Isaiah 49

• 1. Listen to me, all of you in far-off lands! The LORD called me before my birth; from within the womb he called me by name.
• 2. He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.
• 3. He said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory."
• 4. I replied, "But my work all seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose at all. Yet I leave it all in the LORD's hand; I will trust God for my reward."
• 5. And now the LORD speaks--he who formed me in my mother's womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring his people of Israel back to him. The LORD has honored me, and my God has given me strength.
• 6. He says, "You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."
• 7. The LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by a nation, to the one who is the servant of rulers: "Kings will stand at attention when you pass by. Princes will bow low because the LORD has chosen you. He, the faithful LORD, the Holy One of Israel, chooses you."
• 8. This is what the LORD says: "At just the right time, I will respond to you. On the day of salvation, I will help you. I will give you as a token and pledge to Israel. This will prove that I will reestablish the land of Israel and reassign it to its own people again.
• 9. Through you I am saying to the prisoners of darkness, `Come out! I am giving you your freedom!' They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on hills that were previously bare.
• 10. They will neither hunger nor thirst. The searing sun and scorching desert winds will not reach them anymore. For the LORD in his mercy will lead them beside cool waters.
• 11. And I will make my mountains into level paths for them. The highways will be raised above the valleys.
• 12. See, my people will return from far away, from lands to the north and west, and from as far south as Egypt. "
• 13. Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their sorrow.
• 14. Yet Jerusalem says, "The LORD has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us."
• 15. "Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!
• 16. See, I have written your name on my hand. Ever before me is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins.
• 17. Soon your descendants will come back, and all who are trying to destroy you will go away.
• 18. Look and see, for all your children will come back to you. As surely as I live," says the LORD, "they will be like jewels or bridal ornaments for you to display.
• 19. "Even the most desolate parts of your abandoned land will soon be crowded with your people. Your enemies who enslaved you will be far away.
• 20. The generations born in exile will return and say, `We need more room! It's crowded here!'
• 21. Then you will think to yourself, `Who has given me all these descendants? For most of my children were killed, and the rest were carried away into exile. I was left here all alone. Who bore these children? Who raised them for me?'"
• 22. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I will give a signal to the godless nations. They will carry your little sons back to you in their arms; they will bring your daughters on their shoulders.
• 23. Kings and queens will serve you. They will care for all your needs. They will bow to the earth before you and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Those who wait for me will never be put to shame."
• 24. Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior? Who can demand that a tyrant let his captives go?
• 25. But the LORD says, "The captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children.
• 26. I will feed your enemies with their own flesh. They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood. All the world will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. "

Isaiah 50

• 1. The LORD asks, "Did I sell you as slaves to my creditors? Is that why you are not here? Is your mother gone because I divorced her and sent her away? No, you went away as captives because of your sins. And your mother, too, was taken because of your sins.
• 2. Was I too weak to save you? Is that why the house is silent and empty when I come home? Is it because I have no power to rescue? No, that is not the reason! For I can speak to the sea and make it dry! I can turn rivers into deserts covered with dying fish.
• 3. I am the one who sends darkness out across the skies, bringing it to a state of mourning."
• 4. The Sovereign LORD has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know what to say to all these weary ones. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will.
• 5. The Sovereign LORD has spoken to me, and I have listened. I do not rebel or turn away.
• 6. I give my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pull out my beard. I do not hide from shame, for they mock me and spit in my face.
• 7. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be dismayed. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will triumph.
• 8. He who gives me justice is near. Who will dare to oppose me now? Where are my enemies? Let them appear!
• 9. See, the Sovereign LORD is on my side! Who will declare me guilty? All my enemies will be destroyed like old clothes that have been eaten by moths!
• 10. Who among you fears the LORD and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the LORD and rely on your God.
• 11. But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from me: You will soon lie down in great torment.

Isaiah 51

• 1. "Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance--all who seek the LORD! Consider the quarry from which you were mined, the rock from which you were cut!
• 2. Yes, think about your ancestors Abraham and Sarah, from whom you came. Abraham was alone when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation."
• 3. The LORD will comfort Israel again and make her deserts blossom. Her barren wilderness will become as beautiful as Eden--the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found there. Lovely songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.
• 4. "Listen to me, my people. Hear me, Israel, for my law will be proclaimed, and my justice will become a light to the nations.
• 5. My mercy and justice are coming soon. Your salvation is on the way. I will rule the nations. They will wait for me and long for my power.
• 6. Look up to the skies above, and gaze down on the earth beneath. For the skies will disappear like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing. The people of the earth will die like flies, but my salvation lasts forever. My righteous rule will never end!
• 7. "Listen to me, you who know right from wrong and cherish my law in your hearts. Do not be afraid of people's scorn or their slanderous talk.
• 8. For the moth will destroy them as it destroys clothing. The worm will eat away at them as it eats wool. But my righteousness will last forever. My salvation will continue from generation to generation."
• 9. Wake up, LORD! Robe yourself with strength! Rouse yourself as in the days of old when you slew Egypt, the dragon of the Nile.
• 10. Are you not the same today, the one who dried up the sea, making a path of escape when you saved your people?
• 11. Those who have been ransomed by the LORD will return to Jerusalem, singing songs of everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be overcome with joy and gladness.
• 12. "I, even I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear?
• 13. Yet you have forgotten the LORD, your Creator, the one who put the stars in the sky and established the earth. Will you remain in constant dread of human oppression? Will you continue to fear the anger of your enemies from morning till night?
• 14. Soon all you captives will be released! Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate!
• 15. For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea, causing its waves to roar. My name is the LORD Almighty.
• 16. And I have put my words in your mouth and hidden you safely within my hand. I set all the stars in space and established the earth. I am the one who says to Israel, `You are mine!'"
• 17. Wake up, wake up, O Jerusalem! You have drunk enough from the cup of the LORD's fury. You have drunk the cup of terror, tipping out its last drops.
• 18. Not one of your children is left alive to help you or tell you what to do.
• 19. These two things have been your lot: desolation and destruction, famine and war. And who is left to sympathize? Who is left to comfort you?
• 20. For your children have fainted and lie in the streets, helpless as antelopes caught in a net. The LORD has poured out his fury; God has rebuked them.
• 21. But now listen to this, you afflicted ones, who sit in a drunken stupor, though not from drinking wine.
• 22. This is what the Sovereign LORD, your God and Defender, says: "See, I am taking the terrible cup from your hands. You will drink no more of my fury. It is gone at last!
• 23. But I will put that cup into the hands of those who tormented you. I will give it to those who trampled you into the dust and walked on your backs."

New Living Translation: 253 of 324 days.