Isaiah 49:13-23

[13]  Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
          break forth, O mountains, into singing!
     For the LORD has comforted his people,
          and will have compassion on his suffering ones.

[14]  But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me,
          my Lord has forgotten me."
[15]  Can a woman forget her nursing child,
          or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
     Even these may forget,
          yet I will not forget you.
[16]  See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
          your walls are continually before me.
[17]  Your builders outdo your destroyers,
          and those who laid you waste go away from you.
[18]  Lift up your eyes all around and see;
          they all gather, they come to you.
     As I live, says the LORD,
          you shall put all of them on like an ornament,
          and like a bride you shall bind them on.

[19]  Surely your waste and your desolate places
          and your devastated land --
     surely now you will be too crowded for your inhabitants,
          and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
[20]  The children born in the time of your bereavement
          will yet say in your hearing:
     "The place is too crowded for me;
          make room for me to settle."
[21]  Then you will say in your heart,
          "Who has borne me these?
     I was bereaved and barren,
          exiled and put away --
          so who has reared these?
     I was left all alone --
          where then have these come from?"

[22]  Thus says the Lord GOD:
     I will soon lift up my hand to the nations,
          and raise my signal to the peoples;
     and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
          and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
[23]  Kings shall be your foster fathers,
          and their queens your nursing mothers.
     With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
          and lick the dust of your feet.
     Then you will know that I am the LORD;
          those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.

Psalm 147:1-11

[1]   Praise the Lord!   
         How good it is to sing praises to our God;   
         for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.   
[2]   The Lord builds up Jerusalem;   
         he gathers the outcasts of Israel.   
[3]   He heals the brokenhearted,   
         and binds up their wounds.   
[4]   He determines the number of the stars;   
         he gives to all of them their names.   
[5]   Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;   
         his understanding is beyond measure.   
[6]   The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;   
         he casts the wicked to the ground.

[7]   Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;   
         make melody to our God on the lyre.   
[8]   He covers the heavens with clouds,   
         prepares rain for the earth,   
         makes grass grow on the hills.   
[9]   He gives to the animals their food,   
         and to the young ravens when they cry.   
[10]  His delight is not in the strength of the horse,   
         nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;   
[11]  but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,   
         in those who hope in his steadfast love.

 

Psalm 99

[1]   The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble!  
          He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!  
[2]   The LORD is great in Zion;  
          he is exalted over all the peoples.  
[3]   Let them praise your great and awesome name.  
          Holy is he!  
[4]   Mighty King, lover of justice,  
          you have established equity;  
     you have executed justice  
          and righteousness in Jacob.  
[5]   Extol the LORD our God;  
          worship at his footstool.  
          Holy is he!  
 
[6]   Moses and Aaron were among his priests,  
          Samuel also was among those who called on his name.  
          They cried to the LORD, and he answered them.  
[7]   He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;  
          they kept his decrees,  
          and the statutes that he gave them.

[8]   O LORD our God, you answered them;  
          you were a forgiving God to them,  
          but an avenger of their wrongdoings.  
[9]   Extol the LORD our God,  
          and worship at his holy mountain;  
          for the LORD our God is holy.

Psalm 145

[1]   I will extol you, my God and King,  
          and bless your name forever and ever.  
[2]   Every day I will bless you,  
          and praise your name forever and ever.  
[3]   Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;  
          his greatness is unsearchable.

[4]   One generation shall laud your works to another,  
          and shall declare your mighty acts.  
[5]   On the glorious splendor of your majesty,  
          and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.  
[6]   The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,  
          and I will declare your greatness.  
[7]   They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,  
          and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

[8]   The Lord is gracious and merciful,  
          slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  
[9]   The Lord is good to all,  
          and his compassion is over all that he has made.

[10]  All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,  
          and all your faithful shall bless you.  
[11]  They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,  
          and tell of your power,  
[12]  to make known to all people your mighty deeds,  
          and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.  
[13]  Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,  
          and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

     The Lord is faithful in all his words,  
          and gracious in all his deeds.  
[14]  The Lord upholds all who are falling,  
          and raises up all who are bowed down.  
[15]  The eyes of all look to you,  
          and you give them their food in due season.  
[16]  You open your hand,  
          satisfying the desire of every living thing.  
[17]  The Lord is just in all his ways,  
          and kind in all his doings.  
[18]  The Lord is near to all who call on him,  
          to all who call on him in truth.  
[19]  He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;  
          he also hears their cry, and saves them.  
[20]  The Lord watches over all who love him,  
          but all the wicked he will destroy.

[21]  My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,  
          and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Psalm 118

[1]   O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;   
         his steadfast love endures forever!

[2]   Let Israel say,   
         "His steadfast love endures forever."   
[3]   Let the house of Aaron say,   
         "His steadfast love endures forever."   
[4]   Let those who fear the LORD say,   
         "His steadfast love endures forever."

[5]   Out of my distress I called on the LORD;   
         the LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.   
[6]   With the LORD on my side I do not fear.   
         What can mortals do to me?   
[7]   The LORD is on my side to help me;   
         I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.   
[8]   It is better to take refuge in the LORD   
         than to put confidence in mortals.   
[9]   It is better to take refuge in the LORD   
         than to put confidence in princes.

[10]  All nations surrounded me;   
         in the name of the LORD I cut them off!   
[11]  They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;   
         in the name of the LORD I cut them off!   
[12]  They surrounded me like bees;   
         they blazed like a fire of thorns;   
         in the name of the LORD I cut them off!   
[13]  I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,   
         but the LORD helped me.   
[14]  The LORD is my strength and my might;   
         he has become my salvation.

[15]  There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:   
    "The right hand of the LORD does valiantly;   
[16]       the right hand of the LORD is exalted;   
         the right hand of the LORD does valiantly."   
[17]  I shall not die, but I shall live,   
         and recount the deeds of the LORD.   
[18]  The LORD has punished me severely,   
         but he did not give me over to death.

[19]  Open to me the gates of righteousness,   
         that I may enter through them   
         and give thanks to the LORD.

[20]  This is the gate of the LORD;   
         the righteous shall enter through it.

[21]  I thank you that you have answered me   
         and have become my salvation.   
[22]  The stone that the builders rejected   
         has become the chief cornerstone.   
[23]  This is the LORD's doing;   
         it is marvelous in our eyes.   
[24]  This is the day that the LORD has made;   
         let us rejoice and be glad in it.   
[25]  Save us, we beseech you, O LORD!   
         O LORD, we beseech you, give us success!

[26]  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD.   
         We bless you from the house of the LORD.   
[27]  The LORD is God,   
         and he has given us light.   
    Bind the festal procession with branches,   
         up to the horns of the altar.

[28]  You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;   
         you are my God, I will extol you.

[29]  O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,   
         for his steadfast love endures forever.

Psalm 130

[1]   Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.   
[2]       Lord, hear my voice!   
    Let your ears be attentive   
         to the voice of my supplications!

[3]   If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities,   
         Lord, who could stand?   
[4]   But there is forgiveness with you,   
         so that you may be revered.

[5]   I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,   
         and in his word I hope;   
[6]   my soul waits for the Lord   
         more than those who watch for the morning,   
         more than those who watch for the morning.

[7]   O Israel, hope in the LORD!   
         For with the LORD there is steadfast love,   
         and with him is great power to redeem.   
[8]   It is he who will redeem Israel   
         from all its iniquities.

  

Isaiah 45:5-17

[5]   I am the LORD, and there is no other;  
          besides me there is no god.  
          I arm you, though you do not know me,  
[6]   so that they may know, from the rising of the sun  
          and from the west, that there is no one besides me;  
          I am the LORD, and there is no other.  
[7]   I form light and create darkness,  
          I make weal and create woe;  
          I the LORD do all these things.

[8]   Shower, O heavens, from above,  
          and let the skies rain down righteousness;  
     let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,  
          and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also;  
          I the LORD have created it.

[9]   Woe to you who strive with your Maker,  
          earthen vessels with the potter!  
     Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, "What are you making"?  
          or "Your work has no handles"?  
[10]  Woe to anyone who says to a father, "What are you begetting?"  
          or to a woman, "With what are you in labor?"  
[11]  Thus says the LORD,  
          the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:  
     Will you question me about my children,  
          or command me concerning the work of my hands?  
[12]  I made the earth,  
          and created humankind upon it;  
     it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,  
          and I commanded all their host.  
[13]  I have aroused Cyrus in righteousness,  
          and I will make all his paths straight;  
     he shall build my city  
          and set my exiles free,  
     not for price or reward,  
          says the LORD of hosts.  
[14]  Thus says the LORD:  
     The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia,  
          and the Sabeans, tall of stature,  
     shall come over to you and be yours,  
          they shall follow you;  
          they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.  
     They will make supplication to you, saying,  
          "God is with you alone, and there is no other;  
          there is no god besides him."  
[15]  Truly, you are a God who hides himself,  
          O God of Israel, the Savior.  
[16]  All of them are put to shame and confounded,  
          the makers of idols go in confusion together.  
[17]  But Israel is saved by the LORD  
          with everlasting salvation;  
     you shall not be put to shame or confounded  
          to all eternity.