The LORD the Only Redeemer

431 And now, thus said Jehovah, Thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Fashioner, O Israel, Be not afraid, for I have redeemed thee, I have called on thy name—thou 'art' Mine. 2 When thou passest into waters, I 'am' with thee, And into floods, they do not overflow thee, When thou goest into fire, thou art not burnt, And a flame doth not burn against thee. 3 For I—Jehovah thy God, The Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour, I have appointed Egypt thine atonement, Cush and Seba in thy stead. 4 Since thou wast precious in Mine eyes, Thou wast honoured, and I have loved thee, And I appoint men in thy stead, And peoples instead of thy life. 5 Be not afraid, for I 'am' with thee, From the east I bring in thy seed, And from the west I gather thee. 6 I am saying to the north, 'Give up,' And to the south, 'Restrain not.' Bring in My sons from afar, And My daughters from the end of the earth. 7 Every one who is called by My name, Even for My honour I have created him, I have formed him, yea, I have made him.

8 He brought out a blind people who have eyes, And deaf ones who have ears. 9 All the nations have been gathered together, And the peoples are assembled, Who among them declareth this, And former things causeth us to hear? They give their witnesses, And they are declared righteous, And they hear and say, 'Truth.' 10 Ye 'are' My witnesses, an affirmation of Jehovah, And My servant whom I have chosen, So that ye know and give credence to Me, And understand that I 'am' He, Before Me there was no God formed, And after Me there is none. 11 I—I 'am' Jehovah, And besides Me there is no saviour. 12 I—I declared, and saved, and proclaimed, And there is no stranger with you, And ye 'are' My witnesses, an affirmation of Jehovah, And I 'am' God. 13 Even from the day I 'am' He, And there is no deliverer from My hand, I work, and who doth turn it back?

14 Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: 'For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And caused bars to descend—all of them, And the Chaldeans, whose song 'is' in the ships. 15 I 'am' Jehovah, your Holy One, Creator of Israel, your King.' 16 Thus said Jehovah, Who is giving in the sea a way, And in the strong waters a path. 17 Who is bringing forth chariot and horse, A force, even a strong one: 'Together they lie down—they rise not, They have been extinguished, As flax they have been quenched.' 18 Remember not former things, And ancient things consider not. 19 Lo, I am doing a new thing, now it springeth up, Do ye not know it? Yea, I put in a wilderness a way, In a desolate place—floods. 20 Honour me doth the beast of the field, Dragons and daughters of an ostrich, For I have given in a wilderness waters, Floods in a desolate place, To give drink to My people—My chosen. 21 This people I have formed for Myself, My praise they recount.

22 And Me thou hast not called, O Jacob, For thou hast been wearied of me, O Israel, 23 Thou hast not brought in to Me, The lamb of thy burnt-offerings, And 'with' thy sacrifices thou hast not honoured Me, I have not caused thee to serve with a present, Nor wearied thee with frankincense. 24 Thou hast not bought for Me with money sweet cane, And 'with' the fat of thy sacrifices hast not filled Me, Only—thou hast caused Me to serve with thy sins, Thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities. 25 I—I 'am' He who is blotting out Thy transgressions for Mine own sake, And thy sins I do not remember. 26 Cause me to remember—we are judged together, Declare thou that thou mayest be justified. 27 Thy first father sinned, And thine interpreters transgressed against me, 28 And I pollute princes of the sanctuary, And I give Jacob to destruction, and Israel to revilings!

The LORD the Only God

441 And now, hear, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have fixed on: 2 Thus said Jehovah, thy Maker, and thy Former, From the womb He doth help thee; Fear not, my servant Jacob, And Jeshurun, whom I have fixed on. 3 For I pour waters on a thirsty one, And floods on a dry land, I pour My Spirit on thy seed, And My blessing on thine offspring. 4 And they have sprung up as among grass, As willows by streams of water. 5 This 'one' saith, For Jehovah I 'am', And this calleth 'himself' by the name of Jacob, And this 'one' writeth 'with' his hand, 'For Jehovah,' and by the name of Israel surnameth himself. 6 Thus said Jehovah, king of Israel, And his Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts: 'I 'am' the first, and I the last, And besides Me there is no God. 7 And who as I, doth call and declare it, And arrange it for Me, Since My placing the people of antiquity, And things that are coming, And those that do come, declare they to them? 8 Fear not, nor be afraid, Have I not from that time caused thee to hear, and declared? And ye 'are' My witnesses, Is there a God besides Me? yea, there is none, A Rock I have not known.

The Folly of Idolatry

9 Framers of a graven image 'are' all of them emptiness, And their desirable things do not profit, And their own witnesses they 'are', They see not, nor know, that they may be ashamed. 10 Who hath formed a god, And a molten image poured out—not profitable? 11 Lo, all his companions are ashamed, As to artizans—they 'are' of men, All of them gather together, they stand up, They fear, they are ashamed together. 12 He hath wrought iron 'with' an axe, And hath wrought with coals, And with hammers doth form it, And doth work it by his powerful arm, Yea, he is hungry, and there is no power, He doth not drink water, and he is wearied. 13 He hath wrought 'with' wood, He hath stretched out a rule, He doth mark it out with a line, He maketh it with carving tools, And with a compass he marketh it out, And maketh it according to the form of a man, According to the beauty of a man, To remain in the house. 14 Cutting down to himself cedars, He taketh also a cypress, and an oak, And he strengtheneth 'it' for himself Among the trees of a forest, He hath planted an ash, and the shower doth nourish 'it'. 15 And it hath been for man to burn, And he taketh of them, and becometh warm, Yea, he kindleth 'it', and hath baked bread, Yea, he maketh a god, and boweth himself, He hath made it a graven image, And he falleth down to it. 16 Half of it he hath burnt in the fire, By 'this' half of it he eateth flesh, He roasteth a roasting, and is satisfied, Yea, he is warm, and saith: 'Aha, I have become warm, I have enjoyed the light. 17 And its remnant for a god he hath made—For his graven image, He falleth down to it, and worshippeth, And prayeth unto it, and he saith, 'Deliver me, for my god thou 'art'.' 18 They have not known, nor do they understand, For He hath daubed their eyes from seeing, Their heart from acting wisely. 19 And none doth turn 'it' back unto his heart, Nor hath knowledge nor understanding to say, 'Half of it I have burned in the fire, Yea, also, I have baked bread over its coals, I roast flesh and I eat, And its remnant for an abomination I make, To the stock of a tree I fall down.' 20 Feeding on ashes, the heart is deceived, It hath turned him aside, And he delivereth not his soul, nor saith: 'Is there not a lie in my right hand?'

The LORD the Redeemer of Israel

21 Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, For My servant thou 'art', I formed thee, a servant to Me thou 'art', O Israel, thou dost not forget Me. 22 I have blotted out, as 'by' a thick cloud, Thy transgressions, And as 'by' a cloud thy sins, Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee. 23 Sing, O heavens, for Jehovah hath wrought, Shout, O lower parts of earth, Break forth, O mountains, with singing, Forest, and every tree in it, For Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, And in Israel He doth beautify Himself. 24 Thus said Jehovah, thy redeemer, And thy framer from the womb: 'I 'am' Jehovah, doing all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, Spreading out the earth—who 'is' with Me? 25 Making void the tokens of devisers, And diviners it maketh mad, Turning the wise backward, And their knowledge it maketh foolish. 26 Confirming the word of His servant, The counsel of His messengers it perfecteth, Who is saying of Jerusalem, She is inhabited, And of cities of Judah, They shall be built, and her wastes I raise up, 27 Who is saying to the deep, Be dry, and thy rivers I cause to dry up, 28 Who is saying of Cyrus, My shepherd, And all my delight He doth perfect, So as to say of Jerusalem, Thou art built, And of the temple, Thou art founded.

Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica

21 For yourselves have known, brethren, our entrance in unto you, that it did not become vain, 2 but having both suffered before, and having been injuriously treated (as ye have known) in Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the good news of God in much conflict, 3 for our exhortation 'is' not out of deceit, nor out of uncleanness, nor in guile, 4 but as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the good news, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who is proving our hearts, 5 for at no time did we come with speech of flattery, (as ye have known,) nor in a pretext for covetousness, (God 'is' witness!) 6 nor seeking of men glory, neither from you nor from others, being able to be burdensome, as Christ's apostles.

7 But we became gentle in your midst, as a nurse may cherish her own children, 8 so being desirous of you, we are well-pleased to impart to you not only the good news of God, but also our own souls, because beloved ye have become to us, 9 for ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail, for, night and day working not to be a burden upon any of you, we did preach to you the good news of God; 10 ye 'are' witnesses—God also—how kindly and righteously, and blamelessly to you who believe we became, 11 even as ye have known, how each one of you, as a father his own children, we are exhorting you, and comforting, and testifying, 12 for your walking worthily of God, who is calling you to His own reign and glory.

13 Because of this also, we—we do give thanks to God continually, that, having received the word of hearing from us of God, ye accepted, not the word of man, but as it is truly, the word of God, who also doth work in you who believe; 14 for ye became imitators, brethren, of the assemblies of God that are in Judea in Christ Jesus, because such things ye suffered, even ye, from your own countrymen, as also they from the Jews, 15 who did both put to death the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and did persecute us, and God they are not pleasing, and to all men 'are' contrary, 16 forbidding us to speak to the nations that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always, but the anger did come upon them—to the end!

Paul's Absence and Concern

17 And we, brethren, having been taken from you for the space of an hour—in presence, not in heart—did hasten the more abundantly to see your face in much desire, 18 wherefore we wished to come unto you, (I indeed Paul,) both once and again, and the Adversary did hinder us; 19 for what 'is' our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? are not even ye before our Lord Jesus Christ in his presence? 20 for ye are our glory and joy.