ISAIAH 42

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The Lord’s Chosen Servant42:1

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my Spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2

He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street; 3

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4

He will not grow faint or be discouraged

till he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his law.
5

Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it: 6

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people,

a light for the nations, 7

to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8

I am the Lord; that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols. 9

Behold, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.” Sing to the Lord a New Song10

Sing to the Lord a new song,

his praise from the end of the earth,

you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,

the coastlands and their inhabitants. 11

Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,

the villages that Kedar inhabits;

let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,

let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12

Let them give glory to the Lord,

and declare his praise in the coastlands. 13

The Lord goes out like a mighty man,

like a man of war he stirs up his zeal;

he cries out, he shouts aloud,

he shows himself mighty against his foes.
14

For a long time I have held my peace;

I have kept still and restrained myself;

now I will cry out like a woman in labor;

I will gasp and pant. 15

I will lay waste mountains and hills,

and dry up all their vegetation;

I will turn the rivers into islands,

and dry up the pools. 16

And I will lead the blind

in a way that they do not know,

in paths that they have not known

I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I do,

and I do not forsake them. 17

They are turned back and utterly put to shame,

who trust in carved idols,

who say to metal images,

“You are our gods.” Israel’s Failure to Hear and See18

Hear, you deaf,

and look, you blind, that you may see! 19

Who is blind but my servant,

or deaf as my messenger whom I send?

Who is blind as my dedicated one,

or blind as the servant of the Lord? 20

He sees many things, but does not observe them;

his ears are open, but he does not hear. 21

The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,

to magnify his law and make it glorious. 22

But this is a people plundered and looted;

they are all of them trapped in holes

and hidden in prisons;

they have become plunder with none to rescue,

spoil with none to say, “Restore!” 23

Who among you will give ear to this,

will attend and listen for the time to come? 24

Who gave up Jacob to the looter,

and Israel to the plunderers?

Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,

in whose ways they would not walk,

and whose law they would not obey? 25

So he poured on him the heat of his anger

and the might of battle;

it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;

it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.

ISAIAH 43

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Israel’s Only Savior43:1

But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine. 2

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you. 3

For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4

Because you are precious in my eyes,

and honored, and I love you,

I give men in return for you,

peoples in exchange for your life. 5

Fear not, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you. 6

I will say to the north, Give up,

and to the south, Do not withhold;

bring my sons from afar

and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7

everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.”
8

Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,

who are deaf, yet have ears! 9

All the nations gather together,

and the peoples assemble.

Who among them can declare this,

and show us the former things?

Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,

and let them hear and say, It is true. 10

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“and my servant whom I have chosen,

that you may know and believe me

and understand that I am he.

Before me no god was formed,

nor shall there be any after me. 11

I, I am the Lord,

and besides me there is no savior. 12

I declared and saved and proclaimed,

when there was no strange god among you;

and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God. 13

Also henceforth I am he;

there is none who can deliver from my hand;

I work, and who can turn it back?”
14

Thus says the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

“For your sake I send to Babylon

and bring them all down as fugitives,

even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice. 15

I am the Lord, your Holy One,

the Creator of Israel, your King.”
16

Thus says the Lord,

who makes a way in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters, 17

who brings forth chariot and horse,

army and warrior;

they lie down, they cannot rise,

they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18

“Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old. 19

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert. 20

The wild beasts will honor me,

the jackals and the ostriches,

for I give water in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my chosen people, 21

the people whom I formed for myself

that they might declare my praise.
22

“Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;

but you have been weary of me, O Israel! 23

You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,

or honored me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

or wearied you with frankincense. 24

You have not bought me sweet cane with money,

or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.

But you have burdened me with your sins;

you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25

“I, I am he

who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,

and I will not remember your sins. 26

Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;

set forth your case, that you may be proved right. 27

Your first father sinned,

and your mediators transgressed against me. 28

Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,

and deliver Jacob to utter destruction

and Israel to reviling.

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 9

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The Earthly Holy Place  9:1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
    6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. Redemption Through the Blood of Christ11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
    15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
    23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.