Month: November 2023

“Seek the Lord while you can find Him. Call on Him now while He is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously.

‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts are higher than your thoughts.'” (vv. 6-9, NLT)

“But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief. Yet when His life is made an offering for sin, He will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in His hands. When He sees all that is accomplished by His anguish, He will be satisfied. And because of His experience, My righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted as righteous, for He will bear all their sins. I will give Him the honors of a victorious soldier, because He exposed Himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.” (vv. 10-12, NLT)

“He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. He was led like a lamb to slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open His mouth. Unjustly condemned, He was led away. No one cared that He died without descendants, that. His life was cut short in midstream. But He was struck down for the rebellion of My people. He had done no wrong and He had never deceived anyone. But He was buried like a criminal; He was put in a rich man’s grave.” (vv. 7-9, NLT)

“Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed His powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance, nothing to attract us to Him. He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weakness He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow on our own. Yet, the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all. “(vv 1-6, NLT)

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says,’Long ago My people chose to live in Egypt. Now they are oppressed by Assyria. what is this?’asked the Lord. ‘Why are My people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is blasphemed all day long. But I will reveal My name to My people, and they will come to know its power. Then at last they will recognize that I am the one who speaks to them.’

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! The watchmen shout and sing for joy, for before their very eyes they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem. Let the ruins of Jerusalem break in to joyful song, for the Lord has comforted His people. He has redeemed Israel. The Lord has demonstrated His holy power before the eyes of all nations. All the ends of the earth will see the victory of our God.” (vv. 4-10, NLT)

“Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance – all who seek the Lord! Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined. Yes, think about Abraham, you ancestor, and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation. Abraham was only one man when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.

The Lord will comfort Israel again and have pity on her ruins. Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found there. Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.

Listen to Me, my people. Hear me, Israel, for My law will be proclaimed and My justice will become a light to all the nations. My mercy and justice are coming soon. My salvation is on the way. My strong arm will bring justice to the. nations. All distant lans will look at Me and wait in hope for my powerful arm. Look up to the skies above, and gaze down on the earth below. 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!” (vv. 1-6, NLT)

“The Sovereign Lord has given me this words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning He wakens me and opens my understanding to His will. The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened. I have not rebelled or turned away. ” (vv. 4-5, NLT)

“Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my fact like stone, determined to do His will. And I know that I will not be put to shame. He who gives me justice is near. Who will date to bring charges against me now? Where are my accusers? Let them appear! See, the Sovereign Lord is on my side! Who will declare me guilty? All my enemies will be destroyed like old clothes that been eaten by moths!

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. 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 fall down in great torment.” (vv. 7-11, NLT)

“He (God) said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.’

I replied ‘But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and for no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust in God for my reward.’

And now the Lord speaks – the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be His servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to Him. The Lord has honored me, and my God has given me strength. He says,’You will do more than restores the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’

The Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations, to the one who is the servant of rulers: ‘Kings will stant at attention when you pass by. Princes will also bow low because of the Lord, the faithful one, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.'” (vv. 3-7, NLT)

“‘I have said it: I am calling Cyrus! From the beginning I have told you plainly what would happen.’

And now the Sovereign Lord and His Spirit have sent me with this message. This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer and the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow. Oh, that you had listened to My commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sands along the seashore – too many to count! There would have been no need for your destruction, or for cutting off your family name.'” (vv. 15-19, NLT)

“For the Lord is God, and He created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the whole world to be lived in, not be a place of empty chaos. ‘I am the Lord,’ He says, ‘and there is no other. I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the Lord, speak what is true and declare only what is right.

Gather together and come, you fugitives from surrounding nations. What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save! Consult together, argue your case. Get together and decide what to say. Who made these things known so long ago? What idol ever told you they would happen? Was it not I, the Lord? For there is no other God but me, a righteous God and Savior. There is none put Me. Let all the world look for Me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by My own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on My word: Every knee will bend to Me and every tongue will confess allegiance to Me.’

The people will declare, ‘The Lord is the source of all my righteousness and strength.’ And all who were angry with Him will come to Him and be ashamed. In the Lord all the generations of Israel will be justified, and in Him they will boast.” (vv. 18-25, NLT)