parents were astounded, but He ^adirected them to tell no one what had happened.

O Yahweh, Be Gracious to Me

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

How blessed is he who ^aconsiders the ¹poor;Yahweh will provide him escape ^bin a day of ²calamity.²Yahweh will ^akeep him and keep him alive,And he shall be ^bblessed upon the earth;And ^cdo not give him over to the desire of his enemies.³Yahweh will sustain him upon his sickbed;In his illness, You ¹restore him to health.⁴As for me, I said, “O Yahweh, be gracious to me;^aHeal my soul, for ^bI have sinned against You.”⁵My enemies ^aspeak evil against me,“When will he die, and his name perish?”⁶And ¹when he comes to see me, he ^aspeaks ²worthlessness;His heart gathers wickedness to itself;When he goes outside, he speaks it.⁷All who hate me whisper together against me;Against me, they ^adevise for me ¹calamity, saying,⁸“A vile thing is poured out ¹upon him,That when he lies down, he will ^anot rise up again.”⁹Even my ^aclose friend in whom I trusted,Who ate my bread,Has lifted up his heel against me.¹⁰But You, O Yahweh, be gracious to me and ^araise me up,That I may repay them.¹¹By this I know that ^aYou delight in me,Because ^bmy enemy makes no shout in triumph over me.¹²As for me, ^aYou uphold me in my integrity,And You make me ^bstand firm in Your presence forever.¹³^aBlessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,From everlasting to everlasting.Amen and Amen.