Isaiah 53-56 - Prayer Tents

Isaiah 53

53Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?H539H8052H2220H3068H1540 2My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.H5927H6440H3126H8328H6723H776H8389H1926H7200H4758H2530 3He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.H959H2310H376H376H4341H3045H2483H4564H6440H959H2803 4Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!H403H5375H2483H5445H4341H2803H5060H5221H430H6031 5But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.H2490H6588H1792H5771H4148H7965H2250H7495 6All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.H6629H8582H6437H376H1870H3068H6293H5771 7He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.H5065H6031H6605H6310H2986H7716H2874H7353H6440H1494H481H6605H6310 8Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.H3947H6115H4941H7878H1755H1504H776H2416H6588H5971H5061 9He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.H5414H6913H7563H6223H4194H6213H2555H4820H6310 10But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.H2654H3068H1792H2470H7760H5315H817H7200H2233H748H3117H2656H3068H6743H3027 11When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.H7200H5999H5315H7646H1847H6662H5650H6663H7227H5445H5771 12I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.H2505H7227H2505H7998H6099H6168H5315H4194H4487H6586H5375H2399H7227H6293H6586

Isaiah 54

54“Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, you who have never been in labor. For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband,” says the Lord.H7442H6135H3205H6476H7440H6670H2342H7227H1121H8074H1121H1166H559H30682“Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense!H7337H4725H168H5186H3407H4908H2820H748H4340H2388H34893For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities.H6555H3225H8040H2233H3423H1471H8074H5892H34274“Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood.H3372H954H3637H2659H7911H1322H5934H2142H2781H4915For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth.H6213H1166H3068H6635H8034H1350H6918H3478H430H776H71216For the Lord has called you back from your grief—as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband,” says your God.H3068H7121H802H5800H6087H7307H802H5271H3988H559H4307“For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back.H6996H7281H5800H1419H7356H69088In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while. But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.H8241H7110H5641H6440H7281H5769H2617H7355H559H3068H13509“Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you.H4325H5146H7650H4325H5146H5674H776H7650H7107H160510For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.H2022H4185H1389H4131H2617H4185H1285H7965H4131H559H3068H735511“O storm-battered city, troubled and desolate! I will rebuild you with precious jewels and make your foundations from lapis lazuli.H6041H5590H5162H7257H68H6320H3245H560112I will make your towers of sparkling rubies, your gates of shining gems, and your walls of precious stones.H7760H8121H3539H8179H68H688H1366H2656H6813I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace.H1121H3928H3068H7227H7965H112114You will be secure under a government that is just and fair. Your enemies will stay far away. You will live in peace, and terror will not come near.H6666H3559H7368H6233H3372H4288H712615If any nation comes to fight you, it is not because I sent them. Whoever attacks you will go down in defeat.H1481H1481H657H4310H1481H530716“I have created the blacksmith who fans the coals beneath the forge and makes the weapons of destruction. And I have created the armies that destroy.H1254H2796H5301H6352H784H3318H3627H4639H1254H7843H225417But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken!H3627H3335H6743H3956H6965H4941H7561H5159H5650H3068H6666H5002H3068

Isaiah 55

55“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free!H1945H6771H3212H4325H3701H3212H7666H398H3212H7666H3196H2461H3701H4242 2Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.H8254H3701H3899H3018H7654H3808H8085H8085H398H2896H5315H6026H1880 3“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.H5186H241H3212H8085H5315H2421H3772H5769H1285H539H2617H1732 4See how I used him to display my power among the peoples. I made him a leader among the nations.H5414H5707H3816H5057H6680H3816 5You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”H7121H1471H3045H1471H3045H7323H3068H430H6918H3478H6286 6Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.H1875H3068H4672H7121H7138 7Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.H7563H5800H1870H205H376H4284H7725H3068H7355H430H7235H5545 8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.H4284H4284H1870H1870H5002H3068 9For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.H8064H1361H776H1870H1361H1870H4284H4284 10“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.H1653H3381H7950H8064H7725H7301H776H3205H6779H5414H2233H2232H3899H398 11It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.H1697H3318H6310H7725H7387H6213H2654H6743H7971 12You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!H3318H8057H2986H7965H2022H1389H6476H6440H7440H6086H7704H4222H3709 13Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”H5285H5927H1265H5636H5927H1918H3068H8034H5769H226H3772

Isaiah 56

56This is what the Lord says. “Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and to display my righteousness among you.H559H3068H8104H4941H6213H6666H3444H7138H935H6666H15402Blessed are all those who are careful to do this. Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from doing wrong.H835H582H6213H1121H120H2388H8104H7676H2490H8104H3027H6213H74513“Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will never let me be part of his people.’ And don’t let the eunuchs say, ‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’H1121H5236H3867H3068H559H559H3068H914H914H5971H5631H559H3002H60864For this is what the Lord says. I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me.H559H3068H5631H8104H7676H977H2654H2388H12855I will give them—within the walls of my house—a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear!H5414H1004H2346H3027H8034H2896H1121H1323H5414H5769H8034H37726“I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant.H1121H5236H3867H3068H8334H157H8034H3068H5650H8104H7676H2490H2388H12857I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.H935H6944H2022H8055H1004H8605H5930H2077H7522H4196H1004H7121H1004H8605H59718For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says. I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.”H136H3069H6908H1760H3478H5002H6908H69089Come, wild animals of the field! Come, wild animals of the forest! Come and devour my people!H2416H7704H857H398H2416H329310For the leaders of my people—the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds—are blind and ignorant. They are like silent watchdogs that give no warning when danger comes. They love to lie around, sleeping and dreaming.H6822H5787H3045H483H3611H3201H5024H1957H7901H157H512311Like greedy dogs, they are never satisfied. They are ignorant shepherds, all following their own path and intent on personal gain.H5794H5315H3611H3045H3045H7654H7462H995H6437H1870H376H1215H709712“Come,” they say, “let’s get some wine and have a party. Let’s all get drunk. Then tomorrow we’ll do it again and have an even bigger party!”H857H3947H3196H5433H7941H4279H3117H3966H3499H1419