December 19, 2024 PORTALS OF PRAYER READINGS
Isaiah 40:1-17
Comfort
for God's People
40 Comfort,
comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem,
and
cry to her
that her warfare[a] is ended,
that
her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double
for all her sins.
3 A voice
cries:[b]
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make
straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be
lifted up,
and
every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and
the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and
all flesh shall see it together,
for
the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Word of God Stands Forever
6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And
I said,[c] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and
all its beauty[d] is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the
flower fades
when
the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely
the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the
flower fades,
but
the word of our God will stand forever.
The Greatness of God
9 Go on up to a high mountain,
O
Zion, herald of good news;[e]
lift up your voice with strength,
O
Jerusalem, herald of good news;[f]
lift
it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold
your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and
his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and
his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his
flock like a shepherd;
he
will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and
gently lead those that are with young.
12 Who has
measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and
marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and
weighed the mountains in scales
and
the hills in a balance?
13 Who has measured[g] the Spirit of the Lord,
or
what man shows him his counsel?
14 Whom did he consult,
and
who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and
taught him knowledge,
and
showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations
are like a drop from a bucket,
and
are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold,
he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon would not
suffice for fuel,
nor
are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are
as nothing before him,
they
are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:2 Or hardship
- Isaiah 40:3 Or A
voice of one crying
- Isaiah 40:6 Revocalization
based on Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Vulgate; Masoretic Text And
someone says
- Isaiah 40:6 Or all
its constancy
- Isaiah 40:9 Or O
herald of good news to Zion
- Isaiah 40:9 Or O
herald of good news to Jerusalem
- Isaiah 40:13 Or has
directed
Psalm 103:11-18
11 For
as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so
great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is
from the west,
so
far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows
compassion to his children,
so
the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our
frame;[a]
he
remembers that we are dust.
15 As for
man, his days are like grass;
he
flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes
over it, and it is gone,
and
its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast
love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and
his righteousness to children's children,
18 to those who keep his
covenant
and
remember to do his commandments.
Footnotes
- Psalm 103:14 Or knows
how we are formed
ESV® - The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright ©
2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All rights
reserved.
Source for Bible text - www.biblegateway.com
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