Isaiah 53; Isaiah 54; Isaiah 55; 2 Thessalonians 1

1 Who has believed what we have heard? And who has the arm of the Lord been revealed to?

2 He grew up before Him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or splendor that we should look at Him, no appearance that we should desire Him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like one people turned away from; He was despised, and we didn't value Him.

4 Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.

6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth.

8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment; and who considered His fate? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was struck because of My people's rebellion.

9 They made His grave with the wicked, and with a rich man at His death, although He had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.

10 Yet the Lord was pleased to crush Him, and He made Him sick. When You make Him a restitution offering, He will see [His] seed, He will prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will succeed by His hand.

11 He will see [it] out of His anguish, and He will be satisfied with His knowledge. My righteous servant will justify many, and He will carry their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give Him the many as a portion, and He will receive the mighty as spoil, because He submitted Himself to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet He bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.

1 "Rejoice, barren one, who did not give birth; burst into song and shout, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the forsaken one will be more than the children of the married woman," says the Lord.

2 "Enlarge the site of your tent, and let your tent curtains be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your ropes, and drive your pegs deep.

3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will dispossess nations and inhabit the desolate cities.

4 "Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; don't be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced. For you will forget the shame of your youth, and you will no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.

5 For your husband is your Maker- His name is Yahweh of Hosts- and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.

6 For the Lord has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one's youth when she is rejected," says your God.

7 "I deserted you for a brief moment, but I will take you back with great compassion.

8 In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting love," says the Lord your Redeemer.

9 "For this is like the days of Noah to Me: when I swore that the waters of Noah would never flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.

10 Though the mountains move and the hills shake, My love will not be removed from you and My covenant of peace will not be shaken," says your compassionate Lord.

11 "Poor [Jerusalem], storm-tossed, and not comforted, I will set your stones in black mortar, and lay your foundations in sapphires.

12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling stones, and all your walls of precious stones.

13 Then all your children will be taught by the Lord, their prosperity will be great,

14 and you will be established on [a foundation of] righteousness. You will be far from oppression, you will certainly not be afraid; you will be far from terror, it will certainly not come near you.

15 If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever attacks you will fall before you.

16 Look, I have created the craftsman who blows on the charcoal fire and produces a weapon suitable for its task; and I have created the destroyer to work havoc.

17 No weapon formed against you will succeed, and you will refute any accusation raised against you in court. This is the heritage of the Lord's servants, and their righteousness is from Me." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.

1 "Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!

2 Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.

3 Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the promises assured to David.

4 Since I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples,

5 so you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel, has glorified you."

6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; call to Him while He is near.

7 Let the wicked one abandon his way, and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive.

8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.

9 "For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven, and do not return there without saturating the earth, and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,

11 so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it [to do]."

12 You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap [their] hands.

13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up; it will make a name for the Lord as an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy: To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We must always thank God for you, brothers, which is fitting, since your faith is flourishing, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you among God's churches-about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you endure.

5 It is a clear evidence of God's righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God's kingdom, for which you also are suffering,

6 since it is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,

7 and [to reward] with rest you who are afflicted, along with us. [This will take place] at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful angels,

8 taking vengeance with flaming fire on those who don't know God and on those who don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

9 These will pay the penalty of everlasting destruction, away from the Lord's presence and from His glorious strength,

10 in that day when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be admired by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed.

11 And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith,

12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.