New American Standard Bible (NASB)

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.

2 “Why 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.

3 “Incline your ear and come to Me.

Listen, that you may live;

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

According tothe faithful mercies shown to David.

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

A leader and commander for the peoples.

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

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

Because of the Lordyour God, even the Holy One of Israel;

For He has glorified you.”

6 Seek the Lordwhile He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

7 Let 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 “Forasthe heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For 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;

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

It will not return to Me empty,

Without accomplishing what I desire,

And without succeedingin the matterfor which I sent it.

12 “For 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 claptheirhands.

13 “Instead 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.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/55-a335609bf0ec7cec5f315b4cdeeacc3d.mp3?version_id=100—

Rewards for Obedience to God

1 Thus says the Lord,

“Preserve justice and do righteousness,

For My salvation is about to come

And My righteousness to be revealed.

2 “How 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.”

3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lordsay,

“The Lordwill surely separate me from His people.”

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

4 For thus says the Lord,

“To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths,

And choose what pleases Me,

And hold fast My covenant,

5 To 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;

7 Even 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.”

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

“YetothersI will gather to them, to thosealreadygathered.”

9 All you beasts of the field,

All you beasts in the forest,

Come to eat.

10 His watchmen are blind,

All of them know nothing.

All of them are mute dogs unable to bark,

Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;

11 And 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.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/56-487915dd562844af8564dce5ad83b9a9.mp3?version_id=100—

Evil Leaders Rebuked

1 The 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,

2 He enters into peace;

They rest in their beds,

Each onewho walked in his upright way.

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

Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.

4 “Against 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,

5 Whoinflame yourselves among the oaks,

Under every luxuriant tree,

Who slaughter the children in the ravines,

Under the clefts of the crags?

6 “Among the smoothstonesof 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?

7 “Upon a high and lofty mountain

You have made your bed.

You also went up there to offer sacrifice.

8 “Behind 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 ontheirmanhood.

9 “You have journeyed to the king with oil

And increased your perfumes;

You have sent your envoys a great distance

And madethemgo down to Sheol.

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

Yetyou 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 giveMea thought?

Was I not silent even for a long time

So you do not fear Me?

12 “I will declare your righteousness and your deeds,

But they will not profit you.

13 “When you cry out, let your collectionof idolsdeliver you.

But the wind will carry all of them up,

Anda breath will takethem away.

But he who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land

And will possess My holy mountain.”

14 And it will be said,

“Build up, build up, prepare the way,

Removeeveryobstacle out of the way of My people.”

15 For thus says the high and exalted One

Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,

“I dwellona high and holy place,

Andalsowith the contrite and lowly of spirit

In order to revive the spirit of the lowly

And to revive the heart of the contrite.

16 “For I will not contend forever,

Nor will I always be angry;

For the spirit would grow faint before Me,

And the breathof those whomI have made.

17 “Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him;

I hidMy faceand was angry,

And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart.

18 “I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;

I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners,

19 Creating the praise of the lips.

Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near,”

Says the Lord, “and I will heal him.”

20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea,

For it cannot be quiet,

And its waters toss up refuse and mud.

21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/57-d4a653b90f9fe895592d4f4cc12b5240.mp3?version_id=100—

Observances of Fasts

1 “Cry loudly, do not hold back;

Raise your voice like a trumpet,

And declare to My people their transgression

And to the house of Jacob their sins.

2 “Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,

As a nation that has done righteousness

And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.

They ask Meforjust decisions,

They delight in the nearness of God.

3 ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?

Whyhave we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’

Behold, on the day of your fast you findyourdesire,

And drive hard all your workers.

4 “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.

You do not fast likeyou dotoday to make your voice heard on high.

5 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed

And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?

Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?

6 “Is this not the fast which I choose,

To loosen the bonds of wickedness,

To undo the bands of the yoke,

And to let the oppressed go free

And break every yoke?

7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry

And bring the homeless poor into the house;

When you see the naked, to cover him;

And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn,

And your recovery will speedily spring forth;

And your righteousness will go before you;

The glory of the Lordwill be your rear guard.

9 “Then you will call, and the Lordwill answer;

You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you remove the yoke from your midst,

The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,

10 And if you give yourself to the hungry

And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

Then your light will rise in darkness

And your gloomwill becomelike midday.

11 “And the Lordwill continually guide you,

And satisfy your desire in scorched places,

And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

12 “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up the age-old foundations;

And you will be called the repairer of the breach,

The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

Keeping the Sabbath

13 “If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot

From doing yourownpleasure on My holy day,

And call the sabbath a delight, the holydayof the Lordhonorable,

And honor it, desisting from yourownways,

From seeking yourownpleasure

And speakingyour ownword,

14 Then you will take delight in the Lord,

And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;

And I will feed youwiththe heritage of Jacob your father,

For the mouth of the Lordhas spoken.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/58-56e73696a01c263de694d54694c05169.mp3?version_id=100—

Separation from God

1 Behold, the Lord’shand is not so short

That it cannot save;

Nor is His ear so dull

That it cannot hear.

2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,

And your sins have hiddenHisface from you so that He does not hear.

3 For your hands are defiled with blood

And your fingers with iniquity;

Your lips have spoken falsehood,

Your tongue mutters wickedness.

4 No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly.

They trust in confusion and speak lies;

They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.

5 They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;

He who eats of their eggs dies,

Andfromthat which is crushed a snake breaks forth.

6 Their webs will not become clothing,

Nor will they cover themselves with their works;

Their works are works of iniquity,

And an act of violence is in their hands.

7 Their feet run to evil,

And they hasten to shed innocent blood;

Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,

Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

8 They do not know the way of peace,

And there is no justice in their tracks;

They have made their paths crooked,

Whoever treads on them does not know peace.

A Confession of Wickedness

9 Therefore justice is far from us,

And righteousness does not overtake us;

We hope for light, but behold, darkness,

For brightness, but we walk in gloom.

10 We grope along the wall like blind men,

We grope like those who have no eyes;

We stumble at midday as in the twilight,

Among those who are vigorouswe arelike dead men.

11 All of us growl like bears,

And moan sadly like doves;

We hope for justice, but there is none,

For salvation,butit is far from us.

12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You,

And our sins testify against us;

For our transgressions are with us,

And we know our iniquities:

13 Transgressing and denying the Lord,

And turning away from our God,

Speaking oppression and revolt,

Conceivinginand uttering from the heart lying words.

14 Justice is turned back,

And righteousness stands far away;

For truth has stumbled in the street,

And uprightness cannot enter.

15 Yes, truth is lacking;

And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey.

Now the Lordsaw,

And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.

16 And He saw that there was no man,

And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;

Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,

And His righteousness upheld Him.

17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate,

And a helmet of salvation on His head;

And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing

And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.

18 According totheirdeeds, so He will repay,

Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;

To the coastlands He will make recompense.

19 So they will fear the name of the Lordfrom the west

And His glory from the rising of the sun,

For He will come like a rushing stream

Which the wind of the Lorddrives.

20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion,

And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.

21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/59-0d4895c3a588ec7950f4ac1d2aa0f48c.mp3?version_id=100—

A Glorified Zion

1 “Arise, shine; for your light has come,

And the glory of the Lordhas risen upon you.

2 “For behold, darkness will cover the earth

And deep darkness the peoples;

But the Lordwill rise upon you

And His glory will appear upon you.

3 “Nations will come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

4 “Lift up your eyes round about and see;

They all gather together, they come to you.

Your sons will come from afar,

And your daughters will be carried in the arms.

5 “Then you will see and be radiant,

And your heart will thrill and rejoice;

Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you,

The wealth of the nations will come to you.

6 “A multitude of camels will cover you,

The young camels of Midian and Ephah;

All those from Sheba will come;

They will bring gold and frankincense,

And will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.

7 “All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you,

The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you;

They will go up with acceptance on My altar,

And I shall glorify My glorious house.

8 “Who are these who fly like a cloud

And like the doves to their lattices?

9 “Surely the coastlands will wait for Me;

And the ships of Tarshishwill comefirst,

To bring your sons from afar,

Their silver and their gold with them,

For the name of the Lordyour God,

And for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you.

10 “Foreigners will build up your walls,

And their kings will minister to you;

For in My wrath I struck you,

And in My favor I have had compassion on you.

11 “Your gates will be open continually;

They will not be closed day or night,

So thatmenmay bring to you the wealth of the nations,

With their kings led in procession.

12 “For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish,

And the nations will be utterly ruined.

13 “The glory of Lebanon will come to you,

The juniper, the box tree and the cypress together,

To beautify the place of My sanctuary;

And I shall make the place of My feet glorious.

14 “The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you,

And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet;

And they will call you the city of the Lord,

The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

15 “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated

With no one passing through,

I will make you an everlasting pride,

A joy from generation to generation.

16 “You will also suck the milk of nations

And suck the breast of kings;

Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior

And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

17 “Instead of bronze I will bring gold,

And instead of iron I will bring silver,

And instead of wood, bronze,

And instead of stones, iron.

And I will make peace your administrators

And righteousness your overseers.

18 “Violence will not be heard again in your land,

Nor devastation or destruction within your borders;

But you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise.

19 “No longer will you have the sun for light by day,

Nor for brightness will the moon give you light;

But you will have the Lordfor an everlasting light,

And your God for your glory.

20 “Your sun will no longer set,

Nor will your moon wane;

For you will have the Lordfor an everlasting light,

And the days of your mourning will be over.

21 “Then all your peoplewill berighteous;

They will possess the land forever,

The branch of My planting,

The work of My hands,

That I may be glorified.

22 “The smallest one will become a clan,

And the least one a mighty nation.

I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/60-3871d875d98585a48a87f6f765dc363b.mp3?version_id=100—

Exaltation of the Afflicted

1 The Spirit of the Lord Godis upon me,

Because the Lordhas anointed me

To bring good news to the afflicted;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to captives

And freedom to prisoners;

2 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn,

3 To grant those who mourninZion,

Giving them a garland instead of ashes,

The oil of gladness instead of mourning,

The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

4 Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,

They will raise up the former devastations;

And they will repair the ruined cities,

The desolations of many generations.

5 Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,

And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.

6 But you will be called the priests of the Lord;

You will be spoken ofasministers of our God.

You will eat the wealth of nations,

And in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of your shameyou will have adoubleportion,

Andinstead ofhumiliation they will shout for joy over their portion.

Therefore they will possess a doubleportionin their land,

Everlasting joy will be theirs.

8 For I, the Lord, love justice,

I hate robbery in the burnt offering;

And I will faithfully give them their recompense

And make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Then their offspring will be known among the nations,

And their descendants in the midst of the peoples.

All who see them will recognize them

Because they are the offspringwhomthe Lordhas blessed.

10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,

My soul will exult in my God;

For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,

He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,

As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up,

So the Lord Godwill cause righteousness and praise

To spring up before all the nations.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/61-b62a084843225898e1f1f1ffcbcad2c1.mp3?version_id=100—

Zion’s Glory and New Name

1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet,

Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness,

And her salvation like a torch that is burning.

2 The nations will see your righteousness,

And all kings your glory;

And you will be called by a new name

Which the mouth of the Lordwill designate.

3 You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

And a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

4 It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,”

Nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”;

But you will be called, “My delight is in her,”

And your land, “Married”;

For the Lorddelights in you,

Andto Himyour land will be married.

5 Forasa young man marries a virgin,

Soyour sons will marry you;

Andasthe bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

Soyour God will rejoice over you.

6 On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen;

All day and all night they will never keep silent.

You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves;

7 And give Him no rest until He establishes

And makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

8 The Lordhas sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm,

“I will never again give your grainasfood for your enemies;

Nor will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.”

9 But those who garner it will eat it and praise the Lord;

And those who gather it will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.

10 Go through, go through the gates,

Clear the way for the people;

Build up, build up the highway,

Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples.

11 Behold, the Lordhas proclaimed to the end of the earth,

Say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation comes;

Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.”

12 And they will call them, “The holy people,

The redeemed of the Lord”;

And you will be called, “Sought out, a city not forsaken.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/62-144c57f69edbf2621f5a503e36214463.mp3?version_id=100—

God’s Vengeance on the Nations

1 Who is this who comes from Edom,

With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah,

This One who is majestic in His apparel,

Marching in the greatness of His strength?

“It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”

2 Why is Your apparel red,

And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?

3 “I have trodden the wine trough alone,

And from the peoples there was no man with Me.

I also trod them in My anger

And trampled them in My wrath;

And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,

And I stained all My raiment.

4 “For the day of vengeance was in My heart,

And My year of redemption has come.

5 “I looked, and there was no one to help,

And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold;

So My own arm brought salvation to Me,

And My wrath upheld Me.

6 “I trod down the peoples in My anger

And made them drunk in My wrath,

And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

God’s Ancient Mercies Recalled

7 I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, the praises of the Lord,

According to all that the Lordhas granted us,

And the great goodness toward the house of Israel,

Which He has granted them according to His compassion

And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.

8 For He said, “Surely, they are My people,

Sons who will not deal falsely.”

So He became their Savior.

9 In all their affliction He was afflicted,

And the angel of His presence saved them;

In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them,

And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.

10 But they rebelled

And grieved His Holy Spirit;

Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy,

He fought against them.

11 Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses.

Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock?

Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them,

12 Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses,

Who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name,

13 Who led them through the depths?

Like the horse in the wilderness, they did not stumble;

14 As the cattle which go down into the valley,

The Spirit of the Lordgave them rest.

So You led Your people,

To make for Yourself a glorious name.

“You Are Our Father”

15 Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation;

Where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds?

The stirrings of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained toward me.

16 For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us

And Israel does not recognize us.

You, O Lord, are our Father,

Our Redeemer from of old is Your name.

17 Why, O Lord, do You cause us to stray from Your ways

And harden our heart from fearing You?

Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.

18 Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while,

Our adversaries have troddenitdown.

19 We have becomelikethose over whom You have never ruled,

Likethose who were not called by Your name.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/63-bbf6d2ae0bd79c6d226e8e1452d35e18.mp3?version_id=100—

Prayer for Mercy and Help

1 Oh, that You would rend the heavensandcome down,

That the mountains might quake at Your presence-

2 As fire kindles the brushwood,asfire causes water to boil-

To make Your name known to Your adversaries,

Thatthe nations may tremble at Your presence!

3 When You did awesome things which we did not expect,

You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

4 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,

Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,

Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

5 You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,

Who remembers You in Your ways.

Behold, You were angry, for we sinned,

We continuedin them a long time;

And shall we be saved?

6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean,

And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;

And all of us wither like a leaf,

And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 There is no one who calls on Your name,

Who arouses himself to take hold of You;

For You have hidden Your face from us

And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

8 But now, O Lord, You are our Father,

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all of us are the work of Your hand.

9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord,

Nor remember iniquity forever;

Behold, look now, all of us are Your people.

10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness,

Zion has become a wilderness,

Jerusalem a desolation.

11 Our holy and beautiful house,

Where our fathers praised You,

Has been burnedbyfire;

And all our precious things have become a ruin.

12 Will You restrain Yourself at these things, O Lord?

Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/80/32k/ISA/64-f418b741e6e25cc5cafefabd4030de45.mp3?version_id=100—