32 rTwo others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, s“Father, forgive them, for they tknow not what they do.”1 And uthey cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the vChrist of God, his wChosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and xoffering him ysour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, zsave yourself!”
Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All
1 For since the law has but a lshadow of the mgood things to come instead of the true form of these realities, nit can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been ocleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Consequently, when Christ1 came pinto the world, he said,
q“Sacrifices and offerings ryou have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and sburnt offerings and tsin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been usanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ vonce for all.
11 And every priest stands wdaily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ2 had xoffered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, yhe sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has zperfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
15 And athe Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 b“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds,
c“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
17 uWhoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
18 Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death
19 is the man who deceives his neighbor
and says, “I am only joking!”
20 For lack of wood the fire goes out,
and where there is no whisperer, vquarreling ceases.
21 As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 wThe words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
23 Like the glaze1 covering an earthen vessel
are xfervent lips with an evil heart.
24 Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips
and harbors deceit in his heart;
25 when he speaks graciously, believe him not,
for there are yseven abominations in his heart;
26 though his zhatred be covered with deception,
his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will afall into it,
and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.
28 A lying tongue hates its victims,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
Israel the Lord’s Chosen
1 “But now hear, O Jacob vmy servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
who formed you from the womb and will help you:
Fear not, O Jacob my servant,
wJeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
xI will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They shall spring up among the grass
like willows by flowing streams.
5 This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s,’
another will call on the name of Jacob,
and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and name himself by the name of Israel.”
Besides Me There Is No God
6 Thus says the Lord, the yKing of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the zfirst and I am the last;
abesides me there is no god.
7 Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.1
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
bLet them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
8 Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And cyou are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
There is no dRock; I know not any.”
The Folly of Idolatry
9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in edo not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be fput to shame. 10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
12 The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.2 He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He gprays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
The Lord Redeems Israel
21 hRemember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
O Israel, iyou will not be forgotten by me.
22 I have jblotted out your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.
23 kSing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
shout, O depths of the earth;
lbreak forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord mhas redeemed Jacob,
and will be glorified3 in Israel.
24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone nstretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
25 who frustrates the signs of liars
and makes fools of diviners,
who turns wise men back
and omakes their knowledge foolish,
26 who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
and I will raise up their ruins’;
27 who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;
I will dry up your rivers’;
28 who says of pCyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”
Cyrus, God’s Instrument
1 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
2 “I will go before you
and qlevel the exalted places,4
I will rbreak in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my schosen,
I call you by your name,
I name you, though you do not know me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
6 that people may know, tfrom the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
8 “Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;
let the earth cause them both to sprout;
I the Lord have created it.
9 “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
a pot among earthen pots!
Does the uclay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
or ‘Your work has no handles’?
10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’
or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
11 Thus says the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
“Ask me of things to come;
will you command me concerning my vchildren and the work of my hands?5
12 I made the earth
and created man on it;
it was my hands that wstretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.
13 I have xstirred him up in righteousness,
and I will make all his ways level;
he shall ybuild my city
and set my exiles free,
znot for price or reward,”
says the Lord of hosts.
The Lord, the Only Savior
14 Thus says the Lord:
“The wealth of aEgypt and the merchandise of Cush,
and the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours;
they shall bfollow you;
they shall come over in chains and cbow down to you.
They will plead with you, saying:
d‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
no god besides him.’”
15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.
16 All of them are eput to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in confusion together.
17 But Israel is saved by the Lord
with everlasting salvation;
fyou shall not be put to shame or confounded
to all eternity.
18 For thus says the Lord,
gwho created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he did not create it empty,
he formed it to be inhabited!):
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 hI did not speak in secret,
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
‘Seek me in vain.’6
I the Lord speak the truth;
I declare what is right.
20 “Assemble yourselves and come;
draw near together,
you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge
who icarry about their wooden idols,
and keep on jpraying to a god
that cannot save.
21 Declare and present your case;
let them take counsel together!
Who ktold this long ago?
Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none besides me.
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 lBy myself I have sworn;
mfrom my mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
‘To me nevery knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’7
24 “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and strength;
to him shall come and be ashamed
oall who were incensed against him.
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall be justified and shall glory.”
