Day 287

Daily Bible Reading

(ESV: Through The Bible)

Isaiah 53-55 (Listen)

53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? [1]
  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
  and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
  and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected [2] by men;
  a man of sorrows, [3] and acquainted with [4] grief; [5]
and as one from whom men hide their faces [6]
  he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs
  and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
  smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
  he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
  and with his stripes we are healed.
All 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.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
  yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
  and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
  so he opened not his mouth.
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?
And they made his grave with the wicked
  and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
  and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
  he has put him to grief; [7]
when his soul makes [8] an offering for guilt,
  he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see [9] and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
  make many to be accounted righteous,
  and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, [10]
  and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, [11]
because he poured out his soul to death
  and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
  and makes intercession for the transgressors.

The Eternal Covenant of Peace

54:1 “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 desolate one will be more
  than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.
“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.
For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,
  and your offspring will possess the nations
  and will people the desolate cities.

“Fear not, for you 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.
For your Maker is your husband,
  the Lord of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
  the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the Lord has called you
  like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit,
like a wife of youth when she is cast off,
  says your God.
For a brief moment I deserted you,
  but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing anger for a moment
  I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
  says the Lord, your Redeemer.

“This is like the days of Noah [12] to me:
  as 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.
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.

“O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,
  behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
  and lay your foundations with sapphires. [13]
I will make your pinnacles of agate, [14]
  your gates of carbuncles, [15]
  and all your wall of precious stones.
All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
  and great shall be the peace of your children.
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.
If anyone stirs up strife,
  it is not from me;
whoever stirs up strife with you
  shall fall because of you.
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;
  no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
  and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
  and their vindication [16] from me, declares the Lord.”

The Compassion of the Lord

55:1 “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.
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.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
  hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
  my steadfast, sure love for David.
Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
  a leader and commander for the peoples.
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,
  for he has glorified you.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
  call upon him while he is near;
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.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
  neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
  so are my ways higher than your ways
  and my thoughts than your thoughts.

“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,
  giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
  it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
  and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

“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.
Instead 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.”

1 Thessalonians 2 (Listen)

Paul's Ministry to the Thessalonians

2:1 For you yourselves know, brothers, [17] that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, [18] as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle [19] among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

And we also thank God constantly [20] for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's wrath has come upon them at last! [21]

Paul's Longing to See Them Again

But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

Footnotes

[1] 53:1 Or Who has believed what we have heard?
[2] 53:3 Or forsaken
[3] 53:3 Or pains; also verse 4
[4] 53:3 Or and knowing
[5] 53:3 Or sickness; also verse 4
[6] 53:3 Or as one who hides his face from us
[7] 53:10 Or he has made him sick
[8] 53:10 Or when you make his soul
[9] 53:11 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scroll he shall see light
[10] 53:12 Or with the great
[11] 53:12 Or with the numerous
[12] 54:9 Some manuscripts For this is as the waters of Noah
[13] 54:11 Or lapis lazuli
[14] 54:12 Or jasper, or ruby
[15] 54:12 Or crystal
[16] 54:17 Or righteousness
[17] 2:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 9, 14, 17
[18] 2:5 Or with a flattering speech
[19] 2:7 Some manuscripts infants
[20] 2:13 Or without ceasing
[21] 2:16 Or completely, or forever

 

 

 

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