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Sin, Confession and Redemption

1 Surely the arm of theLordis not too short to save,

nor his ear too dull to hear.

2 But your iniquities have separated

you from your God;

your sins have hidden his face from you,

so that he will not hear.

3 For your hands are stained with blood,

your fingers with guilt.

Your lips have spoken falsely,

and your tongue mutters wicked things.

4 No one calls for justice;

no one pleads a case with integrity.

They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;

they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.

5 They hatch the eggs of vipers

and spin a spider’s web.

Whoever eats their eggs will die,

and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.

6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.

Their deeds are evil deeds,

and acts of violence are in their hands.

7 Their feet rush into sin;

they are swift to shed innocent blood.

They pursue evil schemes;

acts of violence mark their ways.

8 The way of peace they do not know;

there is no justice in their paths.

They have turned them into crooked roads;

no one who walks along them will know peace.

9 So justice is far from us,

and righteousness does not reach us.

We look for light, but all is darkness;

for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.

10 Like the blind we grope along the wall,

feeling our way like people without eyes.

At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;

among the strong, we are like the dead.

11 We all growl like bears;

we moan mournfully like doves.

We look for justice, but find none;

for deliverance, but it is far away.

12 For our offenses are many in your sight,

and our sins testify against us.

Our offenses are ever with us,

and we acknowledge our iniquities:

13 rebellion and treachery against theLord,

turning our backs on our God,

inciting revolt and oppression,

uttering lies our hearts have conceived.

14 So justice is driven back,

and righteousness stands at a distance;

truth has stumbled in the streets,

honesty cannot enter.

15 Truth is nowhere to be found,

and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

TheLordlooked and was displeased

that there was no justice.

16 He saw that there was no one,

he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;

so his own arm achieved salvation for him,

and his own righteousness sustained him.

17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,

and the helmet of salvation on his head;

he put on the garments of vengeance

and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.

18 According to what they have done,

so will he repay

wrath to his enemies

and retribution to his foes;

he will repay the islands their due.

19 From the west, people will fear the name of theLord,

and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.

For he will come like a pent-up flood

that the breath of theLorddrives along.

20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,

to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”

declares theLord.

21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says theLord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says theLord.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/ISA/59-b16aad53b5b7aa5c749fe9884be40786.mp3?version_id=111—

The Glory of Zion

1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of theLordrises upon you.

2 See, darkness covers the earth

and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but theLordrises upon you

and his glory appears over you.

3 Nations will come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you:

All assemble and come to you;

your sons come from afar,

and your daughters are carried on the hip.

5 Then you will look and be radiant,

your heart will throb and swell with joy;

the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,

to you the riches of the nations will come.

6 Herds of camels will cover your land,

young camels of Midian and Ephah.

And all from Sheba will come,

bearing gold and incense

and proclaiming the praise of theLord.

7 All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you,

the rams of Nebaioth will serve you;

they will be accepted as offerings on my altar,

and I will adorn my glorious temple.

8 “Who are these that fly along like clouds,

like doves to their nests?

9 Surely the islands look to me;

in the lead are the ships of Tarshish,

bringing your children from afar,

with their silver and gold,

to the honor of theLordyour God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendor.

10 “Foreigners will rebuild your walls,

and their kings will serve you.

Though in anger I struck you,

in favor I will show you compassion.

11 Your gates will always stand open,

they will never be shut, day or night,

so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations—

their kings led in triumphal procession.

12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish;

it will be utterly ruined.

13 “The glory of Lebanon will come to you,

the juniper, the fir and the cypress together,

to adorn my sanctuary;

and I will glorify the place for my feet.

14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you;

all who despise you will bow down at your feet

and will call you the City of theLord,

Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

15 “Although you have been forsaken and hated,

with no one traveling through,

I will make you the everlasting pride

and the joy of all generations.

16 You will drink the milk of nations

and be nursed at royal breasts.

Then you will know that I, theLord, am your Savior,

your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

17 Instead of bronze I will bring you gold,

and silver in place of iron.

Instead of wood I will bring you bronze,

and iron in place of stones.

I will make peace your governor

and well-being your ruler.

18 No longer will violence be heard in your land,

nor ruin or destruction within your borders,

but you will call your walls Salvation

and your gates Praise.

19 The sun will no more be your light by day,

nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,

for theLordwill be your everlasting light,

and your God will be your glory.

20 Your sun will never set again,

and your moon will wane no more;

theLordwill be your everlasting light,

and your days of sorrow will end.

21 Then all your people will be righteous

and they will possess the land forever.

They are the shoot I have planted,

the work of my hands,

for the display of my splendor.

22 The least of you will become a thousand,

the smallest a mighty nation.

I am theLord;

in its time I will do this swiftly.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/ISA/60-7dd4cdf1eea51046f7098968ab4290b2.mp3?version_id=111—

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

1 The Spirit of the SovereignLordis on me,

because theLordhas anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of theLord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of theLord

for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins

and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

that have been devastated for generations.

5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;

foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of theLord,

you will be named ministers of our God.

You will feed on the wealth of nations,

and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of your shame

you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace

you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,

and everlasting joy will be yours.

8 “For I, theLord, love justice;

I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people

and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations

and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge

that they are a people theLordhas blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in theLord;

my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up

and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the SovereignLordwill make righteousness

and praise spring up before all nations.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/ISA/61-ed3a2e65ecb8f4a67caba7dee1245bc0.mp3?version_id=111—

Zion’s New Name

1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,

till her vindication shines out like the dawn,

her salvation like a blazing torch.

2 The nations will see your vindication,

and all kings your glory;

you will be called by a new name

that the mouth of theLordwill bestow.

3 You will be a crown of splendor in theLord’s hand,

a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

4 No longer will they call you Deserted,

or name your land Desolate.

But you will be called Hephzibah,

and your land Beulah;

for theLordwill take delight in you,

and your land will be married.

5 As a young man marries a young woman,

so will your Builder marry you;

as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,

so will your God rejoice over you.

6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem;

they will never be silent day or night.

You who call on theLord,

give yourselves no rest,

7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem

and makes her the praise of the earth.

8 TheLordhas sworn by his right hand

and by his mighty arm:

“Never again will I give your grain

as food for your enemies,

and never again will foreigners drink the new wine

for which you have toiled;

9 but those who harvest it will eat it

and praise theLord,

and those who gather the grapes will drink it

in the courts of my sanctuary.”

10 Pass through, pass through the gates!

Prepare the way for the people.

Build up, build up the highway!

Remove the stones.

Raise a banner for the nations.

11 TheLordhas made proclamation

to the ends of the earth:

“Say to Daughter Zion,

‘See, your Savior comes!

See, his reward is with him,

and his recompense accompanies him.’ ”

12 They will be called the Holy People,

the Redeemed of theLord;

and you will be called Sought After,

the City No Longer Deserted.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/ISA/62-553f6154d1a7395a3d32fab2da645c3f.mp3?version_id=111—

God’s Day of Vengeance and Redemption

1 Who is this coming from Edom,

from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?

Who is this, robed in splendor,

striding forward in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, proclaiming victory,

mighty to save.”

2 Why are your garments red,

like those of one treading the winepress?

3 “I have trodden the winepress alone;

from the nations no one was with me.

I trampled them in my anger

and trod them down in my wrath;

their blood spattered my garments,

and I stained all my clothing.

4 It was for me the day of vengeance;

the year for me to redeem had come.

5 I looked, but there was no one to help,

I was appalled that no one gave support;

so my own arm achieved salvation for me,

and my own wrath sustained me.

6 I trampled the nations in my anger;

in my wrath I made them drunk

and poured their blood on the ground.”

Praise and Prayer

7 I will tell of the kindnesses of theLord,

the deeds for which he is to be praised,

according to all theLordhas done for us—

yes, the many good things

he has done for Israel,

according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

8 He said, “Surely they are my people,

children who will be true to me”;

and so he became their Savior.

9 In all their distress he too was distressed,

and the angel of his presence saved them.

In his love and mercy he redeemed them;

he lifted them up and carried them

all the days of old.

10 Yet they rebelled

and grieved his Holy Spirit.

So he turned and became their enemy

and he himself fought against them.

11 Then his people recalledthe days of old,

the days of Moses and his people—

where is he who brought them through the sea,

with the shepherd of his flock?

Where is he who set

his Holy Spirit among them,

12 who sent his glorious arm of power

to be at Moses’ right hand,

who divided the waters before them,

to gain for himself everlasting renown,

13 who led them through the depths?

Like a horse in open country,

they did not stumble;

14 like cattle that go down to the plain,

they were given rest by the Spirit of theLord.

This is how you guided your people

to make for yourself a glorious name.

15 Look down from heaven and see,

from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.

Where are your zeal and your might?

Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.

16 But you are our Father,

though Abraham does not know us

or Israel acknowledge us;

you,Lord, are our Father,

our Redeemer from of old is your name.

17 Why,Lord, do you make us wander from your ways

and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?

Return for the sake of your servants,

the tribes that are your inheritance.

18 For a little while your people possessed your holy place,

but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.

19 We are yours from of old;

but you have not ruled over them,

they have not been calledby your name.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/ISA/63-748cf626363aa850ee802d551596046c.mp3?version_id=111—

1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,

that the mountains would tremble before you!

2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze

and causes water to boil,

come down to make your name known to your enemies

and cause the nations to quake before you!

3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,

you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

4 Since ancient times no one has heard,

no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides you,

who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,

who remember your ways.

But when we continued to sin against them,

you were angry.

How then can we be saved?

6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf,

and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

7 No one calls on your name

or strives to lay hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us

and have given us over toour sins.

8 Yet you,Lord, are our Father.

We are the clay, you are the potter;

we are all the work of your hand.

9 Do not be angry beyond measure,Lord;

do not remember our sins forever.

Oh, look on us, we pray,

for we are all your people.

10 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland;

even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you,

has been burned with fire,

and all that we treasured lies in ruins.

12 After all this,Lord, will you hold yourself back?

Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/ISA/64-ae6c4d15198036cfb4c3249bf809c8b5.mp3?version_id=111—

Judgment and Salvation

1 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;

I was found by those who did not seek me.

To a nation that did not call on my name,

I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’

2 All day long I have held out my hands

to an obstinate people,

who walk in ways not good,

pursuing their own imaginations—

3 a people who continually provoke me

to my very face,

offering sacrifices in gardens

and burning incense on altars of brick;

4 who sit among the graves

and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;

who eat the flesh of pigs,

and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;

5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,

for I am too sacred for you!’

Such people are smoke in my nostrils,

a fire that keeps burning all day.

6 “See, it stands written before me:

I will not keep silent but will pay back in full;

I will pay it back into their laps—

7 both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,”

says theLord.

“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains

and defied me on the hills,

I will measure into their laps

the full payment for their former deeds.”

8 This is what theLordsays:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes

and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,

there is still a blessing in it,’

so will I do in behalf of my servants;

I will not destroy them all.

9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and from Judah those who will possess my mountains;

my chosen people will inherit them,

and there will my servants live.

10 Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,

and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,

for my people who seek me.

11 “But as for you who forsake theLord

and forget my holy mountain,

who spread a table for Fortune

and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

12 I will destine you for the sword,

and all of you will fall in the slaughter;

for I called but you did not answer,

I spoke but you did not listen.

You did evil in my sight

and chose what displeases me.”

13 Therefore this is what the SovereignLordsays:

“My servants will eat,

but you will go hungry;

my servants will drink,

but you will go thirsty;

my servants will rejoice,

but you will be put to shame.

14 My servants will sing

out of the joy of their hearts,

but you will cry out

from anguish of heart

and wail in brokenness of spirit.

15 You will leave your name

for my chosen ones to use in their curses;

the SovereignLordwill put you to death,

but to his servants he will give another name.

16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land

will do so by the one true God;

whoever takes an oath in the land

will swear by the one true God.

For the past troubles will be forgotten

and hidden from my eyes.

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “See, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

nor will they come to mind.

18 But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight

and its people a joy.

19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem

and take delight in my people;

the sound of weeping and of crying

will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it

an infant who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not live out his years;

the one who dies at a hundred

will be thought a mere child;

the one who fails to reacha hundred

will be considered accursed.

21 They will build houses and dwell in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,

or plant and others eat.

For as the days of a tree,

so will be the days of my people;

my chosen ones will long enjoy

the work of their hands.

23 They will not labor in vain,

nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;

for they will be a people blessed by theLord,

they and their descendants with them.

24 Before they call I will answer;

while they are still speaking I will hear.

25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

and dust will be the serpent’s food.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,”

says theLord.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/ISA/65-5217e07388558a670efd5fdb35dabe86.mp3?version_id=111—

Judgment and Hope

1 This is what theLordsays:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool.

Where is the house you will build for me?

Where will my resting place be?

2 Has not my hand made all these things,

and so they came into being?”

declares theLord.

“These are the ones I look on with favor:

those who are humble and contrite in spirit,

and who tremble at my word.

3 But whoever sacrifices a bull

is like one who kills a person,

and whoever offers a lamb

is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;

whoever makes a grain offering

is like one who presents pig’s blood,

and whoever burns memorial incense

is like one who worships an idol.

They have chosen their own ways,

and they delight in their abominations;

4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them

and will bring on them what they dread.

For when I called, no one answered,

when I spoke, no one listened.

They did evil in my sight

and chose what displeases me.”

5 Hear the word of theLord,

you who tremble at his word:

“Your own people who hate you,

and exclude you because of my name, have said,

‘Let theLordbe glorified,

that we may see your joy!’

Yet they will be put to shame.

6 Hear that uproar from the city,

hear that noise from the temple!

It is the sound of theLord

repaying his enemies all they deserve.

7 “Before she goes into labor,

she gives birth;

before the pains come upon her,

she delivers a son.

8 Who has ever heard of such things?

Who has ever seen things like this?

Can a country be born in a day

or a nation be brought forth in a moment?

Yet no sooner is Zion in labor

than she gives birth to her children.

9 Do I bring to the moment of birth

and not give delivery?” says theLord.

“Do I close up the womb

when I bring to delivery?” says your God.

10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,

all you who love her;

rejoice greatly with her,

all you who mourn over her.

11 For you will nurse and be satisfied

at her comforting breasts;

you will drink deeply

and delight in her overflowing abundance.”

12 For this is what theLordsays:

“I will extend peace to her like a river,

and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;

you will nurse and be carried on her arm

and dandled on her knees.

13 As a mother comforts her child,

so will I comfort you;

and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice

and you will flourish like grass;

the hand of theLordwill be made known to his servants,

but his fury will be shown to his foes.

15 See, theLordis coming with fire,

and his chariots are like a whirlwind;

he will bring down his anger with fury,

and his rebuke with flames of fire.

16 For with fire and with his sword

theLordwill execute judgment on all people,

and many will be those slain by theLord.

17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs, rats and other unclean things—they will meet their end together with the one they follow,” declares theLord.

18 “And I, because of what they have planned and done, am about to comeand gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.

19 “I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyansand Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations.

20 And they will bring all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to theLord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says theLord. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of theLordin ceremonially clean vessels.

21 And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says theLord.

22 “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares theLord, “so will your name and descendants endure.

23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says theLord.

24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/3/32k/ISA/66-3ddb021d9af917c091b25e90431e1c65.mp3?version_id=111—