Evil and Oppression
1 Behold, bthe Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 cbut your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 dFor your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 eNo one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
fthey conceive 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 gTheir 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 hTheir 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 way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
ino one who treads on them knows peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
jwe hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 kWe grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
lamong those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11 We all growl like bears;
mwe moan and moan like doves;
nwe 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 testify 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,
ospeaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
Judgment and Redemption
14 pJustice 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 qHe saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
17 rHe put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in szeal as a cloak.
18 tAccording to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
uto the coastlands he will render repayment.
19 vSo they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
wfor he will come like a rushing stream,2
which the wind of the Lord drives.
20 x“And ya Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.
21 “And as for me, zthis is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, aand my 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 bArise, shine, for your light has come,
and cthe glory of the Lord has risen 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 dAnd nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 eLift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
fyour sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
5 Then you shall see and gbe radiant;
your heart shall thrill and exult,3
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
hthe wealth of the nations shall come to you.
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of iMidian and jEphah;
all those from kSheba shall come.
lThey shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.
7 All the flocks of mKedar shall be gathered to you;
the rams of nNebaioth shall minister to you;
othey shall come up with acceptance on my altar,
pand I will beautify my beautiful house.
8 Who are these that fly like a cloud,
and qlike doves to their windows?
9 For rthe coastlands shall hope for me,
sthe ships of Tarshish first,
tto 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 uhe has made you beautiful.
10 vForeigners shall build up your walls,
and vtheir kings shall minister to you;
for in my wrath I struck you,
but in my favor I have had mercy on you.
11 wYour gates shall be open continually;
day and night they shall not be shut,
wthat people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,
with their kings led in procession.
12 xFor the nation and kingdom
that will not serve you shall perish;
those nations shall be utterly laid waste.
13 yThe glory of Lebanon shall come to you,
the cypress, the plane, and zthe pine,
to beautify the place of my sanctuary,
and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
14 aThe sons of those who afflicted you
shall come bending low to you,
band all who despised you
shall bow down at your feet;
cthey shall call you the City of the Lord,
the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
15 dWhereas you have been forsaken and hated,
with no one passing through,
eI will make you majestic forever,
a joy from age to age.
16 fYou shall suck the milk of nations;
you shall nurse at the breast of kings;
and you shall know that gI, the Lord, am your Savior
and your Redeemer, hthe 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
iand your taskmasters righteousness.
18 jViolence shall no more be heard in your land,
devastation or destruction within your borders;
kyou shall call your walls Salvation,
and your gates Praise.
19 lThe sun shall be no more
your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
give you light;4
but the 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 myour days of mourning shall be ended.
21 nYour people shall all be righteous;
othey shall possess the land forever,
pthe branch of my planting, the work of my hands,
that I might be glorified.6
22 qThe least one shall become a clan,
and the smallest one a mighty nation;
rI am the Lord;
in its time I will hasten it.
The Year of the Lord’s Favor
1 sThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has tanointed me
to bring good news to the poor;7
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and uthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;8
2 vto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
wand the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
xto give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
ythe oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
zthat they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, athat he may be glorified.9
4 bThey shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
5 cStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
6 dbut you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
eyou shall eat the wealth of the nations,
and in their glory you shall boast.
7 fInstead 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 everlasting joy.
8 gFor I the Lord love justice;
I hate robbery and wrong;10
hI will faithfully give them their recompense,
iand I will make an everlasting covenant 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 jI will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
kfor he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself llike a priest with a beautiful headdress,
mand 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 nrighteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
1 xIt was now two days before ythe Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes zwere seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, alest there be an uproar from the people.”
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
3 bAnd while he was at cBethany in the house of Simon the leper,1 as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii2 and dgiven to the poor.” And they escolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For fyou always have the poor with you, and whenever gyou want, you can do good for them. But hyou will not always have me. 8 iShe has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand jfor burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever kthe gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told lin memory of her.”
Judas to Betray Jesus
10 mThen nJudas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, nwent to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to obetray him.
The Passover with the Disciples
12 pAnd on qthe first day of Unleavened Bread, when they rsacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13 And he sent stwo of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, t‘The Teacher says, Where is umy guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 And he will show you va large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
17 wAnd when it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18 And as they were reclining at table and eating, xJesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, yone who is eating with me.” 19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” 20 He said to them, “It is zone of the twelve, yone who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes aas it is written of him, but bwoe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! cIt would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
Institution of the Lord’s Supper
22 dAnd as they were eating, he took bread, and after eblessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; fthis is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had ggiven thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, f“This is my hblood of the3 covenant, which is poured out for imany. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial
26 jAnd when they had sung a hymn, kthey went out to lthe Mount of Olives.
