Isaiah 42–44
42:1Behold 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.2He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,or make it heard in the street;3a bruised reed he will not break,and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;he will faithfully bring forth justice.4He will not grow faint or be discouragedtill he has established justice in the earth;and the coastlands wait for his law. 5Thus 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 itand 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,7to open the eyes that are blind,to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,from the prison those who sit in darkness.8I am the LORD; that is my name;my glory I give to no other,nor my praise to carved idols.9Behold, the former things have come to pass,and new things I now declare;before they spring forthI tell you of them.”
10Sing 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.11Let 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.12Let them give glory to the LORD,and declare his praise in the coastlands.13The 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. 14For 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.15I will lay waste mountains and hills,and dry up all their vegetation;I will turn the rivers into islands,and dry up the pools.16And I will lead the blindin a way that they do not know,in paths that they have not knownI 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.17They are turned back and utterly put to shame,who trust in carved idols,who say to metal images,“You are our gods.”
18Hear, you deaf,and look, you blind, that you may see!19Who 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?20He sees many things, but does not observe them;his ears are open, but he does not hear.21The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,to magnify his law and make it glorious.22But this is a people plundered and looted;they are all of them trapped in holesand hidden in prisons;they have become plunder with none to rescue,spoil with none to say, “Restore!”23Who among you will give ear to this,will attend and listen for the time to come?24Who 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?25So he poured on him the heat of his angerand 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.
43:1But 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.2When 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.3For 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.4Because 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.5Fear not, for I am with you;I will bring your offspring from the east,and from the west I will gather you.6I will say to the north, Give up,and to the south, Do not withhold;bring my sons from afarand my daughters from the end of the earth,7everyone who is called by my name,whom I created for my glory,whom I formed and made.” 8Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes,who are deaf, yet have ears!9All 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 meand understand that I am he.Before me no god was formed,nor shall there be any after me.11I, I am the LORD,and besides me there is no savior.12I 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.13Also henceforth I am he;there is none who can deliver from my hand;I work, and who can turn it back?” 14Thus says the LORD,your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:“For your sake I send to Babylonand bring them all down as fugitives,even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.15I am the LORD, your Holy One,the Creator of Israel, your King.” 16Thus says the LORD,who makes a way in the sea,a path in the mighty waters,17who 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.19Behold, I am doing a new thing;now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?I will make a way in the wildernessand rivers in the desert.20The 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,21the people whom I formed for myselfthat they might declare my praise. 22“Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;but you have been weary of me, O Israel!23You 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.24You 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 hewho blots out your transgressions for my own sake,and I will not remember your sins.26Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;set forth your case, that you may be proved right.27Your first father sinned,and your mediators transgressed against me.28Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,and deliver Jacob to utter destructionand Israel to reviling.
44:1“But now hear, O Jacob my servant,Israel whom I have chosen!2Thus says the LORD who made you,who formed you from the womb and will help you:Fear not, O Jacob my servant,Jeshurun whom I have chosen.3For I will pour water on the thirsty land,and streams on the dry ground;I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,and my blessing on your descendants.4They shall spring up among the grasslike willows by flowing streams.5This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’s,’another will call on the name of Jacob,and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’and name himself by the name of Israel.”
6Thus says the LORD, the King of Israeland his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:“I am the first and I am the last;besides me there is no god.7Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.Let him declare and set it before me,since I appointed an ancient people.Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.8Fear not, nor be afraid;have I not told you from of old and declared it?And you are my witnesses!Is there a God besides me?There is no Rock; I know not any.”
9All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
12The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
21Remember these things, O Jacob,and Israel, for you are my servant;I formed you; you are my servant;O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.22I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloudand your sins like mist;return to me, for I have redeemed you. 23Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;shout, O depths of the earth;break forth into singing, O mountains,O forest, and every tree in it!For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,and will be glorified in Israel. 24Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,who formed you from the womb:“I am the LORD, who made all things,who alone stretched out the heavens,who spread out the earth by myself,25who frustrates the signs of liarsand makes fools of diviners,who turns wise men backand makes their knowledge foolish,26who confirms the word of his servantand fulfills the counsel of his messengers,who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,and I will raise up their ruins’;27who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;I will dry up your rivers’;28who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”
John 8:1–20
8:1but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]]
12Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” 14Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
Psalm 96
96:1Oh sing to the LORD a new song;sing to the LORD, all the earth!2Sing to the LORD, bless his name;tell of his salvation from day to day.3Declare his glory among the nations,his marvelous works among all the peoples!4For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;he is to be feared above all gods.5For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,but the LORD made the heavens.6Splendor and majesty are before him;strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!8Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;bring an offering, and come into his courts!9Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;tremble before him, all the earth! 10Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;he will judge the peoples with equity.” 11Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;let the sea roar, and all that fills it;12let the field exult, and everything in it!Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy13before the LORD, for he comes,for he comes to judge the earth.He will judge the world in righteousness,and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Proverbs 28:17–20
17If one is burdened with the blood of another,he will be a fugitive until death;let no one help him.18Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered,but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.19Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.20A faithful man will abound with blessings,but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.
