Aug 10 - Isaiah 40-42
Isaiah
1"Be consoled, be consoled, O my people!" says your God2Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her! For her malice has reached its end. Her iniquity has been forgiven. She has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord3The voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God, in a solitary place4Every valley will be exalted, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. And the crooked will be straightened, and the uneven will become level ways5And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. And all flesh together will see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.6The voice of one saying, "Cry out!" And I said, "What should I cry out?" "All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field7The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. For the Spirit of the Lord has blown over it. Truly, the people are like grass8The grass has dried up, and the flower has fallen. But the Word of our Lord remains for eternity.9You who evangelize Zion, climb a high mountain! You who evangelize Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength! Lift it up! Do not be afraid! Say to the cities of Judah: "Behold, your God!10Behold, the Lord God will arrive in strength, and his arm will rule. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him11He will pasture his flock like a shepherd. He will gather together the lambs with his arm, and he will lift them up to his bosom, and he himself will carry the very young12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and who has weighed the heavens with his palm? Who has suspended the mass of the earth with three fingers, and who has weighed the mountains on a balance and the hills on a scale13Who has assisted the Spirit of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor and has revealed things to him14With whom has he consulted? And who has instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and guided him to knowledge, and revealed the way of understanding to him15Behold, the nations are like a drop of water in a bucket, and they are considered as the smallest grain on a balance. Behold, the islands are like a little dust16And Lebanon will not be sufficient to start a fire, and its animals will not be sufficient for a burnt offering17All the nations in his sight are as if they did not exist, and they are considered by him as if they were nothingness and emptiness18Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with what image would you replace him19Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver20He has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved21Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth22He is the One who sits upon the globe of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He extends the heavens as if they were nothing, and he spreads them out like a tent, in which to dwell23He has brought those who examine what is secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth to emptiness24And certainly, their stalk was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the ground. He has suddenly blown across them, and they have withered, and a whirlwind will carry them away like chaff25"And to whom would you compare me or equate me?" says the Holy One26Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things. He leads forth their army by number, and he calls them all by name. Because of the fullness of his strength and robustness and virtue, not one of them was left behind27Why do you say this, O Jacob, and why do you speak this way, O Israel? "My way has been hidden from the Lord, and my judgment escaped notice by my God.28Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord is the eternal God, who has created the limits of the earth. He does not diminish, and he does not struggle. Neither is his wisdom searchable29It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing30Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity31But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire
1Let the islands be silent before me, and let the nations take new strength. Let them draw near, and then speak. Let us apply for judgment together2Who has raised up a just man from the east, and has called him to follow him? He will place the nations under his gaze, and he will rule over kings. He will cause them to be like dust before his sword, like chaff driven by the wind before his bow3He will pursue them. He will pass by in peace. No trace will appear after his feet4Who has worked and accomplished these things, calling to the generations from the beginning? "It is I, the Lord! I am the first and the last.5The islands saw it and were afraid. The ends of the earth were stupefied. They drew near and arrived6Each one will help his neighbor and will say to his brother, "Be strengthened.7The coppersmith striking with the mallet encouraged him who was forging at that time, saying, "It is ready for soldering." And he strengthened it with nails, so that it would not be moved8But you, O Israel, are my servant, O Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of my friend Abraham9For his sake, I have taken you from the ends of the earth, and I have called you from its distant places. And I said to you: "You are my servant. I have chosen you, and I have not cast you aside.10Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not turn away, for I am your God. I have strengthened you, and I have assisted you, and the right hand of my just one has upheld you11Behold, all who fight against you shall be confounded and ashamed. They will be as if they did not exist, and the men who contradict you will perish12You will seek them, and you will not find them. The men who rebel against you will be as if they did not exist. And the men who make war against you will be like something that has been consumed13For I am the Lord your God. I take you by your hand, and I say to you: Do not be afraid. I have helped you14Fear not, O worm of Jacob, you who are dead within Israel. I have helped you, says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel15I have established you like a new threshing cart, having serrated blades. You will thresh the mountains and crush them. And you will turn the hills into chaff16You will winnow them, and the wind will blow them away, and the whirlwind will scatter them. And you shall exult in the Lord; you shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel17The indigent and the poor are seeking water, but there is none. Their tongue has been dried up by thirst. I, the Lord, will heed them. I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them18I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the midst of the plains. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the impassable land into streams of water19I will plant the cedar in a deserted place, with the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree. In the desert, I will plant the pine, and the elm, and the box tree together20so that they may see and know, acknowledge and understand, together, that the hand of the Lord has accomplished this, and that the Holy One of Israel has created it21Bring your case forward, says the Lord. Bring it here, if you have anything to allege, says the King of Jacob22Let them approach and announce to us the things that will occur. Announce to us the things that were before. And we will apply our heart to them, and we will know their end. And so, reveal to us the things that will occur23Announce the things that will occur in the future, and we will know that you are gods. Likewise, accomplish good or evil, if you are able, and let us speak of it and see it together24Behold, you exist out of nothing, and your work is from what does not exist; he who has chosen you is an abomination25I have raised up one from the north, and he will arrive from the rising of the sun. He will call upon my name, and he will reduce magistrates to mud, like a potter working with clay26Who has announced this from its rising, so that we may know it, or from its beginning, so that we may say, "You are just." There is no one who either announces, or predicts, or hears your words27The first one will say to Zion: "Behold, they are here," and to Jerusalem, "I will present an evangelist.28And I saw, and there was no one among any of them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word29Behold, they are all unjust, and their works are empty. Their idols are wind and emptiness
1Behold my servant, I will uphold him, my elect, with him my soul is well-pleased. I have sent my Spirit upon him. He will offer judgment to the nations2He will not cry out, and he will not show favoritism to anyone; neither will his voice be heard abroad3The bruised reed he will not break, and the smoldering wick he will not extinguish. He will lead forth judgment unto truth4He will not be saddened or troubled, until he establishes judgment on earth. And the islands will await his law5Thus says the Lord God, who created the heavens and expanded it, who formed the earth and all that springs from it, who gives breath to the people in it, and spirit to those walking on it6I, the Lord, have called you in justice, and I have taken your hand and preserved you. And I have presented you as a covenant of the people, as a light to the Gentiles7so that you may open the eyes of the blind, and lead out the prisoner from confinement and those sitting in darkness from the house of incarceration8I am the Lord; this is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things9The things that were first, behold, they have arrived. And I also announce what is new. Before these things arise, I will cause you to hear about them10Sing to the Lord a new canticle, sing his praise from the ends of the earth, you who descend into the sea and all its fullness, the islands and their inhabitants11Let the desert and its cities be lifted up. Kedar will dwell in houses. O inhabitants of the rock, give praise! They will cry out from the top of the mountains12They will give glory to the Lord, and they will announce his praise to the islands13The Lord will go forth like a strong man; like a man of battle, he will stir up zeal. He will shout and cry out. He will prevail against his enemies14I have always been quiet; I have been silent; I have been patient. I will speak like a woman giving birth. I will destroy and consume, all at once15I will desolate the mountains and the hills, and I will wither all their grass. And I will turn rivers into islands, and I will dry up the pools of water16And I will lead the blind along a way which they do not know. And I will cause them to walk along paths with which they were unfamiliar. I will turn darkness into light before them, and crooked into straight. These things I have done for them. For I have not abandoned them17They have been converted again. Let those who trust in graven idols be greatly confounded, for they say to a molten thing, "You are our god.18You who are deaf, hear! You who are blind, turn your gaze and see19Who is blind, except my servant? Who is deaf, except the one to whom I have sent my messengers? Who is blind, except the one who has been sold? And who is blind, except the servant of the Lord20You who see many things, will you not keep them? You who have open ears, will you not listen21And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and to exalt him22But this same people has robbed and laid waste. All their youth are a snare, and they have been hidden in houses of confinement. They have become victims; there is no one who may rescue them. They have been plundered; there is no one who may say, "Restore.23Who is there among you who will hear this, who will listen closely and heed this in the future24Who has handed over Jacob into plunder, and Israel into devastation? It is not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned? And they were not willing to walk in his ways, and they have not listened to his law25And so, he poured out over him the indignation of his fury and a strong battle. And he burned him all around, and he did not realize it. And he set him on fire, and he did not understand it