to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
Shake off your dust! Rise up and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem. Remove the chains from your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.
For this is what the LORD says: “You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.”
For this is what the Lord GOD says: “At first My people went down to Egypt to live, then Assyria oppressed them without cause.
And now what have I here? declares the LORD. For My people have been taken without cause; those who rule them taunt, declares the LORD, and My name is blasphemed continually all day long.
. . .
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD.
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.
Righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the sash around His waist.
I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.
But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him.
God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn,
to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.
. . .
I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Jesus, knowing all that was coming upon Him, stepped forward and asked them, “Whom are you seeking?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. Jesus said, “I am He.” And Judas His betrayer was standing there with them.
When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!
For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you.
In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.
Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come.
Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin.
Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.
For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.
But they will have to give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
. . .
And when Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.
You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.
By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know has been made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given him this complete healing in your presence.
. . .
I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message,
that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one—
This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,
who testifies to everything he saw. This is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near.
John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven Spirits before His throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,
. . .
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there.
But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed.
. . .
And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless
(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),
“that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”
Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
. . .
At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him.
But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”
“We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God.”
You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
This is the law concerning a mildew contamination in wool or linen fabric, weave, or knit, or any leather article, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.”
You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.
In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.
The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
Then the devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
. . .
But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to Him, “I charge You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
“You have said it yourself,” Jesus answered. “But I say to all of you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.
Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know.
But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its clutches.
David says about Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope,
because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’
. . .
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,
even though God had said to him, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.”
Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’?
If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—
then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?
But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”
Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
But I have testimony more substantial than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.
And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form,
nor does His word abide in you, because you do not believe the One He sent.
Even in your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.
I am One who testifies about Myself, and the Father, who sent Me, also testifies about Me.”
John answered all of them: “I baptize you with water, but One more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.