591 Behold , the Lord'S hand 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 hidden His face 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 , And from that 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 .
9 Therefore e 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 vigorous we are like dead men. 11 All of us growl like bears , And moan sadly like doves ; We hope for justice , but there is none , For salvation , but it 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 , Conceiving in and 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 e enter . 15 Yes, truth is lacking ; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey . Now the Lord saw , 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 to their deeds , 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 Lord from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun , For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the Lord drives . 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 e ."
601 " Arise , shine ; for your light has come , And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2 "For behold , darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples ; But the Lord will 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 Tarshish will come first , To bring your sons from afar , Their silver and their gold with them, For the name of the Lord your 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 that men may 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 Lord for 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 Lord for an everlasting light , And the days of your mourning will be over . 21 "Then all your people will be righteous ; 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 ."
611 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted ; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted e , 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 mourn in Zion , 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 e will be your farmers and your vinedressers . 6 But you will be called the priests of the Lord ; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God . You will eat the wealth of nations , And in their riches you will boast . 7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion . Therefore they will possess a double portion in 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 offspring whom the Lord has 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 GOD will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations .
31 Finally , brethren , pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified , just as it did also with you; 2 and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men ; for not all have faith . 3 But the Lord is faithful , and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command . 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ .
6 Now we command you, brethren , in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ , that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example , because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's e bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example . 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order : if anyone is not willing to work , then he is not to eat , either . 11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life , doing no work at all , but acting like busybodies . 12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread . 13 But as for you, brethren , do not grow weary of doing good . 14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter , take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame . 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy , but admonish him as a brother .
16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually e grant you peace in every circumstance . The Lord be with you all ! 17 I, Paul , write this greeting with my own hand , and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter ; this is the way I write . 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all .