Aug 8 - Isaiah 40-42
Isaiah
1Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.3A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.4Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.5And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."6A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.7The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass.8The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."9You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!"10See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.11He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?13Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor?14Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?15Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.16Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.17Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.18To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to?19As for an idol, a craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it.20A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple.21Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?22He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.23He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.24No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.25"To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.26Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.27Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"?28Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.29He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;31but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
1"Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together at the place of judgment.2"Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow.3He pursues them and moves on unscathed, by a path his feet have not traveled before.4Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD -with the first of them and with the last-I am he."5The islands have seen it and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward;6each helps the other and says to his brother, "Be strong!"7The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer spurs on him who strikes the anvil. He says of the welding, "It is good." He nails down the idol so it will not topple.8"But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend,9I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.10So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.11"All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.12Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.13For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.14Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.15"See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.16You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.17"The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.18I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.19I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together,20so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.21"Present your case," says the LORD. "Set forth your arguments," says Jacob's King.22"Bring in your idols to tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come,23tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear.24But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; he who chooses you is detestable.25"I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes- one from the rising sun who calls on my name. He treads on rulers as if they were mortar, as if he were a potter treading the clay.26Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know, or beforehand, so we could say, 'He was right'? No one told of this, no one foretold it, no one heard any words from you.27I was the first to tell Zion, 'Look, here they are!' I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good tidings.28I look but there is no one- no one among them to give counsel, no one to give answer when I ask them.29See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion.
1"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.2He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.3A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;4he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope."5This is what God the LORD says- he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:6"I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,7to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.8"I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.9See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."10Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them.11Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops.12Let them give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise in the islands.13The LORD will march out like a mighty man, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies.14"For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant.15I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools.16I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.17But those who trust in idols, who say to images, 'You are our gods,' will be turned back in utter shame.18"Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!19Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD?20You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing."21It pleased the LORD for the sake of his righteousness to make his law great and glorious.22But this is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no one to say, "Send them back."23Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention in time to come?24Who handed Jacob over to become loot, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? For they would not follow his ways; they did not obey his law.25So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.