ISAIAH 40

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Comfort for God’s People40:1

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and cry to her

that her warfare is ended,

that her iniquity is pardoned,

that she has received from the Lord’s hand

double for all her sins.
3

A voice cries:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4

Every valley shall be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

and the rough places a plain. 5

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

and all flesh shall see it together,

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” The Word of God Stands Forever6

A voice says, “Cry!”

And I said, “What shall I cry?”

All flesh is grass,

and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7

The grass withers, the flower fades

when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

surely the people are grass. 8

The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand forever. The Greatness of God9

Go on up to a high mountain,

O Zion, herald of good news;

lift up your voice with strength,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

“Behold your God!” 10

Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

and his arm rules for him;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him. 11

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

he will gather the lambs in his arms;

he will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young.
12

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

and marked off the heavens with a span,

enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure

and weighed the mountains in scales

and the hills in a balance? 13

Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,

or what man shows him his counsel? 14

Whom did he consult,

and who made him understand?

Who taught him the path of justice,

and taught him knowledge,

and showed him the way of understanding? 15

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

and are accounted as the dust on the scales;

behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. 16

Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. 17

All the nations are as nothing before him,

they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
18

To whom then will you liken God,

or what likeness compare with him? 19

An idol! A craftsman casts it,

and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

and casts for it silver chains. 20

He who is too impoverished for an offering

chooses wood that will not rot;

he seeks out a skillful craftsman

to set up an idol that will not move.
21

Do you not know? Do you not hear?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; 23

who brings princes to nothing,

and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

when he blows on them, and they wither,

and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25

To whom then will you compare me,

that I should be like him? says the Holy One. 26

Lift up your eyes on high and see:

who created these?

He who brings out their host by number,

calling them all by name;

by the greatness of his might

and because he is strong in power,

not one is missing.
27

Why do you say, O Jacob,

and speak, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my right is disregarded by my God”? 28

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable. 29

He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted; 31

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

ISAIAH 41

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Fear Not, for I Am with You41:1

Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;

let the peoples renew their strength;

let them approach, then let them speak;

let us together draw near for judgment.
2

Who stirred up one from the east

whom victory meets at every step?

He gives up nations before him,

so that he tramples kings underfoot;

he makes them like dust with his sword,

like driven stubble with his bow. 3

He pursues them and passes on safely,

by paths his feet have not trod. 4

Who has performed and done this,

calling the generations from the beginning?

I, the Lord, the first,

and with the last; I am he.
5

The coastlands have seen and are afraid;

the ends of the earth tremble;

they have drawn near and come. 6

Everyone helps his neighbor

and says to his brother, “Be strong!” 7

The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,

and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,

saying of the soldering, “It is good”;

and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
8

But you, Israel, my servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

the offspring of Abraham, my friend; 9

you whom I took from the ends of the earth,

and called from its farthest corners,

saying to you, “You are my servant,

I have chosen you and not cast you off”; 10

fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11

Behold, all who are incensed against you

shall be put to shame and confounded;

those who strive against you

shall be as nothing and shall perish. 12

You shall seek those who contend with you,

but you shall not find them;

those who war against you

shall be as nothing at all. 13

For I, the Lord your God,

hold your right hand;

it is I who say to you, “Fear not,

I am the one who helps you.”
14

Fear not, you worm Jacob,

you men of Israel!

I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord;

your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. 15

Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge,

new, sharp, and having teeth;

you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,

and you shall make the hills like chaff; 16

you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away,

and the tempest shall scatter them.

And you shall rejoice in the Lord;

in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
17

When the poor and needy seek water,

and there is none,

and their tongue is parched with thirst,

I the Lord will answer them;

I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 18

I will open rivers on the bare heights,

and fountains in the midst of the valleys.

I will make the wilderness a pool of water,

and the dry land springs of water. 19

I will put in the wilderness the cedar,

the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.

I will set in the desert the cypress,

the plane and the pine together, 20

that they may see and know,

may consider and understand together,

that the hand of the Lord has done this,

the Holy One of Israel has created it. The Futility of Idols21

Set forth your case, says the Lord;

bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. 22

Let them bring them, and tell us

what is to happen.

Tell us the former things, what they are,

that we may consider them,

that we may know their outcome;

or declare to us the things to come. 23

Tell us what is to come hereafter,

that we may know that you are gods;

do good, or do harm,

that we may be dismayed and terrified. 24

Behold, you are nothing,

and your work is less than nothing;

an abomination is he who chooses you.
25

I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,

from the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name;

he shall trample on rulers as on mortar,

as the potter treads clay. 26

Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know,

and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”?

There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,

none who heard your words. 27

I was the first to say to Zion, “Behold, here they are!”

and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news. 28

But when I look, there is no one;

among these there is no counselor

who, when I ask, gives an answer. 29

Behold, they are all a delusion;

their works are nothing;

their metal images are empty wind.

PROVERBS 21

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21:1

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;

he turns it wherever he will. 2

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,

but the Lord weighs the heart. 3

To do righteousness and justice

is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. 4

Haughty eyes and a proud heart,

the lamp of the wicked, are sin. 5

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,

but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. 6

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue

is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death. 7

The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,

because they refuse to do what is just. 8

The way of the guilty is crooked,

but the conduct of the pure is upright. 9

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop

than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. 10

The soul of the wicked desires evil;

his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes. 11

When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise;

when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge. 12

The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked;

he throws the wicked down to ruin. 13

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor

will himself call out and not be answered. 14

A gift in secret averts anger,

and a concealed bribe, strong wrath. 15

When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous

but terror to evildoers. 16

One who wanders from the way of good sense

will rest in the assembly of the dead. 17

Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;

he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. 18

The wicked is a ransom for the righteous,

and the traitor for the upright. 19

It is better to live in a desert land

than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. 20

Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling,

but a foolish man devours it. 21

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness

will find life, righteousness, and honor. 22

A wise man scales the city of the mighty

and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. 23

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue

keeps himself out of trouble. 24

“Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man

who acts with arrogant pride. 25

The desire of the sluggard kills him,

for his hands refuse to labor. 26

All day long he craves and craves,

but the righteous gives and does not hold back. 27

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;

how much more when he brings it with evil intent. 28

A false witness will perish,

but the word of a man who hears will endure. 29

A wicked man puts on a bold face,

but the upright gives thought to his ways. 30

No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel

can avail against the Lord. 31

The horse is made ready for the day of battle,

but the victory belongs to the Lord.

HEBREWS 8

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Jesus, High Priest of a Better Covenant  8:1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
    8 For he finds fault with them when he says:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah, 9

not like the covenant that I made with their fathers

on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

For they did not continue in my covenant,

and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, declares the Lord:

I will put my laws into their minds,

and write them on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people. 11

And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor

and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

for they shall all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest. 12

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,

and I will remember their sins no more.” 13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.