Evil and Oppression
1 Behold, zthe Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 but ayour iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have bhidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 For your chands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 No one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
they dconceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs;
they weave the spider’s web;
he who eats their eggs dies,
and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
6 Their webs will not serve as clothing;
men will not cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.
7 eTheir feet run to evil,
and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
desolation and destruction are in their highways.
8 The fway of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
no one who treads on them knows peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
we hope for light, and gbehold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We hgrope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11 We all growl like bears;
we moan and moan ilike doves;
we hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins jtestify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13 transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
Judgment and Redemption
14 Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him1
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that kthere was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then lhis own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
17 He put on righteousness as a mbreastplate,
and a nhelmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of ovengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in pzeal as a cloak.
18 According to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
to the coastlands he will render repayment.
19 So they shall qfear the name of the Lord rfrom the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
for he will come like a rushing stream,2
which the wind of the Lord drives.
20 “And sa Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.
21 “And as for me, this is my tcovenant with them,” says the Lord: u“My Spirit that is upon you, and vmy words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”
The Future Glory of Israel
1 wArise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has xrisen upon you.
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
3 yAnd nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 zLift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
ayour sons shall come from afar,
band your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
5 Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and exult,3
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
the wealth of the nations cshall come to you.
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.
7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;
the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you;
they shall come up dwith acceptance on my altar,
and I will beautify my beautiful house.
8 Who are these that fly like a cloud,
and like doves to their windows?
9 For ethe coastlands shall hope for me,
the fships of Tarshish first,
to bring your children from afar,
their silver and gold with them,
for the name of the Lord your God,
and for the Holy One of Israel,
because he has made you beautiful.
10 gForeigners shall build up your walls,
and their kings shall minister to you;
for hin my wrath I struck you,
but in my favor I have had mercy on you.
11 iYour gates shall be open continually;
day and night they shall not be shut,
that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,
with their kings led in procession.
12 For the nation and kingdom
that will not serve you shall perish;
those nations shall be utterly laid waste.
13 The glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
the jcypress, the plane, and the pine,
to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
14 The sons of those who afflicted you
shall come bending low to you,
and all who despised you
shall kbow down at your feet;
they shall lcall you the mCity of the Lord,
the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
15 Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
with no one passing through,
I will make you majestic forever,
na joy from age to age.
16 You shall suck the milk of nations;
you shall onurse at the breast of kings;
and you shall know that I, the Lord, am pyour Savior
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
17 Instead of bronze I will bring gold,
and instead of iron I will bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze,
instead of stones, iron.
I will make your overseers peace
and your taskmasters righteousness.
18 Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
devastation or destruction within your borders;
you shall call your qwalls Salvation,
and your gates Praise.
19 The sun shall be no more
your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
give you light;4
but rthe Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.5
20 Your sun shall no more go down,
nor your moon withdraw itself;
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and syour days of mourning shall be ended.
21 Your people shall all be righteous;
they shall possess the land forever,
the branch of my tplanting, the work of my hands,
that I might be glorified.6
22 The least one shall become a clan,
and the smallest one a mighty nation;
I am the Lord;
in its time I will hasten it.
The Year of the Lord’s Favor
1 uThe Spirit of the Lord God is vupon me,
because the Lord has wanointed me
to bring xgood news to the poor;7
he has sent me to ybind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and zthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;8
2 to proclaim athe year of the Lord’s favor,
and the bday of vengeance of our God;
to ccomfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the doil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the eplanting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.9
4 They shall build up the fancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the gruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
5 hStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
6 but iyou shall be called the priests of the Lord;
they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
you shall eat the jwealth of the nations,
and in their glory you shall boast.
7 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;
instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
they shall have keverlasting joy.
8 For I the Lord love justice;
I hate robbery and wrong;10
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting lcovenant with them.
9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the mrobe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.
Pray for Us
1 Finally, brothers,1 upray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,2 vas happened among you, 2 and that we may be wdelivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and xguard you against the evil one.3 4 And ywe have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we zcommand. 5 May the Lord adirect your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
Warning Against Idleness
6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you bkeep away from any brother who is walking in cidleness and not in accord with the dtradition that you received from us. 7 For eyou yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and flabor we worked night and day, gthat we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 hIt was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but ibusybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work jquietly and to earn their own living.4
13 As for you, brothers, kdo not grow weary lin doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 mDo not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Benediction
16 Now may the Lord of peace himself ngive you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.
17 oI, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of pgenuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.