Isaiah 1–2; Mark 1:1–22

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Isaiah 1–2

The avision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem bin the days of cUzziah, dJotham, eAhaz, and fHezekiah, kings of Judah.

The Wickedness of Judah

gHear, O heavens, and give ear, O hearth;

for the Lord has spoken:

Children1 ihave I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me.

The ox jknows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s crib,

but Israel does jnot know,

my people do not understand.

Ah, sinful nation,

a people laden with iniquity,

koffspring of evildoers,

children who deal corruptly!

They have forsaken the Lord,

they have ldespised mthe Holy One of Israel,

they are utterly nestranged.

Why will you still be ostruck down?

Why will you pcontinue to rebel?

The whole head is sick,

and the whole heart faint.

qFrom the sole of the foot even to the head,

there is no soundness in it,

but bruises and sores

and raw wounds;

they are rnot pressed out or bound up

or softened with oil.

sYour country lies desolate;

your cities are burned with fire;

in your very presence

foreigners devour your land;

it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.

And tthe daughter of Zion is left

like a ubooth in a vineyard,

like a lodge in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

vIf the Lord of hosts

had not left us wa few survivors,

we should have been like xSodom,

and become like xGomorrah.

10  Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of yzSodom!

Give ear to the teaching2 of our God,

you people of zGomorrah!

11  aWhat to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.

12  When you come to bappear before me,

who has required of you

this trampling of my courts?

13  Bring no more vain offerings;

incense is an abomination to me.

cNew moon and Sabbath and the dcalling of convocations

I cannot endure einiquity and fsolemn assembly.

14  Your cnew moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

15  When you gspread out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

heven though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

iyour hands are full of blood.

16  jWash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

kcease to do evil,

17  learn to do good;

lseek justice,

correct oppression;

mbring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow’s cause.

18  Come now, nlet us reason3 together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as owhite as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

19  pIf you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

20  but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be eaten by the sword;

qfor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The Unfaithful City

21  How the faithful city

rhas become a whore,4

sshe who was full of justice!

Righteousness lodged in her,

but now murderers.

22  tYour silver has become dross,

your best wine mixed with water.

23  Your princes are rebels

and companions of thieves.

Everyone uloves a bribe

and runs after gifts.

vThey do not bring justice to the fatherless,

and the widow’s cause does not come to them.

24  Therefore the wLord declares,

the Lord of hosts,

the xMighty One of Israel:

Ah, I will get relief from my enemies

yand avenge myself on my foes.

25  zI will turn my hand against you

and will smelt away your adross as with lye

and remove all your alloy.

26  And I will restore your judges bas at the first,

and your counselors as at the beginning.

Afterward cyou shall be called the city of righteousness,

the faithful city.

27  dZion shall be redeemed by justice,

and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

28  eBut rebels and sinners shall be broken together,

and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

29  fFor they5 shall be ashamed of gthe oaks

that you desired;

and you shall blush for hthe gardens

that you have chosen.

30  For you shall be ilike an oak

whose leaf withers,

and like a garden without water.

31  And the strong shall become jtinder,

and his work a spark,

and both of them shall burn together,

with knone to quench them.

The Mountain of the Lord

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

lIt shall come to pass in the latter days

that mthe mountain of the house of the Lord

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be lifted up above the hills;

and nall the nations shall flow to it,

and omany peoples shall come, and say:

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.

For pout of Zion shall go forth the law,6

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between the nations,

and shall decide disputes for many peoples;

qand they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

rnation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore.

O house of Jacob,

come, let us walk

in sthe light of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord

For you have rejected your people,

the house of Jacob,

because they are full of things tfrom the east

and uof fortune-tellers vlike the Philistines,

and they wstrike hands with the children of foreigners.

Their land is xfilled with silver and gold,

and there is no end to their treasures;

their land is yfilled with horses,

and there is no end to their chariots.

Their land is zfilled with idols;

they bow down to athe work of their hands,

to what their own fingers have made.

So man bis humbled,

and each one bis brought low

do not forgive them!

10  cEnter into the rock

and hide in the dust

dfrom before the terror of the Lord,

and from the splendor of his majesty.

11  eThe haughty looks of man shall be brought low,

and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,

and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

12  fFor the Lord of hosts has a day

against all that is proud and lofty,

against all that is lifted upand it shall be brought low;

13  against all the gcedars of Lebanon,

lofty and lifted up;

and against all the hoaks of Bashan;

14  against all ithe lofty mountains,

and against all the uplifted hills;

15  against every high tower,

and against every fortified wall;

16  against all jthe ships of Tarshish,

and against all the beautiful craft.

17  kAnd the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,

and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,

and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

18  lAnd the idols shall utterly pass away.

19  mAnd people shall enter the caves of the rocks

and the holes of the ground,7

from before the terror of the Lord,

and from the splendor of his majesty,

nwhen he rises to terrify the earth.

20  In that day omankind will cast away

their idols of silver and their idols of gold,

which they made for themselves to worship,

to the moles and to the pbats,

21  mto enter the caverns of the rocks

and the clefts of the cliffs,

from before the terror of the Lord,

and from the splendor of his majesty,

nwhen he rises to terrify the earth.

22  qStop regarding man

rin whose nostrils is breath,

for of what account is he?


Mark 1:1–22

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, athe Son of God.1

bAs it is written in Isaiah the prophet,2

cBehold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way,

dthe voice of one crying in the wilderness:

ePrepare3 the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,

fJohn appeared, baptizing in gthe wilderness and proclaiming ha baptism of irepentance jfor the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, kconfessing their sins. Now John was lclothed with camel’s hair and lwore a leather belt around his waist and ate mlocusts and nwild honey. And he preached, saying, oAfter me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. pI have baptized you with water, but qhe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

The Baptism of Jesus

rIn those days Jesus scame from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he tsaw uthe heavens being torn open vand the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And wa voice came from heaven, xYou are my beloved Son;4 with you I am well pleased.

The Temptation of Jesus

12 yThe Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 yAnd he was in the wilderness forty days, being ztempted by aSatan. And he was with the wild animals, and bthe angels were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

14 cNow after John was arrested, Jesus dcame into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, eThe time is fulfilled, and fthe kingdom of God is at hand;5 grepent and believe in the gospel.

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

16 hPassing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, Follow me, and I will make you become ifishers of men.6 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

21 jAnd they went into Capernaum, and immediately kon the Sabbath lhe entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And mthey were astonished at his teaching, mfor he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.