Do you not know? Have you not heard?#
Pre-reading#
Idea/question/discussion point spreadsheet.
Read Isaiah, chapters 40-43
¹ Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
² Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service has ended,
that her guilt is expiated,
That she has received from the hand of the Lord
double for all her sins.
³ A voice proclaims:
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
every mountain and hill made low;
The rugged land shall be a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
⁵ Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
⁶ A voice says, “Proclaim!”
I answer, “What shall I proclaim?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their loyalty like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.”
“Yes, the people is grass!
⁸ The grass withers, the flower wilts,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
⁹ Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of good news!
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Cry out, do not fear!
Say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
¹⁰ Here comes with power
the Lord God,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
¹¹ Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
leading the ewes with care.
¹² Who has measured with his palm the waters,
marked off the heavens with a span,
held in his fingers the dust of the earth,
weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
¹³ Who has directed the spirit of the Lord,
or instructed him as his counselor?
¹⁴ Whom did he consult to gain knowledge?
Who taught him the path of judgment,
or showed him the way of understanding?
¹⁵ See, the nations count as a drop in the bucket,
as a wisp of cloud on the scales;
the coastlands weigh no more than a speck.
¹⁶ Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor its animals be enough for burnt offerings.
¹⁷ Before him all the nations are as nought,
as nothing and void he counts them.
¹⁸ To whom can you liken God?
With what likeness can you confront him?
¹⁹ An idol? An artisan casts it,
the smith plates it with gold,
fits it with silver chains.
²⁰ Is mulberry wood the offering?
A skilled artisan picks out
a wood that will not rot,
Seeks to set up for himself
an idol that will not totter.
²¹ Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Was it not told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the founding of the earth?
²² The one who is enthroned above the vault of the earth,
its inhabitants like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a veil
and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,
²³ Who brings princes to nought
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
²⁴ Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely their stem rooted in the earth,
When he breathes upon them and they wither,
and the stormwind carries them away like straw.
²⁵ To whom can you liken me as an equal?
says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high
and see who created these:
He leads out their army and numbers them,
calling them all by name.
By his great might and the strength of his power
not one of them is missing!
²⁷ Why, O Jacob, do you say,
and declare, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is God from of old,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
abundant strength to the weak.
³⁰ Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
³¹ They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength,
they will soar on eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.
¹ Keep silence before me, O coastlands;
let the nations renew their strength.
Let them draw near and speak;
let us come together for judgment.
² Who has stirred up from the East the champion of justice,
and summoned him to be his attendant?
To him he delivers nations
and subdues kings;
With his sword he reduces them to dust,
with his bow, to driven straw.
³ He pursues them, passing on without loss,
by a path his feet scarcely touch.
⁴ Who has performed these deeds?
Who has called forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am the first,
and at the last I am he.
⁵ The coastlands see, and fear;
the ends of the earth tremble:
they approach, they come on.
⁶ Each one helps his neighbor,
one says to the other, “Courage!”
⁷ The woodworker encourages the goldsmith,
the one who beats with the hammer, him who strikes on the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good!”
then fastening it with nails so it will not totter.
⁸ But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend—
⁹ You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth
and summoned from its far-off places,
To whom I have said, You are my servant;
I chose you, I have not rejected you—
¹⁰ Do not fear: I am with you;
do not be anxious: I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
¹¹ Yes, all shall be put to shame and disgrace
who vent their anger against you;
Those shall be as nothing and perish
who offer resistance.
¹² You shall seek but not find
those who strive against you;
They shall be as nothing at all
who do battle with you.
¹³ For I am the Lord, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, Do not fear,
I will help you.
¹⁴ Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you maggot Israel;
I will help you—oracle of the Lord;
the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer.
¹⁵ I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, full of teeth,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
¹⁶ When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off,
the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
¹⁷ The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
¹⁸ I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the wilderness into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
¹⁹ In the wilderness I will plant the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
In the wasteland I will set the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
²⁰ That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
²¹ Present your case, says the Lord;
bring forward your arguments, says the King of Jacob.
²² Let them draw near and foretell to us
what it is that shall happen!
What are the things of long ago?
Tell us, that we may reflect on them
and know their outcome;
Or declare to us the things to come,
²³ tell what is to be in the future,
that we may know that you are gods!
Do something, good or evil,
that will put us in awe and in fear.
²⁴ Why, you are nothing
and your work is nought;
to choose you is an abomination!
²⁵ I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes;
from the east I summon him by name;
He shall trample the rulers down like mud,
like a potter treading clay.
²⁶ Who announced this from the beginning, that we might know;
beforehand, that we might say, “True”?
Not one of you foretold it, not one spoke;
not one heard you say,
²⁷ “The first news for Zion: here they come,”
or, “I will give Jerusalem a herald of good news.”
²⁸ When I look, there is not one,
not one of them to give counsel,
to make an answer when I question them.
²⁹ Ah, all of them are nothing,
their works are nought,
their idols, empty wind!
¹ Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased.
Upon him I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations.
² He will not cry out, nor shout,
nor make his voice heard in the street.
³ A bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
⁴ He will not grow dim or be bruised
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
⁵ Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and its produce,
Who gives breath to its people
and spirit to those who walk on it:
⁶ I, the Lord, have called you for justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
⁷ To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
⁸ I am the Lord, Lord is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
⁹ See, the earlier things have come to pass,
new ones I now declare;
Before they spring forth
I announce them to you.
¹⁰ Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth:
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the coastlands, and those who dwell in them.
¹¹ Let the wilderness and its cities cry out,
the villages where Kedar dwells;
Let the inhabitants of Sela exult,
and shout from the top of the mountains.
¹² Let them give glory to the Lord,
and utter his praise in the coastlands.
¹³ The Lord goes forth like a warrior,
like a man of war he stirs up his fury;
He shouts out his battle cry,
against his enemies he shows his might:
¹⁴ For a long time I have kept silent,
I have said nothing, holding myself back;
Now I cry out like a woman in labor,
gasping and panting.
¹⁵ I will lay waste mountains and hills,
all their undergrowth I will dry up;
I will turn the rivers into marshes,
and the marshes I will dry up.
¹⁶ I will lead the blind on a way they do not know;
by paths they do not know I will guide them.
I will turn darkness into light before them,
and make crooked ways straight.
These are my promises:
I made them, I will not forsake them.
¹⁷ They shall be turned back in utter shame
who trust in idols;
Who say to molten images,
“You are our gods.”
¹⁸ You deaf ones, listen,
you blind ones, look and see!
¹⁹ Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf like the messenger I send?
Who is blind like the one I restore,
blind like the servant of the Lord?
²⁰ You see many things but do not observe;
ears open, but do not hear.
²¹ It was the Lord’s will for the sake of his justice
to make his teaching great and glorious.
²² This is a people plundered and despoiled,
all of them trapped in holes,
hidden away in prisons.
They are taken as plunder, with no one to rescue them,
as spoil, with no one to say, “Give back!”
²³ Who among you will give ear to this,
listen and pay attention from now on?
²⁴ Who was it that gave Jacob to be despoiled,
Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned?
In his ways they refused to walk,
his teaching they would not heed.
²⁵ So he poured out wrath upon them,
his anger, and the fury of battle;
It blazed all around them, yet they did not realize,
it burned them, but they did not take it to heart.
¹ But now, thus says the Lord,
who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name: you are mine.
² When you pass through waters, I will be with you;
through rivers, you shall not be swept away.
When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned,
nor will flames consume you.
³ For I, the Lord, am your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your savior.
I give Egypt as ransom for you,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes
and honored, and I love you,
I give people in return for you
and nations in exchange for your life.
⁵ Fear not, for I am with you;
from the east I will bring back your offspring,
from the west I will gather you.
⁶ I will say to the north: Give them up!
and to the south: Do not hold them!
Bring back my sons from afar,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth:
⁷ All who are called by my name
I created for my glory;
I formed them, made them.
⁸ Lead out the people, blind though they have eyes,
deaf though they have ears.
⁹ Let all the nations gather together,
let the peoples assemble!
Who among them could have declared this,
or announced to us the earlier things?
Let them produce witnesses to prove themselves right,
that one may hear and say, “It is true!”
¹⁰ You are my witnesses—oracle of the Lord—
my servant whom I have chosen
To know and believe in me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
and after me there shall be none.
¹¹ I, I am the Lord;
there is no savior but me.
¹² It is I who declared, who saved,
who announced, not some strange god among you;
You are my witnesses—oracle of the Lord.
I am God,
¹³ yes, from eternity I am he;
There is none who can deliver from my hand:
I act and who can cancel it?
¹⁴ Thus says the Lord, your redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I send to Babylon;
I will bring down all her defenses,
and the Chaldeans shall cry out in lamentation.
¹⁵ I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the creator of Israel, your King.
¹⁶ Thus says the Lord,
who opens a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
¹⁷ Who leads out chariots and horsemen,
a powerful army,
Till they lie prostrate together, never to rise,
snuffed out, quenched like a wick.
¹⁸ Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
¹⁹ See, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the wilderness I make a way,
in the wasteland, rivers.
²⁰ Wild beasts honor me,
jackals and ostriches,
For I put water in the wilderness
and rivers in the wasteland
for my chosen people to drink,
²¹ The people whom I formed for myself,
that they might recount my praise.
²² Yet you did not call upon me, Jacob,
for you grew weary of me, Israel.
²³ You did not bring me sheep for your burnt offerings,
nor honor me with your sacrifices.
I did not exact from you the service of offerings,
nor weary you for frankincense.
²⁴ You did not buy me sweet cane,
nor did you fill me with the fat of your sacrifices;
Instead, you burdened me with your sins,
wearied me with your crimes.
²⁵ It is I, I, who wipe out,
for my own sake, your offenses;
your sins I remember no more.
²⁶ Would you have me remember, have us come to trial?
Speak up, prove your innocence!
²⁷ Your first father sinned;
your spokesmen rebelled against me
²⁸ Till I repudiated the holy princes,
put Jacob under the ban,
exposed Israel to scorn.
¹ Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
³ A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
⁶ A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people is grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.
⁹ Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd,
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
¹³ Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
or as his counselor has instructed him?
¹⁴ Whom did he consult for his enlightenment,
and who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
¹⁵ Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the isles like fine dust.
¹⁶ Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
¹⁸ To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
¹⁹ The idol! a workman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold,
and casts for it silver chains.
²⁰ He who is impoverished chooses for an offering
wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skilful craftsman
to set up an image that will not move.
²¹ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
²² It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
²³ who brings princes to nought,
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
²⁴ Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
²⁵ To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.
²⁷ Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hid from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary,
his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰ Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹ but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
¹ Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak;
let us together draw near for judgment.
² Who stirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every step?
He gives up nations before him,
so that he tramples kings under foot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
like driven stubble with his bow.
³ He pursues them and passes on safely,
by paths his feet have not trod.
⁴ Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am He.
⁵ The coastlands have seen and are afraid,
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
⁶ Every one helps his neighbor,
and says to his brother, “Take courage!”
⁷ The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they fasten it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
⁸ But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
⁹ you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
¹⁰ fear not, for I am with you,
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
¹¹ Behold, all who are incensed against you
shall be put to shame and confounded;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.
¹² You shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
those who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.
¹³ For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
¹⁴ Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I will help you, says the Lord;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁵ Behold, I will make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
¹⁶ you shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
And you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
¹⁷ When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
¹⁸ I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
¹⁹ I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together;
²⁰ that men may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
²¹ Set forth your case, says the Lord;
bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
²² Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen.
Tell us the former things, what they are,
that we may consider them,
that we may know their outcome;
or declare to us the things to come.
²³ Tell us what is to come hereafter,
that we may know that you are gods;
do good, or do harm,
that we may be dismayed and terrified.
²⁴ Behold, you are nothing,
and your work is nought;
an abomination is he who chooses you.
²⁵ I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
from the rising of the sun, and he shall call on my name;
he shall trample on rulers as on mortar,
as the potter treads clay.
²⁶ Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know,
and beforetime, that we might say, “He is right”?
There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,
none who heard your words.
²⁷ I first have declared it to Zion,
and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings.
²⁸ But when I look there is no one;
among these there is no counselor
who, when I ask, gives an answer.
²⁹ Behold, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;
their molten images are empty wind.
¹ Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him,
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
² He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
³ a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
⁴ He will not fail or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
⁵ Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread forth the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
⁶ “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
⁷ to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
⁸ I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to graven images.
⁹ Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
¹⁰ Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
¹¹ Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy,
let them shout from the top of the mountains.
¹² Let them give glory to the Lord,
and declare his praise in the coastlands.
¹³ The Lord goes forth like a mighty man,
like a man of war he stirs up his fury;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.
¹⁴ For a long time I have held my peace,
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in travail,
I will gasp and pant.
¹⁵ I will lay waste mountains and hills,
and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.
¹⁶ And I will lead the blind
in a way that they know not,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.
¹⁷ They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame,
who trust in graven images,
who say to molten images,
“You are our gods.”
¹⁸ Hear, you deaf;
and look, you blind, that you may see!
¹⁹ Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
²⁰ He sees many things, but does not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.
²¹ The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
²² But this is a people robbed and plundered,
they are all of them trapped in holes
and hidden in prisons;
they have become a prey with none to rescue,
a spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
²³ Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
²⁴ Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler,
and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?
²⁵ So he poured upon him the heat of his anger
and the might of battle;
it set him on fire round about, but he did not understand;
it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.
¹ But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
⁵ Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
⁶ I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
⁷ every one who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
⁸ Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
⁹ Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them can declare this,
and show us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, It is true.
¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am He.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
¹¹ I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.
¹² I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” says the Lord.
¹³ “I am God, and also henceforth I am He;
there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work and who can hinder it?”
¹⁴ Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer,the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I will send to Babylon
and break down all the bars,
and the shouting of the Chalde′ans will be turned to lamentations.
¹⁵ I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.”
¹⁶ Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
¹⁷ who brings forth chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
¹⁸ “Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
¹⁹ Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
²⁰ The wild beasts will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
²¹ the people whom I formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.
²² “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
²³ You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
or wearied you with frankincense.
²⁴ You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins,
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
²⁵ “I, I am He
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
²⁶ Put me in remembrance, let us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
²⁷ Your first father sinned,
and your mediators transgressed against me.
²⁸ Therefore I profaned the princes of the sanctuary,
I delivered Jacob to utter destruction
and Israel to reviling.
Discussion points#
Promise of salvation#
³ A voice proclaims:
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
every mountain and hill made low;
The rugged land shall be a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
⁵ Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
⁶ A voice says, “Proclaim!”
I answer, “What shall I proclaim?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their loyalty like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.”
“Yes, the people is grass!
⁸ The grass withers, the flower wilts,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
³ A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
⁶ A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people is grass.
⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.
The proclamation in verses 6-8 contrast with the first proclamation; what is Isaiah reminding Israel of with this contrast?
Last week, we saw additional references to the way of the Lord that are fulfilled in Jesus. This imagery of the temporary existence on Earth as a field of grass is repeated throughout the old testament. In Job, there is a clear reference to this, resurrection, and the forgiveness of sins. Job is responding to Zophar, one of the friends who visits Job:
¹ Man born of woman
is short-lived and full of trouble,
² Like a flower that springs up and fades,
swift as a shadow that does not abide.
³ Upon such a one will you set your eyes,
bringing me into judgment before you?
⁴ Can anyone make the unclean clean?
No one can.
⁵ Since his days are determined—
you know the number of his months;
you have fixed the limit which he cannot pass—
⁶ Look away from him and let him be,
while, like a hireling, he completes his day.
⁷ For a tree there is hope;
if it is cut down, it will sprout again,
its tender shoots will not cease.
⁸ Even though its root grow old in the earth
and its stump die in the dust,
⁹ Yet at the first whiff of water it sprouts
and puts forth branches like a young plant.
¹⁰ But when a man dies, all vigor leaves him;
when a mortal expires, where then is he?
¹¹ As when the waters of a lake fail,
or a stream shrivels and dries up,
¹² So mortals lie down, never to rise.
Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake,
nor be roused out of their sleep.
¹³ Oh, that you would hide me in Sheol,
shelter me till your wrath is past,
fix a time to remember me!
¹⁴ If a man were to die, and live again,
all the days of my drudgery I would wait
for my relief to come.
¹⁵ You would call, and I would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hands.
¹⁶ Surely then you would count my steps,
and not keep watch for sin in me.
¹⁷ My misdeeds would be sealed up in a pouch,
and you would cover over my guilt.
¹ “Man that is born of a woman
is of few days, and full of trouble.
² He comes forth like a flower, and withers;
he flees like a shadow, and continues not.
³ And dost thou open thy eyes upon such a one
and bring him into judgment with thee?
⁴ Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
There is not one.
⁵ Since his days are determined,
and the number of his months is with thee,
and thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass,
⁶ look away from him, and desist,
that he may enjoy, like a hireling, his day.
⁷ “For there is hope for a tree,
if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
and that its shoots will not cease.
⁸ Though its root grow old in the earth,
and its stump die in the ground,
⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth branches like a young plant.
¹⁰ But man dies, and is laid low;
man breathes his last, and where is he?
¹¹ As waters fail from a lake,
and a river wastes away and dries up,
¹² so man lies down and rises not again;
till the heavens are no more he will not awake,
or be roused out of his sleep.
¹³ Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol,
that thou wouldest conceal me until thy wrath be past,
that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
¹⁴ If a man die, shall he live again?
All the days of my service I would wait,
till my release should come.
¹⁵ Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee;
thou wouldest long for the work of thy hands.
¹⁶ For then thou wouldest number my steps,
thou wouldest not keep watch over my sin;
¹⁷ my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
and thou wouldest cover over my iniquity.
In fact, the words “live again” in verse 14:
¹⁴ If a man were to die, and live again,
all the days of my drudgery I would wait
for my relief to come.
is הֲיִ֫חְיֶ֥ה and was used previously in Isaiah to describe both Hezekiah and the verse 26:19 that we previously discussed:
¹ In those days, when Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover.”
⁹ The song of Hezekiah, king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:
¹⁹ But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise!
Awake and sing, you who lie in the dust!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and you cause the land of shades to give birth.
¹ In those days Hezeki′ah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order; for you shall die, you shall not recover.”
⁹ A writing of Hezeki′ah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
¹⁹ Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise.
O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For thy dew is a dew of light,
and on the land of the shades thou wilt let it fall.
This word is translated in two different ways: “live/live again”, and “recover”. Are these linked translations giving greater, deeper meaning to the recovery of Hezekiah than a simple healing of sickness?
Finally, Peter also cites the Isaiah passage directly:
¹⁷ Now if you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, ¹⁸ realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb. ²⁰ He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, ²¹ who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
²² Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere mutual love, love one another intensely from a [pure] heart. ²³ You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God, ²⁴ for:
“All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like the flower of the field;
the grass withers,
and the flower wilts;
²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.
¹⁷ And if you invoke as Father him who judges each one impartially according to his deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. ¹⁸ You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you have confidence in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
²² Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another earnestly from the heart. ²³ You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴ for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord abides for ever.”
That word is the good news which was preached to you.
Herald of good news#
Isaiah declares a promise for a coming herald, announcing God coming as a shepherd:
⁹ Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of good news!
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Cry out, do not fear!
Say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
²⁷ “The first news for Zion: here they come,”
or, “I will give Jerusalem a herald of good news.”
¹⁰ Here comes with power
the Lord God,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
¹¹ Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
leading the ewes with care.
⁹ Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
²⁷ I first have declared it to Zion,
and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings.
¹⁰ Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd,
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
Shepherd imagery is extremely common throughout the old testament, but the most direct references of the Lord as a shepard are in Ezekiel and John:
¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them: To the shepherds, thus says the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds pasture the flock? ³ You consumed milk, wore wool, and slaughtered fatlings, but the flock you did not pasture. ⁴ You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured. You did not bring back the stray or seek the lost but ruled them harshly and brutally. ⁵ So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and became food for all the wild beasts. They were scattered ⁶ and wandered over all the mountains and high hills; over the entire surface of the earth my sheep were scattered. No one looked after them or searched for them.
⁷ Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ As I live—oracle of the Lord God—because my sheep became plunder, because my sheep became food for wild beasts, for lack of a shepherd, because my shepherds did not look after my sheep, but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep, ⁹ therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ Thus says the Lord God: Look! I am coming against these shepherds. I will take my sheep out of their hand and put a stop to their shepherding my flock, so that these shepherds will no longer pasture them. I will deliver my flock from their mouths so it will not become their food.
¹¹ For thus says the Lord God: Look! I myself will search for my sheep and examine them. ¹² As a shepherd examines his flock while he himself is among his scattered sheep, so will I examine my sheep. I will deliver them from every place where they were scattered on the day of dark clouds. ¹³ I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the lands; I will bring them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and every inhabited place in the land. ¹⁴ In good pastures I will pasture them; on the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down on good grazing ground; in rich pastures they will be pastured on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest—oracle of the Lord God. ¹⁶ The lost I will search out, the strays I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, and the sick I will heal; but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them in judgment.
¹¹ I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. ¹³ This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ho, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? ³ You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. ⁴ The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. ⁵ So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the wild beasts. ⁶ My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.
⁷ “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
¹¹ “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. ¹² As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. ¹³ And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the fountains, and in all the inhabited places of the country. ¹⁴ I will feed them with good pasture, and upon the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. ¹⁶ I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over; I will feed them in justice.
¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.
Ezekiel 34:15 sticks out to me, as an echo of:
²⁸ “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Combining these three references to God as a shepherd, what other prophetic promises are fulfilled in Jesus?
Chapter 40 also has my favorite lines:
²¹ Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Was it not told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the founding of the earth?
²⁸ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is God from of old,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
abundant strength to the weak.
³⁰ Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
³¹ They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength,
they will soar on eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.
²¹ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary,
his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰ Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹ but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
God as redeemer#
From Isaiah 41, we get the original reference to God as first and last:
⁴ Who has performed these deeds?
Who has called forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am the first,
and at the last I am he.
⁵ The coastlands see, and fear;
the ends of the earth tremble:
they approach, they come on.
⁷ Behold, he is coming amid the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him.
All the peoples of the earth will lament him.
Yes. Amen.
⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.”
¹² Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands ¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. ¹⁵ His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing water. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest.
¹⁷ When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ the one who lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.
⁴ Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am He.
⁵ The coastlands have seen and are afraid,
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
¹² Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden girdle round his breast; ¹⁴ his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, ¹⁵ his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters; ¹⁶ in his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
What does being the first and last mean?
Keep verse 4 in mind, especially “at the last I am he”
The Lord’s answer to Israel’s distress is given later in chapter 41:
¹³ For I am the Lord, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, Do not fear,
I will help you.
¹⁴ Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you maggot Israel;
I will help you—oracle of the Lord;
the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer.
¹⁵ I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, full of teeth,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
¹⁶ When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off,
the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
¹⁷ The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
¹⁸ I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the wilderness into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
¹⁹ In the wilderness I will plant the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
In the wasteland I will set the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
²⁰ That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
¹³ For I, the Lord your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
¹⁴ Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I will help you, says the Lord;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
¹⁵ Behold, I will make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
¹⁶ you shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
And you shall rejoice in the Lord;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
¹⁷ When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
¹⁸ I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
¹⁹ I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together;
²⁰ that men may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
In verse 14, there is this reference to the Lord as “your redeemer”. In Hebrew, this word is go’el (גֹאֲלֵ֖), e.g. one who frees others from slavery and avenges their sufferings:
⁸ You shall count seven weeks of years—seven times seven years—such that the seven weeks of years amount to forty-nine years. ⁹ Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month let the ram’s horn resound; on this, the Day of Atonement, the ram’s horn blast shall resound throughout your land. ¹⁰ You shall treat this fiftieth year as sacred. You shall proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to your own property, each of you to your own family. ¹¹ This fiftieth year is your year of jubilee; you shall not sow, nor shall you reap the aftergrowth or pick the untrimmed vines, ¹² since this is the jubilee. It shall be sacred for you. You may only eat what the field yields of itself.
⁴⁷ When your kindred, having been so reduced to poverty, sell themselves to a resident alien who has become wealthy or to descendants of a resident alien’s family, ⁴⁸ even after having sold themselves, they still may be redeemed by one of their kindred, ⁴⁹ by an uncle or cousin, or by some other relative from their family; or, having acquired the means, they may pay the redemption price themselves. ⁵⁰ With the purchaser they shall compute the years from the sale to the jubilee, distributing the sale price over these years as though they had been hired as laborers. ⁵¹ The more years there are, the more of the sale price they shall pay back as the redemption price; ⁵² the fewer years there are before the jubilee year, the more they have as credit; in proportion to the years of service they shall pay the redemption price. ⁵³ The tenant alien shall treat those who sold themselves as laborers hired on an annual basis, and the alien shall not lord it over them harshly before your very eyes. ⁵⁴ And if they are not redeemed by these means, they shall nevertheless be released, together with any children, in the jubilee year.
⁵ For example, if someone goes with a neighbor to a forest to cut wood, wielding an ax to cut down a tree, and its head flies off the handle and hits the neighbor a mortal blow, such a person may take refuge in one of these cities and live. ⁶ Should the distance be too great, the avenger of blood might in hot anger pursue, overtake, and strike the killer dead, even though that one does not deserve the death penalty since there had been no previous hatred;
¹¹ However, if someone, hating a neighbor, lies in wait, attacks, and strikes the neighbor dead, and then flees to one of these cities, ¹² the elders of the killer’s own city shall send and have the killer taken from there, to be handed over to the avenger of blood and slain.
⁸ “And you shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall be to you forty-nine years. ⁹ Then you shall send abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall send abroad the trumpet throughout all your land. ¹⁰ And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his family. ¹¹ A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be to you; in it you shall neither sow, nor reap what grows of itself, nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. ¹² For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat what it yields out of the field.
⁴⁷ “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, ⁴⁸ then after he is sold he may be redeemed; one of his brothers may redeem him, ⁴⁹ or his uncle, or his cousin may redeem him, or a near kinsman belonging to his family may redeem him; or if he grows rich he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰ He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of jubilee, and the price of his release shall be according to the number of years; the time he was with his owner shall be rated as the time of a hired servant. ⁵¹ If there are still many years, according to them he shall refund out of the price paid for him the price for his redemption. ⁵² If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall make a reckoning with him; according to the years of service due from him he shall refund the money for his redemption. ⁵³ As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him; he shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight. ⁵⁴ And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the year of jubilee, he and his children with him.
⁵ as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and save his life; ⁶ lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and wound him mortally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he was not at enmity with his neighbor in time past.
¹¹ “But if any man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and attacks him, and wounds him mortally so that he dies, and the man flees into one of these cities, ¹² then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die.
Is this dual meaning how you think of Jesus?
The first servant song#
Chapter 42 starts with the first of four servant songs to appear in the last half of Isaiah. Jewish tradition treats these songs as metaphorically referring to the whole of Israel, while we also understand it messianically.
¹ Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one with whom I am pleased.
Upon him I have put my spirit;
he shall bring forth justice to the nations.
² He will not cry out, nor shout,
nor make his voice heard in the street.
³ A bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.
He will faithfully bring forth justice.
⁴ He will not grow dim or be bruised
until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
⁵ Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and its produce,
Who gives breath to its people
and spirit to those who walk on it:
⁶ I, the Lord, have called you for justice,
I have grasped you by the hand;
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
⁷ To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
⁸ I am the Lord, Lord is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
⁹ See, the earlier things have come to pass,
new ones I now declare;
Before they spring forth
I announce them to you.
¹ At that time Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” ³ He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, ⁴ how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? ⁵ Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? ⁶ I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ If you knew what this meant, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned these innocent men. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”
⁹ Moving on from there, he went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And behold, there was a man there who had a withered hand. They questioned him, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?” so that they might accuse him. ¹¹ He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep that falls into a pit on the sabbath will not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable a person is than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.” ¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored as sound as the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him to put him to death.
¹⁵ When Jesus realized this, he withdrew from that place. Many [people] followed him, and he cured them all, ¹⁶ but he warned them not to make him known. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
¹⁸ “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved in whom I delight;
I shall place my spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
¹⁹ He will not contend or cry out,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
²⁰ A bruised reed he will not break,
a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory.
²¹ And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”
¹ Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him,
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
² He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
³ a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
⁴ He will not fail or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
⁵ Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread forth the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
⁶ “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
⁷ to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
⁸ I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to graven images.
⁹ Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
¹ At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears of grain and to eat. ² But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.” ³ He said to them, “Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have you not read in the law how on the sabbath the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless? ⁶ I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. ⁷ And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.”
⁹ And he went on from there, and entered their synagogue. ¹⁰ And behold, there was a man with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath?” so that they might accuse him. ¹¹ He said to them, “What man of you, if he has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? ¹² Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.” ¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, whole like the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him, how to destroy him.
¹⁵ Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all, ¹⁶ and ordered them not to make him known. ¹⁷ This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
¹⁸ “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
¹⁹ He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
nor will any one hear his voice in the streets;
²⁰ he will not break a bruised reed
or quench a smoldering wick,
till he brings justice to victory;
²¹ and in his name will the Gentiles hope.”
Redemption#
Chapter 43 opens with a very personal call:
¹ But now, thus says the Lord,
who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name: you are mine.
² When you pass through waters, I will be with you;
through rivers, you shall not be swept away.
When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned,
nor will flames consume you.
¹ But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
The word “created” (sometimes translated here as “formed” or “fashioned”) is first used in Genesis 2:
⁷ then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
⁸ The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed.
⁷ then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. ⁸ And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Isaiah really likes using this word; out of the 63 occurrences in the Bible, 27 are in Isaiah. Isaiah uses this word to describe potters and pottery, but also is used as “planned”:
¹¹ you made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to the city’s Maker, nor consider the one who fashioned it long ago.
²⁶ Have you not heard?
A long time ago I prepared it,
from days of old I planned it,
Now I have brought it about:
You are here to reduce
fortified cities to heaps of ruins,
¹¹ You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or have regard for him who planned it long ago.
²⁶ ‘Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
How does this deepen our understanding of the divine plans mentioned throughout Isaiah?
Later, we are called to be active witnesses:
³ For I, the Lord, am your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your savior.
I give Egypt as ransom for you,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes
and honored, and I love you,
I give people in return for you
and nations in exchange for your life.
⁵ Fear not, for I am with you;
from the east I will bring back your offspring,
from the west I will gather you.
⁶ I will say to the north: Give them up!
and to the south: Do not hold them!
Bring back my sons from afar,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth:
⁷ All who are called by my name
I created for my glory;
I formed them, made them.
⁸ Lead out the people, blind though they have eyes,
deaf though they have ears.
⁹ Let all the nations gather together,
let the peoples assemble!
Who among them could have declared this,
or announced to us the earlier things?
Let them produce witnesses to prove themselves right,
that one may hear and say, “It is true!”
¹⁰ You are my witnesses—oracle of the Lord—
my servant whom I have chosen
To know and believe in me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
and after me there shall be none.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
⁵ Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
⁶ I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
⁷ every one who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
⁸ Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
⁹ Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them can declare this,
and show us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, It is true.
¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am He.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
Are we acting as the witnesses required here?
The words I am he appear again in verse 10. We can recall back to Exodus and to Jesus’s later words:
¹⁴ God replied to Moses: I am who I am. Then he added: This is what you will tell the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.
²¹ He said to them again, “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” ²² So the Jews said, “He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?” ²³ He said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. ²⁴ That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” ²⁵ So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning. ²⁶ I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
⁵¹ Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” ⁵² [So] the Jews said to him, “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ ⁵⁵ You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶ Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad. ⁵⁷ So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.”
¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
²¹ Again he said to them, “I go away, and you will seek me and die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” ²² Then said the Jews, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³ He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. ²⁴ I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.” ²⁵ They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Even what I have told you from the beginning. ²⁶ I have much to say about you and much to judge; but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”
⁵¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death.” ⁵² The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, ‘If any one keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you claim to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your God. ⁵⁵ But you have not known him; I know him. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷ The Jews then said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
The RSV translates verse 24 as “I am he”, whereas the NABRE translates both as “I AM”.
We end this chapter with a promise of reconciliation:
²² Yet you did not call upon me, Jacob,
for you grew weary of me, Israel.
²³ You did not bring me sheep for your burnt offerings,
nor honor me with your sacrifices.
I did not exact from you the service of offerings,
nor weary you for frankincense.
²⁴ You did not buy me sweet cane,
nor did you fill me with the fat of your sacrifices;
Instead, you burdened me with your sins,
wearied me with your crimes.
²⁵ It is I, I, who wipe out,
for my own sake, your offenses;
your sins I remember no more.
²⁶ Would you have me remember, have us come to trial?
Speak up, prove your innocence!
²² “Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;
but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
²³ You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,
or honored me with your sacrifices.
I have not burdened you with offerings,
or wearied you with frankincense.
²⁴ You have not bought me sweet cane with money,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins,
you have wearied me with your iniquities.
²⁵ “I, I am He
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
²⁶ Put me in remembrance, let us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.