Legacy Standard Bible

Isaiah 45 - 46

Cyrus, Yahweh’s Anointed

45Thus says Yahweh to aCyrus His anointed,Whom I have taken hold of by his right bhand,To csubdue nations before himAnd 1to dloose the loins of kings,To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:2“I will go before you and amake the 1rough places smooth;I will bshatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron cbars.3“I will give you the 1,atreasures of darknessAnd hidden wealth of secret places,So that you may know that it is I,Yahweh, the God of Israel, who bcalls you by your name.4“For the sake of aJacob My servant,And Israel My chosen one,I have also bcalled you by your name;I have given you a title of honorThough you have cnot known Me.5“I am Yahweh, and athere is no other;bBesides Me there is no God.I will 1,cgird you, though you have not known Me,6That athey may know from the rising to the setting of the sunThat there is bno one besides Me.I am Yahweh, and there is no other,7The One aforming light and bcreating darkness,Producing peace and ccreating calamity;I am Yahweh who does all these.

Yahweh the Maker

8“aDrip down, O heavens, from above,And let the skies pour down righteousness;Let the bearth open up and salvation bear fruit,cAnd righteousness 1spring up with it.I, Yahweh, have created it.9“Woe to the one who acontends with his 1Maker—An earthenware vessel 2among the vessels of earth!Will the bclay say to the 3potter, ‘What are you doing?’Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?10“Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’Or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor pains?’”
11Thus says aYahweh, the Holy One of Israel, and his 1,bMaker: “2,cAsk Me about the things that are to come 3concerning My dsons,And you shall 4commit to Me ethe work of My hands.
12“It is I who amade the earth and created man upon it.I bstretched out the heavens with My hands,And I commanded call their host.13“I have awakened him in arighteousness,And I will bmake all his ways smooth;He will cbuild My city and will dlet My exiles go,Without any payment or reward,” says Yahweh of hosts.
14Thus says Yahweh, “The fruit of the labor of aEgypt and the profit of 1,bEthiopiaAnd the Sabeans, men of stature,Will ccome over to you and will be yours;They will walk behind you; they will come over in dchainsAnd will ebow down to you;They will make supplication to you:‘2Surely, fGod is 3with you, and there is none else,No other God.’”
15Truly, You are a God who ahides Himself,O God of Israel, bSavior!16They will be aput to shame and even dishonored, all of them;The bcraftsmen of idols will go away together in dishonor.17Israel has been saved by YahwehWith an aeverlasting salvation;You bwill not be put to shame or dishonoredTo all eternity.
18For thus says Yahweh, who acreated the heavens (He is the God who bformed the earth and made it; He established it and did not create it 1a cformless place, but formed it to be dinhabited), “I am Yahweh, and ethere is none else.
19“aI have not spoken in secret,In 1some dark land;I did not say to the bseed of Jacob,‘cSeek Me in 2a formless place’;I, Yahweh, dspeak righteousness,eDeclaring things that are upright.20“aGather yourselves and come;Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations;bThey do not know,Who ccarry about their graven image of woodAnd dpray to a god who cannot save.21“aDeclare and draw near with your case;Indeed, let them consult together.bWho has made this heard from of old?Who has long since declared it?Is it not I, Yahweh?And there is cno other God besides Me,A righteous God and a dSavior;There is none except Me.22“aTurn to Me and bbe saved, all the ends of the earth;For I am God, and there is no other.23“aI have sworn by Myself,The bword has gone forth from My mouth in righteousnessAnd will not turn back,That to Me cevery knee will bow, every tongue will dswear allegiance.24“They will say of Me, ‘Only ain Yahweh are righteousness and strength.’Men will come to Him,And ball who were angry at Him will be put to shame.25“In Yahweh all the seed of IsraelWill be ajustified and will bboast.”

Babylon’s Idols and the True God

46aBel has bowed down, Nebo stoops over;Their images are on the beasts and the cattle.The things 1that you carry are burdensome,A load for the weary beast.2They stooped over, they have bowed down together;They could not rescue the load,But 1have themselves agone into captivity.3“aHear Me, O house of Jacob,And all bthe remnant of the house of Israel,You who have been cburdening Me from 1birthAnd have been carried from the womb;4Even to your old age 1,aI will be the same,And even to your 2,bgraying years I will bear you!I have 3done it, and I will carry you;And I will bear you, and I will rescue you.5“aTo whom would you liken MeAnd make Me equal and compare Me,That we would be alike?6“Those who alavish gold from the purseAnd weigh silver on the scale,They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;They bfall down, indeed they worship it.7“They acarry it upon the shoulder and bear it;They set it in its place, and it stands there.bIt does not move from its place.Though one may cry to it, it ccannot answer;It dcannot save him from his distress.8“aRemember this, and be 1assured;bCause it to return to your heart, you ctransgressors.9“Remember the aformer things long past,For I am God, and there is bno other;I am God, and there is cno one like Me,10Declaring the end from the beginning,And from ancient times things which have not been done,Saying, ‘aMy counsel will be established,And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’,11Calling a abird of prey from the beast,The man of 1My counsel from a far country.Truly I have cspoken; truly I will bring it to pass.I have formed it, surely I will do it.12“aHear Me, you bstubborn of heart,Who are cfar from righteousness.13“I abring near My righteousness, it is not far off;And My salvation will not delay.And I will grant bsalvation in Zion,And My cglory for Israel.

John 10 - 11

I Am the Good Shepherd

10“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is aa thief and a robber. 2“But he who enters by the door is aa shepherd of the sheep. 3“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear ahis voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and bleads them out. 4“When he brings all his own out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know ahis voice. 5“A stranger they will never follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know athe voice of strangers.” 6This afigure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
7So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am athe door of the sheep. 8“All who came before Me are athieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9“aI am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they amay have life, and 1have it abundantly.
11“aI am the good shepherd; the good shepherd blays down His life for the sheep. 12“He who is a hired hand, and not a ashepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees—and the wolf snatches and scatters them— 13because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14“aI am the good shepherd, and bI know My own and My own know Me, 15even as athe Father knows Me and I know the Father; and bI lay down My life for the sheep. 16“And I have aother sheep, which are not from this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become bone flock with cone shepherd. 17“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I alay down My life so that I may take it again. 18“aNo one 1takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I blay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. cThis commandment I received from My Father.”
19aA division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. 20And many of them were saying, “He ahas a demon and bis insane. Why do you listen to Him?” 21Others were saying, “These are not the words of someone ademon-possessed. bCan a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

I and the Father Are One

22At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; 23it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the Portico of aSolomon. 24aThe Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long 1will You keep us in suspense? If You are the 2Christ, tell us bopenly.” 25Jesus answered them, “aI told you, and you do not believe; bthe works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me. 26“But you do not believe because ayou are not of My sheep. 27“My sheep ahear My voice, and bI know them, and they follow Me; 28and I give aeternal life to them, and they will never perish—ever; and bno one will snatch them out of My hand. 29“1My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30“aI and the Father are 1one.”
31The Jews apicked up stones again to stone Him. 32Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” 33The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for ablasphemy; and because You, being a man, bmake Yourself God.” 34Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in ayour bLaw, ‘cI said, you are gods’? 35“If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36do you say of Him, whom the Father asanctified and bsent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘cI am the Son of God’? 37“aIf I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe athe works, so that you may know and continue knowing that bthe Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” 39Therefore athey were seeking again to seize Him, and bHe eluded their grasp.
40And He went away aagain beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. 41And many came to Him and were saying, “While John did no asign, yet beverything John said about this man was true.” 42aAnd many believed in Him there.

The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus

11Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from aBethany, the village of Mary and her sister bMartha. 2And it was the Mary who aanointed bthe Lord with perfume, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3So the sisters sent to Him, saying, “aLord, behold, bhe whom You love is sick.” 4But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but is for athe glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” 5Now Jesus loved aMartha and her sister and Lazarus. 6So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days in the place where He was. 7Then after this He *said to the disciples, “aLet us go to Judea again.” 8The disciples *said to Him, “aRabbi, the Jews were just now seeking bto stone You, and are You going there again?” 9Jesus answered, “aAre there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10“But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11He said these things, and after that He *said to them, “Our afriend Lazarus bhas fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him.” 12The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will 1be saved from his sickness.” 13Now aJesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of 1actual sleep. 14So Jesus then said to them 1plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” 16aTherefore Thomas, who is called 1,bDidymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”
17So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb afour days. 18Now aBethany was near Jerusalem, about 1fifteen stadia away; 19and many of athe Jews had come to bMartha and Mary, cto console them about their brother. 20aMartha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but bMary was sitting in the house. 21Martha then said to Jesus, “aLord, bif You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22“But even now I know that awhatever You ask from God, God will give You.” 23Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha *said to Him, “aI know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “aI am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me awill never die—ever. Do you believe this?” 27She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are athe 1Christ, the Son of God, 2,bthe One who comes into the world.”
28And when she had said this, she awent away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “bThe Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she *got up quickly and was coming to Him.
30Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but awas still in the place where Martha met Him. 31aThen the Jews—who were with her in the house and bconsoling her—when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to cry there. 32Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “aLord, bif You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus therefore saw her crying, and athe Jews who came with her also crying, He bwas 1deeply moved in spirit and 2,cwas troubled, 34and said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus awept. 36So athe Jews were saying, “See how He bloved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not this man, who aopened the eyes of the blind man, 1have kept this man also from dying?”
38So Jesus, again being 1deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a acave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time he smells, for he has been dead afour days.” 40Jesus *said to her, “aDid I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41So they removed the astone. Then Jesus braised His eyes, and said, “cFather, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42“And I knew that You always hear Me; but abecause of the crowd standing around I said this, so that they may believe that bYou sent Me.” 43And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” 44The man who had died came forth, abound hand and foot with wrappings, and bhis face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
45aTherefore many of the Jews bwho came to Mary, and csaw what He had done, believed in Him. 46But some of them went to the aPharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

The Leaders Plot to Kill Jesus

47Therefore athe chief priests and the Pharisees bgathered the 1,cSanhedrin together, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is doing many 2,dsigns. 48“If we let Him go on like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our aplace and our nation.” 49But one of them, aCaiaphas, bwho was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50nor do you take into account that ait is better for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” 51Now he did not say this from himself, but abeing high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also agather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53So from that day on they aplanned together to kill Him.
54Therefore Jesus ano longer continued to walk openly among the Jews, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, into a city called bEphraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.
55Now athe Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the region before the Passover bto purify themselves. 56So they awere seeking Jesus, and were saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That He will not come to the feast at all?” 57Now athe chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.

Psalm 72

Give the King Your Judgments

72
Of Solomon.
O God, give the king aYour judgments,And bYour righteousness to the king’s son.21May 2he arender judgment to Your people with righteousnessAnd bYour 3afflicted with justice.3Let the mountains lift up 1,apeace to the people,And the hills, in righteousness.41May he agive justice to the 2afflicted of the people,Save the children of the needy,And crush the oppressor.51Let them fear You awhile the sun endures,And 2as long as the moon, from generation to all generations.61May he come down alike rain upon the mown grass,Like bshowers that water the earth.71May the arighteous flourish in his days,And babundance of peace until the moon is no more.8May he also have dominion afrom sea to seaAnd from the River to the ends of the earth.91Let athe desert creatures bkneel before him,And his enemies click the dust.101Let the kings of aTarshish and of the bcoastlands bring a present;The kings of cSheba and dSeba eoffer tribute.111And let all akings bow down to him,All bnations serve him.12For he will adeliver the needy when he cries for help,The 1afflicted also, and him who has no helper.13He will have acompassion on the poor and needy,And the 1lives of the needy he will save.14He will aredeem their 1life from oppression and violence,And their blood will be bprecious in his sight;15So may he live! And may they give to him the agold of Sheba;And let each pray for him continually;Let each bless him all day long.16May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains;May its fruit wave like the cedars of aLebanon;And may those from the city blossom like bvegetation of the earth.17May his aname endure forever;May his name 1increase 2,bas long as the sun shines;Let all nations 3,cbe blessed in him;dLet all nations call him blessed.18aBlessed be Yahweh God, the God of Israel,Who alone bworks wondrous deeds.19And blessed be His aglorious name forever;And may the whole bearth be filled with His glory.cAmen, and Amen.201The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are completed.