Isaiah 45; Isaiah 46; 1 Thessalonians 3

1 Thus saith the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before his face, and to turn the backs of kings, and to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut.

2 I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and will burst the bars of iron.

3 And I will give thee hidden treasures, and the concealed riches of secret places: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord who call thee by thy name, the God of Israel.

4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have made a likeness of thee, and thou hast not known me.

5 I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God besides me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known me:

6 That they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and they who are from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none else:

7 I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord that do all these things.

8 Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth a saviour: and let justice spring up together: I the Lord have created him.

9 Woe to him that gainsayeth his maker, a sherd of the earthen pots: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou making, and thy work is without hands?

10 Woe to him that saith to his father: Why begettest thou? and to the woman: Why dost thou bring forth?

11 Thus saith the Lord the Holy One of Israel, his maker: Ask me of things to come, concerning my children, and concerning the work of my hands give ye charge to me.

12 I made the earth: and I created man upon it: my hand stretched forth the heavens, and I have commanded all their host.

13 I have raised him up to justice, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and let go my captives, not for ransom, nor for presents, saith the Lord the God of hosts.

14 Thus saith the Lord: The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and of Sabaim, men of stature shall come over to thee, and shall be thine: they shall walk after thee, they shall go bound with manacles: and they shall worship thee, and shall make supplication to thee: only in thee is God, and there is no God besides thee.

15 Verily thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel the saviour.

16 They are all confounded and ashamed: the forgers of errors are gone together into confusion.

17 Israel is saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation: you shall not be confounded, and you shall not be ashamed for ever and ever.

18 For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth, and made it, the very maker thereof: he did not create it in vain: he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other.

19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I have not said to the seed of Jacob: Seek me in vain. I am the Lord that speak justice, that declare right things.

20 Assemble yourselves, and come, and draw near together, ye that are saved of the Gentiles: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven work, and pray to a god that cannot save.

21 Tell ye, and come, and consult together: who hath declared this from the beginning, who hath foretold this from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me? A just God and a saviour, there is none besides me.

22 Be converted to me, and you shall be saved, all ye ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other.

23 I have sworn by myself, the word of justice shall go out of my mouth, and shall not return: (45-24) For every knee shall be bowed to me, and every tongue shall swear.

24 (45-25) Therefore shall he say: In the Lord are my justices and empire: they shall come to him, and all that resist him shall be confounded.

25 (45-26) In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and praised.

1 Bel is broken, Nebo is destroyed: their idols are put upon beasts and cattle, your burdens of heavy weight even unto weariness.

2 They are consumed, and are broken together: they could not save him that carried them, and they themselves shall go into captivity.

3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel who are carried by my bowels, are borne up by my womb.

4 Even to your old age I am the same, and to your grey hairs I will carry you: I have made you, and I will bear: I will carry and will save.

5 To whom have you likened me, and made me equal, and compared me, and made me like?

6 You that contribute gold out of the bag, and weigh out silver in the scales: and hire a goldsmith to make a god: and they fall down and worship.

7 They bear him on their shoulders and carry him, and set him in his place, and he shall stand, and shall not stir out of his place. Yea, when they shall cry also unto him, he shall not hear: he shall not save them from tribulation.

8 Remember this, and be ashamed: return, ye transgressors, to the heart.

9 Remember the former age, for I am God, and there is no God beside, neither is there the like to me:

10 Who shew from the beginning the things that shall be at last, and from ancient times the things that as yet are not done, saying: My counsel shall stand, and all my will shall be done:

11 Who call a bird from the east, and from a far country the man of my own will, and I have spoken, and will bring it to pass: I have created, and I will do it.

12 (46-11) Hear me, O ye hardhearted, who are far from justice.

13 (46-12) I have brought my justice near, it shall not be afar off: and my salvation shall not tarry. I will give salvation in Sion, and my glory in Israel.

1 For which cause, forbearing no longer, we thought it good to remain at Athens alone.

2 And we sent Timothy, our brother and the minister of God in the gospel of Christ, to confirm you and exhort you concerning your faith:

3 That no man should be moved in these tribulations: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.

4 For even when we were with you, we foretold you that we should suffer tribulations: as also it is come to pass, and you know.

5 For this cause also, I, forbearing no longer, sent to know your faith: lest perhaps he that tempteth should have tempted you: and our labour should be made vain.

6 But now when Timothy came to us from you and related to us your faith and charity, and that you have a good remembrance of us always, desiring to see us as we also to see you:

7 Therefore we were comforted, brethren, in you, in all our necessity and tribulation, by your faith.

8 Because now we live, if you stand in the Lord.

9 For what thanks can we return to God for you, in all the joy wherewith we rejoice for you before our God,

10 Night and day more abundantly praying that we may see your face and may accomplish those things that are wanting to your faith?

11 Now God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.

12 And may the Lord multiply you and make you abound in charity towards one another and towards all men: as we do also towards you,

13 To confirm your hearts without blame, in holiness, before God and our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints. Amen.