The Fertility of Zion

1“Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;

Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;

For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous

Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.

2“Enlarge the place of your tent;

Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not;

Lengthen your cords

And strengthen your pegs.

3For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.

And your descendants will possess nations

And will resettle the desolate cities.

4“Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;

And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;

But you will forget the shame of your youth,

And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

5For your husband is your Maker,

Whose name is the Lord of hosts;

And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,

Who is called the God of all the earth.

6For the Lord has called you,

Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,

Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”

Says your God.

7“For a brief moment I forsook you,

But with great compassion I will gather you.

8In an outburst of anger

I hid My face from you for a moment,

But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,”

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 not flood the earth again;

So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you

Nor will I rebuke you.

10For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,

But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,

And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”

Says the Lord who has compassion on you.

11“O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,

Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,

And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.

12Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,

And your gates of crystal,

And your entire wall of precious stones.

13All your sons will be taught of the Lord;

And the well-being of your sons will be great.

14In righteousness you will be established;

You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;

And from terror, for it will not come near you.

15If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.

Whoever assails you will fall because of you.

16Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals

And brings out a weapon for its work;

And I have created the destroyer to ruin.

17No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;

And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,

And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.

The Free Offer of Mercy

1“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;

And you who have no money come, buy and eat.

Come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without cost.

2Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And delight yourself in abundance.

3Incline your ear and come to Me.

Listen, that you may live;

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

According to the faithful mercies shown to David.

4Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples,

A leader and commander for the peoples.

5Behold, you will call a nation you do not know,

And a nation which knows you not will run to you,

Because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel;

For He has glorified you.”

6Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

7Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

And do not return there without watering the earth

And making it bear and sprout,

And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

11So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;

It will not return to Me empty,

Without accomplishing what I desire,

And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

12For you will go out with joy

And be led forth with peace;

The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,

And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

13Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up,

And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up,

And it will be a memorial to the Lord,

For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”

Rewards for Obedience to God

1Thus says the Lord,

“Preserve justice and do righteousness,

For My salvation is about to come

And My righteousness to be revealed.

2How blessed is the man who does this,

And the son of man who takes hold of it;

Who keeps from profaning the sabbath,

And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

3Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,

“The Lord will surely separate me from His people.”

Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

4For thus says the Lord,

“To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths,

And choose what pleases Me,

And hold fast My covenant,

5To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial,

And a name better than that of sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.

6“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord,

To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath

And holds fast My covenant;

7Even those I will bring to My holy mountain

And make them joyful in My house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar;

For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

8The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares,

“Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”

9All you beasts of the field,

All you beasts in the forest,

Come to eat.

10His watchmen are blind,

All of them know nothing.

All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,

Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;

11And the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied.

And they are shepherds who have no understanding;

They have all turned to their own way,

Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.

12“Come,” they say, “let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink;

And tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”

Evil Leaders Rebuked

1The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart;

And devout men are taken away, while no one understands.

For the righteous man is taken away from evil,

2He enters into peace;

They rest in their beds,

Each one who walked in his upright way.

3“But come here, you sons of a sorceress,

Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.

4Against whom do you jest?

Against whom do you open wide your mouth

And stick out your tongue?

Are you not children of rebellion,

Offspring of deceit,

5Who inflame yourselves among the oaks,

Under every luxuriant tree,

Who slaughter the children in the ravines,

Under the clefts of the crags?

6Among the smooth stones of the ravine

Is your portion, they are your lot;

Even to them you have poured out a drink offering,

You have made a grain offering.

Shall I relent concerning these things?

7Upon a high and lofty mountain

You have made your bed.

You also went up there to offer sacrifice.

8Behind the door and the doorpost

You have set up your sign;

Indeed, far removed from Me, you have uncovered yourself,

And have gone up and made your bed wide.

And you have made an agreement for yourself with them,

You have loved their bed,

You have looked on their manhood.

9You have journeyed to the king with oil

And increased your perfumes;

You have sent your envoys a great distance

And made them go down to Sheol.

10You were tired out by the length of your road,

Yet you did not say, ‘It is hopeless.’

You found renewed strength,

Therefore you did not faint.

11“Of whom were you worried and fearful

When you lied, and did not remember Me

Nor give Me a thought?

Was I not silent even for a long time

So you do not fear Me?

12I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,

But they will not profit you.

13When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you.

But the wind will carry all of them up,

And a breath will take them away.

But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land

And will possess My holy mountain.”

14And it will be said,

“Build up, build up, prepare the way,

Remove every obstacle out of the way of My people.”

Family Relationships

1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.

4Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

5Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; 6not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. 7With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

9And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

The Armor of God

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

21But that you also may know about my circumstances, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you. 22I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts.

23Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.

PSALM 70

Prayer for Help against Persecutors.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.

1O God, hasten to deliver me;

O Lord, hasten to my help!

2Let those be ashamed and humiliated

Who seek my life;

Let those be turned back and dishonored

Who delight in my hurt.

3Let those be turned back because of their shame

Who say, “Aha, aha!”

4Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;

And let those who love Your salvation say continually,

“Let God be magnified.”

5But I am afflicted and needy;

Hasten to me, O God!

You are my help and my deliverer;

O Lord, do not delay.

8One who plans to do evil,

Men will call a schemer.