The Crucifixion
26 mAnd as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. 28 But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but nweep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, o‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin to psay to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the wood is qgreen, what will happen when it is dry?”
Redemption Through the Blood of Christ
11 But when Christ appeared as a nhigh priest of the ogood things that have come,1 then through the greater and more perfect ptent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he qentered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and rthe sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify2 for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered shimself without blemish to God, tpurify our3 uconscience from vdead works to serve the living God.
15 Therefore he is the wmediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal xinheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.4 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore ynot even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and zscarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and awithout the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
23 Thus it was necessary for the bcopies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places cmade with hands, which are copies of the dtrue things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has eappeared fonce for all at the gend of the ages to hput away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and iafter that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to jbear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly kwaiting for him.
1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
so honor is lnot fitting for a fool.
2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
a curse that is causeless does not alight.
3 mA whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and na rod for the back of fools.
4 oAnswer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.
6 Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
7 pLike a lame man’s legs, which hang useless,
is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
8 Like one who binds the stone in the sling
is one who gives honor to a fool.
9 Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 Like an archer who wounds everyone
is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.1
11 qLike a dog that returns to his vomit
is a fool who repeats his folly.
12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
rThere is more hope for a fool than for him.
13 sThe sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
There is a lion in the streets!”
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
so does a sluggard on his bed.
15 tThe sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
than seven men who can answer sensibly.
The Lord’s Chosen Servant
1 bBehold cmy dservant, whom I uphold,
emy chosen, fin whom my soul delights;
gI have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged1
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
5 Thus says God, the Lord,
hwho created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the Lord; I have called you2 in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
iI will give you as a covenant for the people,
a jlight for the nations,
7 kto open the eyes that are blind,
lto bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the Lord; mthat is my name;
nmy glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and onew things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
Sing to the Lord a New Song
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the habitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them pgive glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.
13 The Lord goes out qlike a mighty man,
like a man of war he stirs up his rzeal;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.
14 For a long time sI have held my peace;
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor;
I will gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn the rivers into islands,3
and dry up the pools.
16 And I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
tthe rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.
17 They are turned back and utterly uput to shame,
who trust in carved idols,
who say to metal images,
“You are our gods.”
Israel’s Failure to Hear and See
18 Hear, you deaf,
and look, you blind, that you may see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,4
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
20 He sees many things, but does not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.
21 The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes
and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
23 Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob to the looter,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
25 So he poured on him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.
Israel’s Only Savior
1 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have vredeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give wEgypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I xlove you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
5 yFear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring zfrom the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
abring my sons from afar
band my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is ccalled by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
8 Bring out the people dwho are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
9 All the nations gather together,
and the peoples assemble.
Who among them can edeclare this,
and show us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right,
and let them hear and say, It is true.
10 f“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that gI am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
11 I, I am the Lord,
and hbesides me there is no savior.
12 I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.
13 Also henceforth I am he;
there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and iwho can turn it back?”
14 Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I send to Babylon
and bring them all down as fugitives,
even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.”
16 Thus says the Lord,
a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings forth chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 l“Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I am doing a mnew thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and nrivers in the desert.
20 The wild beasts will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself
othat they might declare my praise.
22 “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but pyou have been weary of me, O Israel!
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
or wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have qburdened me with your sins;
you have rwearied me with your iniquities.
25 “I, I am he
who sblots out your transgressions tfor my own sake,
and I will not uremember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
27 Your first father sinned,
and your mediators transgressed against me.
28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary,
and deliver Jacob to utter destruction
and Israel to reviling.
