NKJV Bible in 365 Days
God's Servant and Promise of Restoration — July 5
Isaiah 42-44
Isaiah 42
1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My [a] Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 365N 186.1
2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. 365N 186.2
3 A bruised reed He will not break, And [b] smoking flax He will not [c] quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 365N 186.3
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.” 365N 186.4
5 Thus says God the Lord , Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it: 365N 186.5
6 “I, the Lord , have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 365N 186.6
7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house. 365N 186.7
8 I am the Lord , that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images. 365N 186.8
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.” 365N 186.9
10 Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise from the ends of the earth, You who go down to the sea, and [d] all that is in it, You coastlands and you inhabitants of them! 365N 186.10
11 Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, The villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Sela sing, Let them shout from the top of the mountains. 365N 186.11
12 Let them give glory to the Lord , And declare His praise in the coastlands. 365N 186.12
13 The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies. 365N 186.13
14 “I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in [e] labor, I will pant and gasp at once. 365N 186.14
15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills, And dry up all their vegetation; I will make the rivers coastlands, And I will dry up the pools. 365N 186.15
16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them. 365N 186.16
17 They shall be turned back, They shall be greatly ashamed, Who trust in carved images, Who say to the molded images, ‘You are our gods.’ 365N 186.17
18 “Hear, you deaf; And look, you blind, that you may see. 365N 186.18
19 Who is blind but My servant, Or deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is blind as he who is perfect, And blind as the Lord ’s servant? 365N 186.19
20 Seeing many things, but you do not observe; Opening the ears, but he does not hear.” 365N 186.20
21 The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable. 365N 186.21
22 But this is a people robbed and plundered; All of them are [f] snared in holes, And they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one says, “Restore!” 365N 186.22
23 Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? 365N 186.23
24 Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord , He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, Nor were they obedient to His law. 365N 186.24
25 Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger And the strength of battle; It has set him on fire all around, Yet he did not know; And it burned him, Yet he did not take it to heart. 365N 186.25
Isaiah 43
1 But now, thus says the Lord , who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. 365N 186.26
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. 365N 186.27
3 For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. 365N 186.28
4 Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. 365N 186.29
5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; 365N 186.30
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth— 365N 186.31
7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” 365N 186.32
8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears. 365N 186.33
9 Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, “ It is truth.” 365N 186.34
10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord , “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. 365N 186.35
11 I, even I, am the Lord , And besides Me there is no savior. 365N 186.36
12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord , “that I am God. 365N 186.37
13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?” 365N 186.38
14 Thus says the Lord , your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives— The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. 365N 186.39
15 I am the Lord , your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” 365N 186.40
16 Thus says the Lord , who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters, 365N 186.41
17 Who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power (They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick): 365N 186.42
18 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 365N 186.43
19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. 365N 186.44
20 The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. 365N 186.45
21 This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise. 365N 186.46
22 “But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; And you have been weary of Me, O Israel. 365N 186.47
23 You have not brought Me the sheep for your burnt offerings, Nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with grain offerings, Nor wearied you with incense. 365N 186.48
24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; But you have burdened Me with your sins, You have wearied Me with your iniquities. 365N 186.49
25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. 365N 186.50
26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be [a] acquitted. 365N 186.51
27 Your first father sinned, And your [b] mediators have transgressed against Me. 365N 186.52
28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; I will give Jacob to the curse, And Israel to reproaches. 365N 186.53
Isaiah 44
1 “Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, And Israel whom I have chosen. 365N 186.54
2 Thus says the Lord who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 365N 186.55
3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; 365N 186.56
4 They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.’ 365N 186.57
5 One will say, ‘I am the Lord ’s’; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, ‘The Lord ’s,’ And name himself by the name of Israel. 365N 186.58
6 “Thus says the Lord , the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. 365N 186.59
7 And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them. 365N 186.60
8 Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one. ’ ” 365N 186.61
9 Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed. 365N 186.62
10 Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing? 365N 186.63
11 Surely all his companions would be ashamed; And the workmen, they are mere men. Let them all be gathered together, Let them stand up; Yet they shall fear, They shall be ashamed together. 365N 186.64
12 The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals, Fashions it with hammers, And works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails; He drinks no water and is faint. 365N 186.65
13 The craftsman stretches out his rule, He marks one out with chalk; He fashions it with a plane, He marks it out with the compass, And makes it like the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. 365N 186.66
14 He cuts down cedars for himself, And takes the cypress and the oak; He [a] secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. 365N 186.67
15 Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. 365N 186.68
16 He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” 365N 186.69
17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” 365N 186.70
18 They do not know nor understand; For He has [b] shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 365N 186.71
19 And no one considers in his heart, Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it; And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 365N 186.72
20 He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, “ Is there not a lie in my right hand?” 365N 186.73
21 “Remember these, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me! 365N 186.74
22 I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” 365N 186.75
23 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, And glorified Himself in Israel. 365N 186.76
24 Thus says the Lord , your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord , who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens [c] all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; 365N 186.77
25 Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness; 365N 186.78
26 Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’ To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’ And I will raise up her waste places; 365N 186.79
27 Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers’; 365N 186.80
28 Who says of Cyrus, ‘ He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’ 365N 186.81