ISAIAH 53

« Isaiah 52 | Isaiah 53 | Isaiah 54 »

The Suffering Servant53:1 Who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

And like a root out of parched ground;

He has no stately form or majesty

That we should look upon Him,

Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

3 He was despised and forsaken of men,

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,

And our sorrows He carried;

Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

And by His scourging we are healed.

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all

To fall on Him.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;

And as for His generation, who considered

That He was cut off out of the land of the living

For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,

Yet He was with a rich man in His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

10 But the LORD was pleased

To crush Him, putting Him to grief;

If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring,

He will prolong His days,

And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,

He will see it and be satisfied;

By His knowledge the Righteous One,

My Servant, will justify the many,

As He will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,

And He will divide the booty with the strong;

Because He poured out Himself to death,

And was numbered with the transgressors;

Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,

And interceded for the transgressors.

ISAIAH 54

« Isaiah 53 | Isaiah 54 | Isaiah 55 »

The Fertility of Zion54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;

Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;

For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous

Than the sons of the married woman,” says the LORD.

2 “Enlarge the place of your tent;

Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not;

Lengthen your cords

And strengthen your pegs.

3 “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.

And your descendants will possess nations

And will resettle the desolate cities.

4 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;

And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;

But you will forget the shame of your youth,

And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

5 “For your husband is your Maker,

Whose name is the LORD of hosts;

And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,

Who is called the God of all the earth.

6 “For the LORD has called you,

Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,

Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”

Says your God.

7 “For a brief moment I forsook you,

But with great compassion I will gather you.

8 “In an outburst of anger

I hid My face from you for a moment,

But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,”

Says the LORD your Redeemer.

9 “For this is like the days of Noah to Me,

When I swore that the waters of Noah

Would not flood the earth again;

So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you

Nor will I rebuke you.

10 “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,

But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,

And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”

Says the LORD who has compassion on you.

11 “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,

Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,

And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.

12 “Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,

And your gates of crystal,

And your entire wall of precious stones.

13 “All your sons will be taught of the LORD;

And the well-being of your sons will be great.

14 “In righteousness you will be established;

You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;

And from terror, for it will not come near you.

15 “If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.

Whoever assails you will fall because of you.

16 “Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals

And brings out a weapon for its work;

And I have created the destroyer to ruin.

17 “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;

And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,

And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.

PROVERBS 27

« Proverbs 26 | Proverbs 27 | Proverbs 28 »

Warnings and Instructions27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow,

For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;

A stranger, and not your own lips.

3 A stone is heavy and the sand weighty,

But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.

4 Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood,

But who can stand before jealousy?

5 Better is open rebuke

Than love that is concealed.

6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend,

But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

7 A sated man loathes honey,

But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.

8 Like a bird that wanders from her nest,

So is a man who wanders from his home.

9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad,

So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.

10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,

And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;

Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,

That I may reply to him who reproaches me.

12 A prudent man sees evil and hides himself,

The naive proceed and pay the penalty.

13 Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;

And for an adulterous woman hold him in pledge.

14 He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,

It will be reckoned a curse to him.

15 A constant dripping on a day of steady rain

And a contentious woman are alike;

16 He who would restrain her restrains the wind,

And grasps oil with his right hand.

17 Iron sharpens iron,

So one man sharpens another.

18 He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit,

And he who cares for his master will be honored.

19 As in water face reflects face,

So the heart of man reflects man.

20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,

Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.

21 The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,

And each is tested by the praise accorded him.

22 Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,

Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

23 Know well the condition of your flocks,

And pay attention to your herds;

24 For riches are not forever,

Nor does a crown endure to all generations.

25 When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,

And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,

26 The lambs will be for your clothing,

And the goats will bring the price of a field,

27 And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,

For the food of your household,

And sustenance for your maidens.

PSALM 113

« Psalm 112 | Psalm 113 | Psalm 114 »

The LORD Exalts the Humble.113:1 Praise the LORD!

Praise, O servants of the LORD,

Praise the name of the LORD.

2 Blessed be the name of the LORD

From this time forth and forever.

3 From the rising of the sun to its setting

The name of the LORD is to be praised.

4 The LORD is high above all nations;

His glory is above the heavens.

5 Who is like the LORD our God,

Who is enthroned on high,

6 Who humbles Himself to behold

The things that are in heaven and in the earth?

7 He raises the poor from the dust

And lifts the needy from the ash heap,

8 To make them sit with princes,

With the princes of His people.

9 He makes the barren woman abide in the house

As a joyful mother of children.

Praise the LORD!

PSALM 114

« Psalm 113 | Psalm 114 | Psalm 115 »

God’s Deliverance of Israel from Egypt.114:1 When Israel went forth from Egypt,

The house of Jacob from a people of strange language,

2 Judah became His sanctuary,

Israel, His dominion.

3 The sea looked and fled;

The Jordan turned back.

4 The mountains skipped like rams,

The hills, like lambs.

5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee?

O Jordan, that you turn back?

6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?

O hills, like lambs?

7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord,

Before the God of Jacob,

8 Who turned the rock into a pool of water,

The flint into a fountain of water.