The Lord’s Coming Salvation
1 fAwake, awake,
put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the gholy city;
for there shall no more come into you
the uncircumcised and the hunclean.
2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says the Lord: “You were isold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed jwithout money.” 4 For thus says the Lord God: k“My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.1 5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the Lord, “and continually all the day lmy name is mdespised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”
7 nHow beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who obrings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing,
you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and pall the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
11 qDepart, depart, go out from there;
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you shall not go out rin haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for the Lord will go before you,
and sthe God of Israel will be your rear guard.
He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions
13 Behold, tmy servant shall act wisely;2
he shall be uhigh and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle3 many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for vthat which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
1 wWho has xbelieved what he has heard from us?4
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a yroot out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was zdespised and rejected5 by men,
a man of sorrows6 and acquainted with7 grief;8
and as one from whom men hide their faces9
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely ahe has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced bfor our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 cAll we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet dhe opened not his mouth;
elike a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not 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,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a frich man in his death,
although10 ghe had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;11
when his soul makes12 an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see13 and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, hmy servant,
imake many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall jbear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,14
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,15
because he poured out his soul to death
kand was numbered lwith the transgressors;
yet he mbore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
The Eternal Covenant of Peace
1 n“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
break forth into singing and cry aloud,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the odesolate one will be more
than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.
2 p“Enlarge the place of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
3 For you will qspread abroad to the right and to the left,
and your offspring will rpossess the nations
and will people the desolate cities.
4 “Fear not, for syou will not be ashamed;
be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5 For your Maker is your husband,
the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God tof the whole earth he is called.
6 For the Lord has called you
like a wife udeserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
says your God.
7 For a brief moment I deserted you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
8 vIn overflowing anger for a moment
I whid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9 “This is like the days of Noah16 to me:
xas I swore that the waters of Noah
should no more go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,
and will not rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
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 lay your foundations with sapphires.17
12 I will make your pinnacles of agate,18
your gates of carbuncles,19
and all your wall of precious stones.
13 yAll your children shall be taught by the Lord,
and great shall be the peace of your children.
14 In righteousness you shall be established;
you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15 If anyone stirs up strife,
it is not from me;
whoever stirs up strife with you
shall fall because of you.
16 Behold, I have created the smith
who blows the fire of coals
and produces a weapon for its purpose.
I have also created the ravager to destroy;
17 no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
and their vindication20 from me, declares the Lord.”
The Compassion of the Lord
1 z“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and aI will make with you an everlasting bcovenant,
cmy steadfast, sure love for David.
4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
dfor he has glorified you.
6 “Seek the Lord ewhile he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For fas the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
ggiving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my hword be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but iit shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 “For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 jInstead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
The Lord Our God Is Holy
1 The Lord yreigns; let the peoples tremble!
He sits zenthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted aover all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name!
bHoly is he!
4 The King in his might loves justice.1
You have established equity;
you have executed cjustice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God;
dworship at his footstool!
Holy is he!
6 eMoses and Aaron were among his priests,
fSamuel also was among those who gcalled upon his name.
hThey called to the Lord, and he answered them.
7 iIn the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
they kept his testimonies
and the statute that he gave them.
8 O Lord our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the Lord our God is holy!
1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all sgood conscience up to this day.” 2 And the thigh priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him uon the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you vwhitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me waccording to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” 4 Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?” 5 And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, x‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
6 Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, yI am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the zhope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no aresurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find bnothing wrong in this man. cWhat if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” 10 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks.
11 The following dnight the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must etestify also in Rome.”
A Plot to Kill Paul
12 When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had fkilled Paul. 13 There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. 14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. 15 Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”
16 Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” 18 So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul the gprisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” 19 The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” 20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. 21 But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who have bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” 22 So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”
Paul Sent to Felix the Governor
23 Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.1 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the hgovernor.” 25 And he wrote a letter to this effect:
26 “Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings. 27 iThis man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a jRoman citizen. 28 And desiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. 29 I found that he was being accused about kquestions of their law, but charged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. 30 And when it was disclosed to me that there would be a lplot against the man, I sent him to you at once, mordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”
31 So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 And on the next day they returned to the barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. 33 When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. 34 On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was nfrom Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod’s praetorium.