Israel the Lord’s Chosen
1 “But now hear, bO Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!
2 Thus says the Lord who made you,
cwho formed you from the womb and will help you:
dFear not, O Jacob my servant,
eJeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 fFor I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
4 They shall spring up among the grass
glike willows by flowing streams.
5 hThis 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 King of Israel
and ihis Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
j“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
7 kWho is like me? Let him proclaim it.1
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let 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?
lAnd you are my witnesses!
mIs there a God besides me?
There is no nRock; I know not any.”
The Folly of Idolatry
9 oAll who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 pWho fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 qBehold, 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 pThe 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. rHe shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 sHe 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. tHe prays 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 uabomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 vHe feeds on washes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not xa lie in my right hand?”
The Lord Redeems Israel
21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are ymy servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
zO Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
22 aI have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.
23 bSing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;
shout, O cdepths of the earth;
break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
24 Thus says the Lord, eyour Redeemer,
fwho formed you from the womb:
g“I am the Lord, who made all things,
hwho alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
25 who frustrates the signs of liars
and makes fools of diviners,
iwho turns wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish,
26 jwho confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
kand of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
and I will raise up their ruins’;
27 lwho says to the deep, ‘Be dry;
I will dry up your rivers’;
28 who says of mCyrus, ‘He is nmy shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
oand of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”
Cyrus, God’s Instrument
1 Thus says the Lord to phis anointed, to Cyrus,
qwhose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and rto loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
2 “I will go before you
and slevel the exalted places,4
tI will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
3 uI 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, vwho call you by your name.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
vI call you by your name,
wI name you, though you do not know me.
5 xI am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
yI equip you, though you do not know me,
6 zthat people may know, from 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 acreate calamity;
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
8 b“Shower, O heavens, from above,
and clet 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 d“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
a pot among earthen pots!
eDoes the clay 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 fthe Lord,
the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
g“Ask me of things to come;
will you command me hconcerning my children and ithe work of my hands?5
12 jI made the earth
and created man on it;
it was my hands kthat stretched out the heavens,
and lI commanded all their host.
13 mI have stirred him up in righteousness,
nand I will make all his ways level;
ohe shall build my city
pand set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,”
says the Lord of hosts.
The Lord, the Only Savior
14 Thus says the Lord:
q“The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,
and the Sabeans, men of stature,
shall come over to you rand be yours;
they shall follow you;
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will plead with you, saying:
‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other,
no god besides him.’”
15 sTruly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.
16 tAll of them are put to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in confusion together.
17 But Israel is saved by the Lord
with everlasting salvation;
uyou shall not be put to shame or confounded
to all eternity.
18 vFor thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he wdid not create it empty,
xhe formed it to be inhabited!):
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 yI did not speak in secret,
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
I the Lord speak athe truth;
I declare what is right.
20 b“Assemble yourselves and come;
draw near together,
you survivors of the nations!
cThey have no knowledge
who dcarry about their wooden idols,
eand keep on praying to a god
that cannot save.
21 fDeclare and present your case;
let them take counsel together!
Who told 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 gand a Savior;
there is none besides me.
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
hall the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 iBy myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in jrighteousness
a word that shall not return:
k‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’7
24 l“Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and mstrength;
to him shall come and be ashamed
nall who were incensed against him.
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall be justified and shall glory.”
Worship in the Splendor of Holiness
1 aOh sing to the Lord ba new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
ctell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4 For dgreat is the Lord, and egreatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above fall gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord gmade the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
hstrength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, O ifamilies of the peoples,
jascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord kthe glory due his name;
bring lan offering, and mcome into his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in nthe splendor of holiness;1
otremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, p“The Lord reigns!
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
he will qjudge the peoples with equity.”
11 Let rthe heavens be glad, and let sthe earth rejoice;
let tthe sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let uthe field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all vthe trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes wto judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Paul in Macedonia and Greece
1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and qdeparted for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when ra plot was made against him by the Jews1 as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, sAristarchus and Secundus; and sGaius of Derbe, and tTimothy; and the Asians, uTychicus and vTrophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for wus at xTroas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after ythe days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
Eutychus Raised from the Dead
7 zOn the first day of the week, when we were gathered together ato break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in bthe upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he cfell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and dbent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, e“Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and fhad broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and2 the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening gto be at Jerusalem, if possible, hon the day of Pentecost.
Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders
17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called ithe elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them:
j“You yourselves know khow I lived among you the whole time jfrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 lserving the Lord mwith all humility and with ntears and with trials that happened to me through othe plots of the Jews; 20 how I pdid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and qteaching you in public and from house to house, 21 rtestifying both to Jews and to Greeks of srepentance toward God and of tfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ.3 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained uby4 the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that vthe Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that wimprisonment and xafflictions await me. 24 But yI do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only zI may finish my course and athe ministry bthat I received from the Lord Jesus, cto testify to dthe gospel of ethe grace of God. 25 And now, behold, fI know that none of you among whom I have gone about gproclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore hI testify to you this day that iI am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for jI did not shrink from declaring to you kthe whole counsel of God. 28 lPay careful attention to yourselves and to all mthe flock, in which nthe Holy Spirit has made you ooverseers, pto care for qthe church of God,5 which he robtained swith his own blood.6 29 I rknow that after my departure tfierce wolves will come in among you, unot sparing the flock; 30 and vfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore wbe alert, remembering that xfor three years I did not cease night or day yto admonish every one zwith tears. 32 And now aI commend you to God and to bthe word of his grace, which is able to cbuild you up and to give you dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 eI coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 fYou yourselves know that gthese hands ministered to my necessities and hto those who were with me. 35 In all things iI have shown you that jby working hard in this way we must khelp the weak and lremember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed mto give than to receive.’”
36 And when he had said these things, nhe knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And othere was much weeping on the part of all; pthey embraced Paul and pkissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of qthe word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And rthey accompanied him to the ship.
