New International Version (NIV)

Invitation to the Thirsty

1 “Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you who have no money,

come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and you will delight in the richest of fare.

3 Give ear and come to me;

listen, that you may live.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David.

4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

a ruler and commander of the peoples.

5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,

and nations you do not know will come running to you,

because of theLordyour God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendor.”

6 Seek theLordwhile he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake their ways

and the unrighteous their thoughts.

Let them turn to theLord, and he will have mercy on them,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

declares theLord.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,

and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for theLord’s renown,

for an everlasting sign,

that will endure forever.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/ISA/55-3706544a068b49f463584db90d719edc.mp3?version_id=111—

Salvation for Others

1 This is what theLordsays:

“Maintain justice

and do what is right,

for my salvation is close at hand

and my righteousness will soon be revealed.

2 Blessed is the one who does this—

the person who holds it fast,

who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,

and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”

3 Let no foreigner who is bound to theLordsay,

“TheLordwill surely exclude me from his people.”

And let no eunuch complain,

“I am only a dry tree.”

4 For this is what theLordsays:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,

who choose what pleases me

and hold fast to my covenant—

5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls

a memorial and a name

better than sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name

that will endure forever.

6 And foreigners who bind themselves to theLord

to minister to him,

to love the name of theLord,

and to be his servants,

all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it

and who hold fast to my covenant—

7 these I will bring to my holy mountain

and give them joy in my house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house will be called

a house of prayer for all nations.”

8 The SovereignLorddeclares—

he who gathers the exiles of Israel:

“I will gather still others to them

besides those already gathered.”

God’s Accusation Against the Wicked

9 Come, all you beasts of the field,

come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!

10 Israel’s watchmen are blind,

they all lack knowledge;

they are all mute dogs,

they cannot bark;

they lie around and dream,

they love to sleep.

11 They are dogs with mighty appetites;

they never have enough.

They are shepherds who lack understanding;

they all turn to their own way,

they seek their own gain.

12 “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine!

Let us drink our fill of beer!

And tomorrow will be like today,

or even far better.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/ISA/56-e7d1f8ab4165a9a9f8263d3130476cfd.mp3?version_id=111—

1 The righteous perish,

and no one takes it to heart;

the devout are taken away,

and no one understands

that the righteous are taken away

to be spared from evil.

2 Those who walk uprightly

enter into peace;

they find rest as they lie in death.

3 “But you—come here, you children of a sorceress,

you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

4 Who are you mocking?

At whom do you sneer

and stick out your tongue?

Are you not a brood of rebels,

the offspring of liars?

5 You burn with lust among the oaks

and under every spreading tree;

you sacrifice your children in the ravines

and under the overhanging crags.

6 The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion;

indeed, they are your lot.

Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings

and offered grain offerings.

In view of all this, should I relent?

7 You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill;

there you went up to offer your sacrifices.

8 Behind your doors and your doorposts

you have put your pagan symbols.

Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed,

you climbed into it and opened it wide;

you made a pact with those whose beds you love,

and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.

9 You went to Molekwith olive oil

and increased your perfumes.

# You sent your ambassadorsfar away;

you descended to the very realm of the dead!

10 You wearied yourself by such going about,

but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’

You found renewal of your strength,

and so you did not faint.

11 “Whom have you so dreaded and feared

that you have not been true to me,

and have neither remembered me

nor taken this to heart?

Is it not because I have long been silent

that you do not fear me?

12 I will expose your righteousness and your works,

and they will not benefit you.

13 When you cry out for help,

let your collection of idols save you!

The wind will carry all of them off,

a mere breath will blow them away.

But whoever takes refuge in me

will inherit the land

and possess my holy mountain.”

Comfort for the Contrite

14 And it will be said:

“Build up, build up, prepare the road!

Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”

15 For this is what the high and exalted One says—

he who lives forever, whose name is holy:

“I live in a high and holy place,

but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly

and to revive the heart of the contrite.

16 I will not accuse them forever,

nor will I always be angry,

for then they would faint away because of me—

the very people I have created.

17 I was enraged by their sinful greed;

I punished them, and hid my face in anger,

yet they kept on in their willful ways.

18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;

I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,

19 creating praise on their lips.

Peace, peace, to those far and near,”

says theLord. “And I will heal them.”

20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea,

which cannot rest,

whose waves cast up mire and mud.

21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/ISA/57-e8f7870ce554ca81c9e1f5a12037254f.mp3?version_id=111—

True Fasting

1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion

and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.

2 For day after day they seek me out;

they seem eager to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that does what is right

and has not forsaken the commands of its God.

They ask me for just decisions

and seem eager for God to come near them.

3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,

‘and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please

and exploit all your workers.

4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,

and in striking each other with wicked fists.

You cannot fast as you do today

and expect your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

only a day for people to humble themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed

and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

a day acceptable to theLord?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

# then your righteousnesswill go before you,

and the glory of theLordwill be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and theLordwill answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

11 TheLordwill guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight

and theLord’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

14 then you will find your joy in theLord,

and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land

and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”

The mouth of theLordhas spoken.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/ISA/58-9406697988fd8394c1d17339f07e679e.mp3?version_id=111—

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://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/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://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/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://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/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://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/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://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/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://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/3/32k/ISA/64-ae6c4d15198036cfb4c3249bf809c8b5.mp3?version_id=111—