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

1 Who can believe what we have heard, and for whose sake has the LORD's arm been revealed?

2 He grew up like a young plant before us, like a root from dry ground. He possessed no splendid form for us to see, no desirable appearance.

3 He was despised and avoided by others; a man who suffered, who knew sickness well. Like someone from whom people hid their faces, he was despised, and we didn't think about him.

4 It was certainly our sickness that he carried, and our sufferings that he bore, but we thought him afflicted, struck down by God and tormented.

5 He was pierced because of our rebellions and crushed because of our crimes. He bore the punishment that made us whole; by his wounds we are healed.

6 Like sheep we had all wandered away, each going its own way, but the LORD let fall on him all our crimes.

7 He was oppressed and tormented, but didn't open his mouth. Like a lamb being brought to slaughter, like a ewe silent before her shearers, he didn't open his mouth.

8 Due to an unjust ruling he was taken away, and his fate—who will think about it? He was eliminated from the land of the living, struck dead because of my people's rebellion.

9 His grave was among the wicked, his tomb with evildoers, though he had done no violence, and had spoken nothing false.

10 But the LORD wanted to crush him and to make him suffer. If his life is offered as restitution, he will see his offspring; he will enjoy long life. The LORD's plans will come to fruition through him.

11 After his deep anguish he will see light, and he will be satisfied. Through his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will make many righteous, and will bear their guilt.

12 Therefore, I will give him a share with the great, and he will divide the spoil with the strong, in return for exposing his life to death and being numbered with rebels, though he carried the sin of many and pleaded on behalf of those who rebelled.

1 Sing, barren woman who has borne no child; break forth into singing and cry out, you who were never in labor, for the children of the wife who has been deserted will be more numerous than the children of the married, says the LORD.

2 Enlarge the site of your tent, and stretch out the drapes of your dwellings; don't hold back. Lengthen your tent ropes and strengthen your stakes.

3 To the right and to the left you will burst out, and your children will possess the nations' land and settle their desolate cities.

4 Don't fear, because you won't be ashamed; don't be dismayed, because you won't be disgraced. You will forget the shame of your youth; you'll no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.

5 The one marrying you is the one who made you— the LORD of heavenly forces is his name. The one redeeming you is the holy one of Israel, the one called the God of all the earth.

6 As an abandoned and dejected woman the LORD has summoned you; as a young wife when she is rejected, says your God.

7 For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great mercy I will bring you back.

8 In an outburst of rage, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting love I have consoled you, says your redeemer, the LORD.

9 These are like the days of Noah for me, when I promised that Noah's waters would never again cover the earth. Likewise I promise not to rage against you or rebuke you.

10 The mountains may shift, and the hills may be shaken, but my faithful love won't shift from you, and my covenant of peace won't be shaken, says the LORD, the one who pities you.

11 Suffering one, storm-tossed, uncomforted, look, I am setting your gemstones in silvery metal and your foundations with sapphires.

12 I will make your towers of rubies, and your gates of beryl, and all your walls of precious jewels.

13 All your children will be disciples of the LORD— I will make peace abound for your children.

14 You will be firmly founded in righteousness. You will stay far from oppression because you won't fear, far from terror because it won't come near you.

15 If anyone attacks you, it's none of my doing. Whoever attacks you will fall because of you.

16 Look, I myself created the metalworker who blows the fire of coal and who produces a tool for his work. And I myself created the looter to destroy.

17 No weapon fashioned against you will succeed, and you may condemn every tongue that disputes with you. This is the heritage of the LORD's servants, whose righteousness comes from me, says the LORD.

1 All of you who are thirsty, come to the water! Whoever has no money, come, buy food and eat! Without money, at no cost, buy wine and milk!

2 Why spend money for what isn't food, and your earnings for what doesn't satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good; enjoy the richest of feasts.

3 Listen and come to me; listen, and you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful loyalty to David.

4 Look, I made him a witness to the peoples, a prince and commander of peoples.

5 Look, you will call a nation you don't know, a nation you don't know will run to you because of the LORD your God, the holy one of Israel, who has glorified you.

6 Seek the LORD when he can still be found; call him while he is yet near.

7 Let the wicked abandon their ways and the sinful their schemes. Let them return to the LORD so that he may have mercy on them, to our God, because he is generous with forgiveness.

8 My plans aren't your plans, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.

9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my plans than your plans.

10 Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and don't return there without watering the earth, making it conceive and yield plants and providing seed to the sower and food to the eater,

11 so is my word that comes from my mouth; it does not return to me empty. Instead, it does what I want, and accomplishes what I intend.

12 Yes, you will go out with celebration, and you will be brought back in peace. Even the mountains and the hills will burst into song before you; all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

13 In place of the thorn the cypress will grow; in place of the nettle the myrtle will grow. This will attest to the LORD's stature, an enduring reminder that won't be removed.

1 From Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy:

2 To the church of the Thessalonians, which is in God our Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ.Grace and peace to all of you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Brothers and sisters, we must always thank God for you. This is only right because your faithfulness is growing by leaps and bounds, and the love that all of you have for each other is increasing.

4 That's why we ourselves are bragging about you in God's churches. We tell about your endurance and faithfulness in all the harassments and trouble that you have put up with.

5 This shows that God's judgment is right, and that you will be considered worthy of God's kingdom for which you are suffering.

6 After all, it's right for God to pay back the ones making trouble for you with trouble

7 and to pay back you who are having trouble with relief along with us. This payback will come when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his powerful angels.

8 He will give justice with blazing fire to those who don't recognize God and don't obey the good news of our Lord Jesus.

9 They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the Lord's presence and away from his mighty glory.

10 This will happen when he comes on that day to receive honor from his holy people and to be admired by everyone who has believed—and our testimony to you was believed.

11 We are constantly praying for you for this: that our God will make you worthy of his calling and accomplish every good desire and faithful work by his power.

12 Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored by you, and you will be honored by him, consistent with the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.