Day 51 · Isaiah 40; 44:24–45:7; 52–53
Old Testament · Phase 6 · Exile & Return
Consolation for exiles; Cyrus named; The Suffering Servant
Isaiah 40
Section titled “Isaiah 40”Prepare the Way for the LORD
1“Comfort, comfort My people,”
says your God.
2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her forced labor has been completed;
her iniquity has been pardoned.
For she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.”
3A voice of one calling:
“Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness;
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
4Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill made low;
the uneven ground will become smooth,
and the rugged land a plain.
5And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all humanity together will see it.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
The Enduring Word
6A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I asked, “What should I cry out?”
“All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
7The grass withers and the flowers fall
when the breath of the LORD blows on them;
indeed, the people are grass.
8The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
Here Is Your God!
9Go up on a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news.
Raise your voice loudly,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news.
Lift it up,
do not be afraid!
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and His arm establishes His rule.
His reward is with Him,
and His recompense accompanies Him.
11He tends His flock like a shepherd;
He gathers the lambs in His arms
and carries them close to His heart.
He gently leads the nursing ewes.
12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on a scale
and the hills with a balance?
13Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,
or informed Him as His counselor?
14Whom did He consult to enlighten Him,
and who taught Him the paths of justice?
Who imparted knowledge to Him
and showed Him the way of understanding?
15Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered a speck of dust on the scales;
He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel,
nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.
17All the nations are as nothing before Him;
He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
18To whom will you liken God?
To what image will you compare Him?
19To an idol that a craftsman casts
and a metalworker overlays with gold
and fits with silver chains?
20One lacking such an offering
chooses wood that will not rot.
He seeks a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not topple.
21Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?
22He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its dwellers are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23He brings the princes to nothing
and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.
24No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown,
no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground,
than He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.
25“To whom will you liken Me,
or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high:
Who created all these?
He leads forth the starry host by number;
He calls each one by name.
Because of His great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.
27Why do you say, O Jacob,
and why do you assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my claim is ignored by my God”?
28Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary;
His understanding is beyond searching out.
29He gives power to the faint
and increases the strength of the weak.
30Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall.
31But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength;
they will mount up with wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 44:24–45:7
Section titled “Isaiah 44:24–45:7”24Thus says the LORD,
your Redeemer who formed you from the womb:
“I am the LORD,
who has made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who by Myself spread out the earth,
25who foils the signs of false prophets
and makes fools of diviners,
who confounds the wise
and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
26who confirms the message of His servant
and fulfills the counsel of His messengers,
who says of Jerusalem,
‘She will be inhabited,’
and of the cities of Judah,
‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’
27who says to the depths of the sea,
‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’
28who says of Cyrus,
‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’
who says of Jerusalem,
‘She will be rebuilt,’
and of the temple,
‘Let its foundation be laid.’”
God Calls Cyrus
1This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him,
to disarm kings,
to open the doors before him,
so that the gates will not be shut:
2“I will go before you
and level the mountains;
I will break down the gates of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron.
3I will give you the treasures of darkness
and the riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who calls you by name.
4For the sake of Jacob My servant
and Israel My chosen one,
I call you by name;
I have given you a title of honor,
though you have not known Me.
5I am the LORD, and there is no other;
there is no God but Me.
I will equip you for battle,
though you have not known Me,
6so that all may know,
from where the sun rises to where it sets,
that there is none but Me;
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
7I form the light and create the darkness;
I bring prosperity and create calamity.
I, the LORD, do all these things.
Isaiah 52–53
Section titled “Isaiah 52–53”Deliverance for Jerusalem
1Awake, awake,
clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!
Put on your garments of splendor,
O Jerusalem, holy city!
For the uncircumcised and unclean
will no longer enter you.
2Shake off your dust!
Rise up and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem.
Remove the chains from your neck,
O captive Daughter of Zion.
3For this is what the LORD says:
“You were sold for nothing,
and without money you will be redeemed.”
4For this is what the Lord GOD says:
“At first My people went down to Egypt to live,
then Assyria oppressed them without cause.
5And now what have I here?
declares the LORD.
For My people have been taken without cause;
those who rule them taunt,
declares the LORD,
and My name is blasphemed continually
all day long.
6Therefore My people will know My name;
therefore they will know on that day
that I am He who speaks.
Here I am!”
7How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
8Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
together they shout for joy.
For every eye will see
when the LORD returns to Zion.
9Break forth in joy, sing together,
O ruins of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted His people;
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10The LORD has bared His holy arm
in the sight of all the nations;
all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.
11Depart, depart, go out from there!
Touch no unclean thing;
come out from it, purify yourselves,
you who carry the vessels of the LORD.
12For you will not leave in a hurry
nor flee in haste,
for the LORD goes before you,
and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
The Servant Exalted
13Behold, My Servant will prosper;
He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
14Just as many were appalled at Him—
His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man,
and His form was marred beyond human likeness—
15so He will sprinkle many nations.
Kings will shut their mouths because of Him.
For they will see what they have not been told,
and they will understand what they have not heard.
The Suffering Servant
1Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no stately form or majesty to attract us,
no beauty that we should desire Him.
3He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.
Like one from whom men hide their faces,
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
4Surely He took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows;
yet we considered Him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed.
6We all like sheep have gone astray,
each one has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid upon Him
the iniquity of us all.
7He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet He did not open His mouth.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so He did not open His mouth.
8By oppression and judgment He was taken away,
and who can recount His descendants?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
He was stricken for the transgression of My people.
A Grave Assigned
9He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with a rich man in His death,
although He had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him
and to cause Him to suffer;
and when His soul is made a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,
and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
11After the anguish of His soul,
He will see the light of life and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many,
and He will bear their iniquities.
12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great,
and He will divide the spoils with the strong,
because He has poured out His life unto death,
and He was numbered with the transgressors.
Yet He bore the sin of many
and made intercession for the transgressors.