Bible Reading Plan – Day 234

“Listen now, Israel, my servant,

my chosen people, the descendants of Jacob.

₂I am the LORD who created you;

from the time you were born, I have helped you.

Do not be afraid; you are my servant,

my chosen people whom I love.

₃“I will give water to the thirsty land

and make streams flow on the dry ground.

I will pour out my spirit on your children

and my blessing on your descendants.

₄They will thrive like well-watered grass,

like willows by streams of running water.

₅“One by one, people will say, ‘I am the LORD's.’

They will come to join the people of Israel.

They will each mark the name of the LORD on their arms

and call themselves members of God's people.”

₆The LORD, who rules and protects Israel,

the LORD Almighty, has this to say:

“I am the first, the last, the only God;

there is no other god but me.

₇Could anyone else have done what I did?

Who could have predicted all that would happen

from the very beginning to the end of time?

₈Do not be afraid, my people!

You know that from ancient times until now

I have predicted all that would happen,

and you are my witnesses.

Is there any other god?

Is there some powerful god I never heard of?”

“Israel, remember this;

remember that you are my servant.

I created you to be my servant,

and I will never forget you.

₂₂I have swept your sins away like a cloud.

Come back to me; I am the one who saves you.”

₂₃Shout for joy, you heavens!

Shout, deep places of the earth!

Shout for joy, mountains, and every tree of the forest!

The LORD has shown his greatness

by saving his people Israel.

₂₄“I am the LORD, your saviour;

I am the one who created you.

I am the LORD, the Creator of all things.

I alone stretched out the heavens;

when I made the earth, no one helped me.

₂₅I make fools of fortune tellers

and frustrate the predictions of astrologers.

The words of the wise I refute

and show that their wisdom is foolishness.

₂₆But when my servant makes a prediction,

when I send a messenger to reveal my plans,

I make those plans and predictions come true.

I tell Jerusalem that people will live there again,

and the cities of Judah that they will be rebuilt.

Those cities will rise from the ruins.

₂₇With a word of command I dry up the ocean.

₂₈I say to Cyrus, ‘You are the one who will rule for me;

you will do what I want you to do:

you will order Jerusalem to be rebuilt

and the Temple foundations to be laid.’ ”

₁The LORD has chosen Cyrus to be king!

He has appointed him to conquer nations;

he sends him to strip kings of their power;

the LORD will open the gates of cities for him.

To Cyrus the LORD says,

₂“I myself will prepare your way,

levelling mountains and hills.

I will break down bronze gates

and smash their iron bars.

₃I will give you treasures from dark, secret places;

then you will know that I am the LORD,

and that the God of Israel has called you by name.

₄I appoint you to help my servant Israel,

the people that I have chosen.

I have given you great honour,

although you do not know me.

₅“I am the LORD; there is no other god.

I will give you the strength you need,

although you do not know me.

₆I do this so that everyone

from one end of the world to the other

may know that I am the LORD

and that there is no other god.

₇I create both light and darkness;

I bring both blessing and disaster.

I, the LORD, do all these things.

₈I will send victory from the sky like rain;

the earth will open to receive it

and will blossom with freedom and justice.

I, the LORD, will make this happen.”

₉Does a clay pot dare to argue with its maker,

a pot that is like all the others?

Does the clay ask the potter what he is doing?

Does the pot complain that its maker has no skill?

₁₀Does anyone dare to say to his parents,

“Why did you make me like this?”

₁₁The LORD, the holy God of Israel,

the one who shapes the future, says:

“You have no right to question me about my children

or to tell me what I ought to do!

₁₂I am the one who made the earth

and created the human race to live there.

By my power I stretched out the heavens;

I control the sun, the moon, and the stars.

₁₃I myself have stirred Cyrus to action

to fulfil my purpose and put things right.

I will straighten every road that he travels.

He will rebuild my city, Jerusalem,

and set my captive people free.

No one has hired him or bribed him to do this.”

The LORD Almighty has spoken.

“The wealth of Egypt and Ethiopia will be yours,

and the tall men of Seba will be your slaves;

they will follow you in chains.

They will bow down to you and confess,

‘God is with you — he alone is God.

₁₅The God of Israel, who saves his people,

is a God who conceals himself.

₁₆Those who make idols will all be ashamed;

all of them will be disgraced.

₁₇But Israel is saved by the LORD,

and her victory lasts for ever;

her people will never be disgraced.’ ”

₁₈The LORD created the heavens —

he is the one who is God!

He formed and made the earth —

he made it firm and lasting.

He did not make it a desolate waste,

but a place for people to live in.

It is he who says, “I am the LORD,

and there is no other god.

₁₉I have not spoken in secret

or kept my purpose hidden.

I did not require the people of Israel

to look for me in a desolate waste.

I am the LORD, and I speak the truth;

I make known what is right.”

“Come together, people of the nations,

all who survive the fall of the empire;

present yourselves for the trial!

The people who parade with their idols of wood

and pray to gods that cannot save them —

those people know nothing at all!

₂₁Come and present your case in court;

let the defendants consult one another.

Who predicted long ago what would happen?

Was it not I, the LORD, the God who saves his people?

There is no other god.

₂₂“Turn to me now and be saved,

people all over the world!

I am the only God there is.

₂₃My promise is true,

and it will not be changed.

I solemnly promise by all that I am:

Everyone will come and kneel before me

and vow to be loyal to me.

₂₄“They will say that only through me

are victory and strength to be found;

but all who hate me will suffer disgrace.

₂₅I, the LORD, will rescue all the descendants of Jacob,

and they will give me praise.